At first, 80s synthpop king Howard Jones is not keen to talk about his heyday but SCOTT KARA talks him round
KEY POINTS:
During the 80s Howard Jones was not as big as Nik Kershaw or the Thompson Twins, especially down in little old New Zealand. But like those acts he was one of the leaders of the synthpop scene - and judging by the photos from that era he shared
the same hairdresser as Kershaw and Thompson Twin Tom Bailey.
The thing is, 25 years on from his heyday with hits like i and No One Is To Blame, it seems Jones doesn't want to talk about that great, but often maligned, decade of music.
"I'm totally, f****** bored of that. Let's talk about now first," he snaps down the phone from his home in Somerset. "I'd really like to tell you what I'm doing now, for all those people who think that I haven't been doing music, that's the most important thing for me, and then we can go back and do a few retro questions after that if that's okay, because this is a democracy."
Let's just say Jones is a little difficult in the first 10 minutes of this interview. Even a lighthearted inquiry about whether he was going to bring back the mime artist named Jed who used to perform improvised dancing on stage when he played live gets a frosty response.
"Why is having a dancer on stage bizarre?" he says defensively. "Do we say in the history of pop music we've never had dancers on stage?"
Yes, but Jed was a little bit different.
"Well, yeah, I suppose it was more like performance art when we first started."
Even with this slight admission the decade of double belts and leg warmers is perhaps best left alone - for at least another 10 minutes anyway.
Then again, Jones wouldn't still be touring the world, including making his first stop in New Zealand this weekend at SkyCity Theatre in Auckland, if it had not been for his popularity during that era.
So what has Howard Jones been up to since the mid-80s?
"You know what I've been doing because you've been reading my bio, so what part of what I've been doing do you want to know about?"
The live show, because that's what we're going to see.
"The last time I was down there [in Australia, two years ago] I was doing the acoustic show, since then I've had the full electric band. But the show I'm bringing to New Zealand is the electronic trio."
That's with Jones on keyboards and a backing band made up of a live knob twiddler and computer operator, and a backing vocalist who does harmonies using a vocal processor ("I've never seen anybody do that before, so that's quite exceptional.")
Despite his grumps you have to hand it to Jones - his heyday may be well and truly over but he still mixes it up live and it's one of the reasons he continues to have a loyal following around the world. His new album, due out this year, is based around a string quartet, a grand piano, bass, electric guitar, and three backing vocals.
Born in Southampton in 1955, Jones grew up with the music of the 60s and 70s. "I thought being a rock or pop musician was about doing something different, to try and write music in a way that people had never heard before."
He's disappointed with most of the music he hears today because "new bands are trying to be bands from the past. I want young people to be tearing it all down and starting again, which is what rock 'n' roll and pop should be."
That's what he reckons he did in the early 80s with his synth-soaked pop intertwined with enlightened and spiritual lyrics. "The main theme of my lyrics is to encourage people to think for themselves and to not be afraid of being who they are," he says.
Following support slots for fellow 80s heavyweights like OMD and post-punk art rockers China Crisis, he released his first hit single New Song in 1983. This was followed in the next few years by a string of successes including Things Can Only Get Better and Like To Get To Know You Better.
While these songs were never as big as Kershaw's The Riddle and Wouldn't It Be Good, or the Thompson Twins Hold Me Now, he says they still stand up pretty well today.
"Have you heard all those bands coming out of France lately?" he laughs, asserting them as Howard Jones' rip-offs. "Weirdly enough, when I do New Song now it sounds ridiculously contemporary but that's just a freak of the time we're in. But it sounds better these days too because the equipment has moved on and it doesn't break down every other gig."
After a bad start Jones turns out to be an affable chap - and a staunch defender of the 80s who scoffs at the time not too long ago when the decade was scorned.
"It's absolutely ridiculous, and that view came from an industry that was born in the 60s and there were all these managers and bands who had this ethos from that era and they had got very comfortable with their rock 'n' roll, their band and their long hair. Then suddenly punk comes along, followed by bands of the 80s, and it trashed all their precious values."
For Jones the 80s were all about variety: there was Culture Club ("white soul"), U2 ("a new type of rock 'n' roll"), electronic music ("in a very wide spectrum") and he makes special mention of the Smiths' legacy.
"People who were living through the 80s were like, 'Wow, this is our music, I've never heard that sound before, we love it'. That was the great thing about it. And now," he adds happily, "there is a different perspective and the 80s are celebrated in pop music."
Nik Kershaw
One of Howard Jones' closest contemporaries, although Kershaw was more deadpan and dry in his delivery with hits like The Riddle and Wouldn't It Be Good. Since 1983 he has continued to release albums with the last, You've Got To Laugh, in 2006 available only through his website or on iTunes.
Essential Album: The Riddle (1984)
Human League
The band led by singer/songwriter Phil Oakey was formed in Sheffield in 1977 and have played some disturbing synthpop in their time like Being Boiled. However, they are best known for classics of the genre like Don't You Want Me and Keep Feeling Fascination.
Essential Album: Dare (1981)
Ultravox
The classic line-up of Midge Ure, Warren Cann, Chris Cross, and Billy Currie are re-forming Ultravox again for a British tour, Return To Eden, in April. The rather glam name is perhaps in reference to the first time this line-up, that brought the world Vienna, has performed together since Live Aid in 1985.
Essential Album: Vienna (1980)
Duran Duran
Simon Le Bon and the boys released their 12th album, Red Carpet Massacre, in 2007 and toured here last year. Even though Le Bon forgot the words to Hungry Like the Wolf it was a pretty good show by all accounts.
Essential Album: Rio (1982)
Depeche Mode
Led by the often-troubled Dave Gahan, they were one of the best examples of 80s electro-pop. They also developed a darker style later on and, with more than 75 million album sales, they remain one of the most successful bands to emerge from the 80s. The new album, Sounds of the Universe, is out in April.
Essential Album: Music For the Masses (1987)
LOWDOWN
Who: Howard Jones
What: 80s synthpop singer/songwriter
Where & when: Sky City Theatre, Sunday, 8pm
Essential albums: Human's Lib (1984); Dream Into Action (1985)
