HOWARD JONES

One of Britain's king's of 80's synthpop, Welshman Howard Jones, or as fans call him, Ho-Jo, had a huge impact in the early to mid-eighties, as the synthesizer became one of the more dominant tools of the industry. Always known for richly layered songs with positive, inspiring lyrics, Howard made a big splash on both sides of the pond. His first single, "New Song", was a huge hit in the U.K. in 1983, and a moderate hit in the U.S., when it was released a year later.

His next single, "What is Love", performed similarly, becoming a Top Five hit in the U.K., but only a Top 40 hit in the U.S.. Although not huge hits here, however, both songs have gone on to become fan favorites and helped to define one of the signature sounds of the decade. His third U.S. single, "Like to Get to Know You Well", was his fifth huge hit in the U.K., but did not become popular here until it was featured in the John Cusack/Savage Steve Holland classic, Better Off Dead.

Howard's 1985 album, Dream Into Action, was a far bigger hit in the U.S., and spawned three hit singles: "Things Can Only Get Better", "Life in One Day", and his biggest American hit, "No One Is to Blame". As the eighties wore on, Jones keep churning out great records and had three more hits in the U.S.: " You Know I Love You... Don't You?", which was a Top 20 hit from his album, One to One, and two hit singles from his album, Cross That Line, in 1989: "Everlasting Love", and "The Prisoner". Howard Jones has gone on to release ten more albums (the most recent being in 2009) and have several more hit records and still performs all over the world.

A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered. - Proverbs 17:27