While others read Marx and various esteemed writers, my politics was informed and shaped by albums such as Human's Lib. The wider reading came later. While not overtly political, the humanity and compassion in Howard Jones' lyrics led me in only one direction as the battles of the eighties raged ( I was 14 in 1984). The album remains stunning to this day. The hits, superb album tracks, energy, creativity and deep thought behind the lyrics resulted in a really cohesive album. The memories of listening to it forty years ago are still vivid such was its impact. Only yesterday I cued it up in a playlist to listen to it in its entirety the way albums used to be listened to for the most part. The messages in the songs are so strong- 'Equality' is self explanatory, while 'What Is Love?' poses uncomfortable questions about love but ultimately affirms its power. 'Don't Always Look At The Rain' carries a moving message of optimism that there is often hope even in bleak times. Live Aid was spectacular and still is. Howard's performance of Hide And Seek is one of the most emotive and heartfelt of the event as well as perhaps somewhat overlooked in commentary and recollections of the great day. The way he invited the crowd to sing with him was typical of the man's humanity and in keeping with the spirit of the occasion. Mrs Jones, Howard's mother, ran the fan club newsletter- I was so thrilled to receive it in the post. I recall it was on a couple of pages of A4 and closely typed with news fans would be interested in. Seeing the performances on Top Of The Pops was exciting- I still remember 'Like To Get To Know You Well' in a live edition at Bristol Temple Meads station from August 1984- it is on You Tube. Anyway, enough! Human's Lib is one of my all time favourite albums and a brilliant companion to the equally good Dream Into Action from 1985.
You friends Andy Mcnab and Mark Wibrow never stop surprising us with "Electronic Cafe 🎹"😮😊😀😉 You're still amazing today talking about Howard Jones 🆒👍🥳❤️💝 I love Howard Jones and you are super awesome like always 🔝🆙⬆️1️⃣🤠💥🎉👌 WELL DONE 👏👏 Fantastic with u 🙏😘😘❤️You will remain our athletes and our athletes and service with "Electronic Cafe 🎹"😻😗🥰 Great WORK 💫⭐🌟💥 YOU'RE AWESOME😀😉🆒👍🥳💓 Thank you so much 🙏🙏👌🤩💜Still don’t change anything friends!!😻👏
I was 14 when I bought Humans Lib, a big outlay for a penniless 14 year old. Played it non stop on my sister’s record player. It’s in the attic in my mams now gathering dust along with Dare and Penthouse and Pavement to name but a few.
Thank you again for recognising these great albums from years gone past....You guys do a great job and thanking you for your efforts as usual.....Hope you enjoyed the DM concert last night....God bless you both..❤
Thanks again guys-great review,pleased you mentioned about the wrong negative reception it got.This superb album is definitely one of the best debut albums ever -enjoyed it live as well-his mum & dad helped to run the fan club & were at the albert hall.
Jones was turned down by lots of record companies, and age-wise was thought to be too old by the time he was finally signed at the age of 28. It's a real shame that we are so ageist in the UK and only look for the next big thing amongst teenagers and those in their early twenties. Worse, we pour scorn on our aging superstars very early on. In the US, they recognise talent, regardless of age. Hence, Howard still tours, particularly in the US, as do many of our (the UK's) stars from the 80's. Because there are more people in general, yes, but also more respect for people who succeeded with their talent at some point, not necessarily with their current material. I liked Humans Lib before Live Aid, but his performance there really did show that he is an incredible musician.
There's plenty of weak acts that got promotion in the US. When Howard Jones broke out we were discovering lots of great music in the UK, more than they did in the US then. Of course there's often more touring in the US, there's way more people and it's far richer, so there's more money to be made. I think that's always been the case, which is unfortunate for the fans at home.
When it come out i listen to it and immediately loved it, voice music melodies drums it was right there on the top That was a fashion then to make music like that. That summer in 1984 me and my friend hosted many dance nights party's in our school during summer holidays, it was fun to dance with friends to it. I have many good clean memories with this album We did not called this style Synth Pop, for us it was simply electronic music of a new generation.
Thank You for highlighting this album! It's still genius! In fact, Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys gave this album 6 & 1/2 stars out of 10 saying it was clever a must for all Supertramp fans. Most critics seem to zero in on HoJo's pop philosophy rather than his musical skills.
I was less keen on Howard Jones than other synth artists, possibly because most of his songs are, to me, more poppy than synthy (I like synths to sound like synths), so I always thought it was OK, but I never put him high up as an electronic artist compared with others, while still respecting that he wrote a decent pop song and was a good keyboardist. He seemed to come from a similar place vocally (not so much musically) to Thomas Dolby, but I much preferred Dolby. :-)
Well, Howard was 'Mr Jupiter 8', so Human's Lib sounded amazing to my 15-year-old ears.. it still does, to be fair. He was the original one-man synth show, too. Not so keen on the lyrics, though, particularly when compared with what a certain M.L Gore was beginning to come up with at the time.
Personally I think his lyrics are brilliant on this album. I remember people knocked his positivity and clean living. I love Depeche Mode too, but People are People must have some of the worst lyrics of any well known song of the 80s.
@@OneSwitch The point is he had an awful lot of 'help' with the lyrics on Human's Lib from Bill Bryant... although, to be fair to Bill, Hide and Seek's lyrics are far, far worse - in my opinion - than People are People... truly abysmal. Whereas Gore rhyming 'be' and 'awfully' is tongue-in-cheek, pure middle-class Essex. Guess you need to be local to get it. Growing up not far from Basildon in the early 80's I could relate to Blasphemous Rumours, - or 'lie to me, but do it with sincerity' - but not Buddhist creation myths!
@@citizencairn5230I used to live in Basildon and still go there. I still think People Are People is pure industrial cheese, but I still quite like it. And I really liked Howard Jones's positive synth pop in 83/84. Conditioning live was just a good as anything DM had to my ears.
I missed Cabaret Voltaire ”The Crackdown” which celebrated 40 y last year. Even though thats a relatively easy listen its not for everybody. Do you find it to hard/abstract to fit your list?
