Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Howard Jones - Human's Lib - 1984

HJ's first album, and my second favorite.  These were the songs that were playing on my radio when I was first discovering Pop music.  I remember them vividly, and his videos on Saturday Night Videos on our local channel, playing the best videos after 11pm. 

Howard truly shows a maturity level in his songwriting that a lot of his peers completely lacked.  When compared to others, who wrote about these subjects at a level that he did?  Shy of Phil Collins' solo work, I can't think of many. Maybe Bryan Ferry.  Aside from all that, it's funny, yet somewhat disheartening to read the various contemporary reviews of the album during the time it was released.  Some of the reviews seem to be exercises in verbal logistics more than substantial analysis of the album.  Most of them were probably jealous, anyway.

Howard had quite a few b-sides for this album, and I think I have them all here.  The mix disc is extra special, too.  But, I'm not sure if I have all of the mixes, let me know if I don't.  As for the cover, I have always liked the artwork, so I kept it the same, just making a black version and a white version.

Enjoy...



14 comments:

  1. I've always liked his first couple of albums... didn't know there were that many B-sides. Thanks for all your work!

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  2. Am I blind or is "Change the Man" the UK B-side for 'New Song' missing?

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  3. I'll tell you one you're missing, but don't feel bad, because I went on a pretty extensive search for it myself recently and came up empty, even on YouTube - there's an earlier (ie, not Rupert Hine produced) version of "Conditioning" that was on the US 12" of New Song. Might have been on a UK release also, though I don't know which one.

    "Law Of The Jungle" is my favorite of these B sides, though. Very cool little tune. Recorded in his house!

    And re the "maturity" thing - you also have to remember that Howard sort of slipped in through the back door of synthpop. He was (and is) a good 5-10 years older than most of what would appear to be his "peers" at he time.

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    1. Conditioning - Yeah, I think that is the same version that's on the UK 12" version that I have with "Change the Man" on it.

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    2. You all are killing me. Now I'll have to redo it. Let me find the tracks.......

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    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    4. KC2 I don't remember where I got it but, here's a link for it.
      https://we.tl/8trkTNtflw

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    5. Oh, forgot to say... the link is only good until Jan 19th.

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  4. This album is SO, SO GREAT. "New Song" was the first thing I ever heard by HoJo, and I have to admit, it's still my favorite of his songs. The subject matter is somewhat serious, but it's wrapped up in such a FUN song with an energetic beat and all those burbling synths that I can't help smiling and bopping along whenever I listen to it. He's done a lot of other terrific stuff, but that one will always be my favorite of his tracks. And this will always be my favorite of his albums!

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  5. If you get hardcore, There are two other songs: "What Can I Say" and "Risk" which were recorded before the album. Also it is "You Jazzy Nork!" which was the b-side of "Things Can Only Get Better" not "Your Jazzy Nook, which is entirely better.

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  6. I half feel like pulling this album and starting over. I missed so much! My only thought is that due to the time constraints on the "Virtual CD", I may have left them off. I do that every so often. But, I don't remember doing that on this, and there's still about 7 minutes left on the mix disc, at least one more song.

    So, should I pull it and redo it?

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  7. No, Kid -- don't pull it. Life is too short, and what you've given everyone here is absolutely delightful. Thank you so kindly for your generosity and good taste!

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  8. Hi, thanks for these...are they the new remasters?

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  9. Hi
    I try to download at zippy but there doesn't seem to be a download spot

    Help

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