By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Howard Jones
Music fans heading into the TD Pavilion at the Mann (5201 Parkside Avenue, Philadelphia, TD Pavilion at the Mann Philadelphia, Tickets for Concerts & Music Events 2023 – Songkick) on July 30 will be going through a time warp – from 2023 back to the 1980s.
The show will feature Boy George and Culture Club, Howard Jones and Berlin.
For Jones, the summertime tour is part of his 40th anniversary in the music business.
Jones is a British musician who had a Top 5 hit in the U.K. in September 1983 with his debut single. He had 10 Top 40 hit singles in the U.K. between 1983 and 1986. He also performed at Live Aid in 1985.
Jones has performed in this area numerous times over the last few years. Sometimes, he is fronting a band of top-flight musicians with a full-on rock show. Sometimes, when Howard Jones tours in the states it is as part of the Retro Futura Tour – a summertime tour that features bands from the 1980s playing short sets of their hits.
“Sometimes, I do the acoustic piano thing but more often it is with a trio or a full band,” said Jones, during a phone interview Thursday afternoon. “This time, it’s big. I’ve got a large band on stage this tour.”
Jones had his first Top Five hit in 1983 with the song “New Song.” Four more hits followed over the course of a year and his album “Human’s Lib” reached the top spot on the U.K. album charts.
“My 40th anniversary — it’s very difficult to conceive it,” said Jones. “People ask me if time has flown by. The answer is definitely no. My reaction is – how were we able to do all this in 40 years.”
Jones reflected back to the start.
“When I was growing up in Wales and England, me and my three brothers played cricket and football whenever we could. My parents really wanted me to learn piano. I didn’t like the piano teacher and I didn’t like practicing. I wanted to be outside playing football and cricket.
“My mom always listened to radio and that drew me into music. I was nine years old when I first was able to pick out the notes to play on a piano. That first song was ‘Puppet on a String’ by Sandie Shaw.
“I think I knew I wanted to be a musician when I got my first record. I bought my first record when I was 13. It was the mono version of ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.’ I played that to death.
“I was listening to what my mom had on the radio – Beatles, Stones, Tremeloes, Freddie and the Dreamers, Cliff Richard and the Shadows – and don’t forget the Troggs.
“Then, I got into Blood, Sweat and Tears – jazz, classical rock. Al Kooper was great on Hammond Organ. I became obsessed with the Hammond Organ.”
Many musicians over the years have become obsessed with the classic Hammond B3 organ. They fall in love with the amazing sound that pours out through its Leslie speakers – a sound that washes over you and penetrates to your heart and soul at the same time.
“I was able to play the Hammond on Saturday afternoons at my local music shop in High Wycombe when I was 14,” said Jones. “They knew I couldn’t afford to buy it, but they let me play it when it was slow in the store.
“The real catalyst was the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. I saw Jimi – and ELP’s second gig. Joni Mitchell performed. Everyone who was great was playing there. It was the turning point for me.
“I got a keyboard and a Vox amp and a wah-wah pedal. I persuaded my dad to buy a Lowrey Heritage for me.
“I was such a fan of Keith Emerson. I wanted to study music properly, so I attended Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. They told me that I played Bach with a jazz theme. I liked that.
“I was in the practice room at the university eight or nine hours a day. I also performed a lot on a middle of the night show for Radio Piccadilly – covers and some originals. They gave me access to their vinyl library. I spent a lot of time listening to all types of albums.
“I decided I had to go on and do my own music. It took a while. In 1983, Warner Music Group found me. My first single came out in August 1983.
“I was working 365 days a year – one way or the other – but it didn’t feel like it. All through the 80s, it was like a roller coaster.
“Then, MTV came in at just the right time. For me, making videos was naturally part of what I did.”
Jones’ 1984 “Like to Get to Know You Well” was “dedicated to the original spirit of the Olympic Games” and became a worldwide hit. It also was used in the film “Better Off Dead” and the computer game “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.”
“Dream into Action,” which came out in 1985, quickly became a Top Ten Platinum album in the United States and was Jones’ most successful album. Four major hits were on that album — “Things Can Only Get Better,” “Life In One Day,” “No One Is To Blame,” and “Like To Get To Know You Well.”
Jones still maintains a very high work rate. He just finished an ambitious project called, “Celebrate It Together – The Very Best of Howard Jones.”
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Jones’ recorded music career, Cherry Red Records is releasing a brand new ‘Very Best Of’ compilation to mark this momentous occasion.
For his 40th anniversary, Howard wanted to create a truly unique collection. “Celebrate It Together — The Very Best Of Howard Jones 1983-2023” is the first anthology that looks at his entire catalogue, from the original version of “New Song,” all the way to a 2023 Elephant Talk remix of it that recasts it within a modern electronica context.
The music set includes songs from his classic Warner-era catalogue, as well as work from his independent Dtox label.
“I’ve been very involved in this project,” said Jones, who has homes in London and Somerset. “I have a dream relationship with Cherry Red. I had the idea to group these songs together loosely by genre.”
For “Celebrate It Together,” Jones personally chose to group the songs into four categories: “Popular Hits,” “Electro,” “Chill,” and “Curiosities.” He wanted to elevate this selection of songs beyond the typical chronological approach and create themes that mix and match different pieces from different eras, with the overall listening experience top of mind.
The “Celebrate It Together – The Very Best of Howard Jones 1983-2023” will be released on October 6 as a 2CD, 4CD Clamshell Box Edition and a 2LP Translucent Mint Green Edition.
The deluxe 4CD box set version contains 64 remastered tracks featuring a comprehensive collection of hit singles, remixes, key album tracks, live versions and alternative recordings.
“We tried hard to find stuff people hadn’t heard before,” said Jones.
The deluxe 2CD digipack contains 35 remastered tracks featuring a comprehensive collection of hit singles, remixes, key album tracks, alternative and live versions.
Video link for Howard Jones – https://youtu.be/i5GbWkUmq3U.
The show at TD Pavilion on July 30 will start at 8 p.m.
Ticket prices start at $20.
The Chesco Pops Orchestra (WWW.CHESCOPOPS.COM), under the direction of Maestro Joseph Gehring, will perform a flag-waving, toe-tapping patriotic concert celebrating American music and our great country two times this weekend.
The Pops will be joined on stage by the West Chester Area Community Chorus, directed by George Waldie Jr. The festive event will be fun for the whole family.
The first Chesco Pops Orchestra Summer Concert will be held on July 29 at 7 p.m. at Collegium Charter School High School (515 James Hance Court, Exton).
The second Chesco Pops Orchestra Summer Concert is scheduled for July 30 a t3 p.m. at Immaculata University, Alumnae Hall, Immaculata).
Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and free for kids. Purchases can be made online or at the door.
Now through July 29, Brandywiners, Ltd. ( brandywiners.org) are in residence at their summer home at Longwood Gardens (Route 1, Kennett Square, www.longwoodgardens.org) where they will perform a four-show run of “Oliver!”
“Oliver!” is a coming-of-age stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens. It takes audiences on a wild adventure throughout Victorian England.
The musical, which was the first musical adaptation of a famous Dickens work to become a stage hit, premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the West End, where it enjoyed a record-breaking long run. Oliver! ran on Broadway, after being brought to the U.S. by producer David Merrick in 1963. Major London revivals played from 1977–1980, 1994–1998, 2008–2011 and on tour in the U.K. from 2011–2013. Additionally, its 1968 film adaptation, directed by Carol Reed, won six Academy Awards including Best Picture.
In 1963 Bart received the Tony Award for Best Original Score. Many songs are well known to the public, such as “Food, Glorious Food,” “Consider Yourself” and “I’d Do Anything.”
For Brandywiners Ltd., there’s no place like home – as long as home is Longwood Gardens.
Every summer, the company presents a large-scale musical production at Longwood Gardens and contributes the proceeds to cultural, educational and civic causes throughout the Delaware Valley.
Performances at Longwood Gardens are set for 8 p.m. each night.
Tickets are $33 for general admission and include all-day Gardens Admission.
The Eagleview Summer Concerts on the Square at Eagleview Town Center (Wharton Boulevard, Exton, www.ineagleview.com) will present Adam Ezra Group with special guest Incendio with special guest Kuf and Christine on August 1, Miko Marks with special guest Brittany Ann Tranbaugh on August 15 and Mellow Fever on August 29.
Bryn Mawr Twilight Concerts (9 South Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bryn Mawr, brynmawrtwilightconcerts.com) will host John Gorka on July 29, Livingston Taylor on August 5, Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience on August 12, Susan Werner on August 19, Dar Williams on August 26, Carsie Blanton & Marielle Kraft on September and Jon McLaughlin on September 8.
King Of Prussia’s live outdoor music series Concerts Under the Stars (Upper Merion Township Building Park, West Valley Forge Road, King of Prussia, concertsunderthestarskop.com) has Tommy Conwell & The House Rockers with Soraia on July 28, Don McCloskey and Hoots & Hellmouth on August 5, Donna the Buffalo on August 12, Start Making Sense (Talking Heads tribute), Al Stewart & The Empty Pockets on August 26, Splintered Sunlight (Grateful Dead Tribute) on September 2, and Easy Star All‐Stars on September 16.
