Jeff talks Live Aid and 40 year career with Howard Jones

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I'm Jeff Stevens. It's The AdShow podcast. Very excited to chat with
Howard Jones. Hi Jeff, Hi, Howard Jones. How are you doing?
Yeah, very well, thank you. I'm Jeff. I'm doing good.
Thank you for asking. I appreciateit. I'm very excited about your
tour this summer. And I gota chance to talk to Terry Nunn for
Berlin just recently, and she wassaid she was very excited, very complimentary

(00:23):
about all your your hits and yoursongwriting and you're performing and how much she
was looking forward to playing with youall. That's so kind. So yeah,
I love Terry. She's brilliant.I've seen her performance. She's just
electrifying performance. She's just brilliant.Yeah. And I've had a chance to
see you several times over the years. A few times, maybe fifteen twenty

(00:44):
years ago. I saw you,you know, maybe five years ago.
So always always love your show.And the cool the cool thing when I'm
at a Howard Jones show is watchingeverybody kind of almost get like surprised that
they recognize as many songs as theydo. I mean, you, you
know, it's like do you doyou feel that as well? Yeah,

(01:07):
I do. I do. It'sit's so interesting that, um, you
know, people know the song,but they don't necessarily know that it's me,
so so that sort of surprise factoris quite good in a way.
Yeah. And I suppose, youknow, after going to the show then
they kind of know, yes,exactly, but those things. Yeah,

(01:30):
Howard, I was just kind ofblown away at the fact that I was
looking back and it has been You'recelebrating your fortieth anniversary of the release of
your first song, new song,and I was first introduced to you,
of course on MTV and uh andwhat is Love truly is still one of
my favorite songs. I think nineteeneighty three and eighty four and eighty five

(01:51):
really are probably the best three yearsof the entire eighties for music. And
that's that's your wheelhouse right in there. Yeah, yeah, it was.
It was so m you know,I was so exciting to be emerging as
an artist at that time because becausewe you know, we had wonderful support,
you know, from the radio,but also MTV was showing the video,

(02:13):
so people got to get the vibeof what you're about and see you
visually as well as here, youknow, he hear you on the radio.
So it was a kind of uniquetime. Really we don't really have
that now, that situation now,and you know, there was all this
new technology, you know, synsand dumb machines and making new sounds and

(02:34):
yeah, it was, it was, it was. It was really very
exciting time. And I hope thatI can bring that excitement still to the
stage again, you know now withsongs people know well, and as we
were talking about, you have alot of them, and of course your
career launched forty years ago. Butit was, you know, it was
like it was starting to steamroll ineighty three and eighty four, and then

(02:55):
when eighty five hit and it wasthings can only get better and life and
one day and then for next yearit was no one is to blame it.
Just every year we had multiple HowardJones songs all over the radio and
that was just such an amazing time. Yeah. Well, I mean I
was that I was growing up.You know, I grew up listening to

(03:15):
the radio. I used to fallasleep listening to to to it with my
little transistor radio and and and heady. So for me being on the radio
was that the holy great. Itwas where I wanted to be. I
wanted to write songs that people couldplay on the radio, because when it's
on the radio and you're in yourcar, you're traveling around, or you're

(03:37):
working or something, you know,you can hear those songs everywhere. I
mean, I was in the Iwas in the supermarket, um hard foods
yesterday and no one as the blamecame on, you know the system,
and I'm walking around, you know, doing my shopping. I'm going,
you know, hey, that's that. I can't do it, you go

(04:01):
too. And then and then therewas enough time I went. They were
playing news song and the lady nextto me was going, who I can't.
I can't even say to oh,do you know that's that's me singing
there? Come on now, ifshe's singing the whoop whoo whoop part,

(04:23):
you have to say something. Sohonestly, I'm sure you know that they're
playing my songs in the supermarket foreveryone to hear, you know, And
that's because radio radio supported me soso much, you know, J the
eight Well, Uh, I'm gladto say I've been playing your songs on
the radio for a long time andthey still sound great. In fact,

(04:46):
we run on our station, uh, the Casey Casem countdowns from back in
the eighties, and oh wow,just last weekend was nineteen eighty six,
and here comes no one is toblame and he's talking about Phil, you
know, working with you on thatsong. Because if I'm not mistaken,
there was an original version of that. And then did Phil get involved and

(05:08):
kind of do a remix. Itwas a complete re record because I pushed
for that to be a radio song, and I know with the Electra Records,
you know, they didn't think thatit was right for radio. I
said, look, I'm going todo another version. And Phil, Phil
really wanted to do it, andI knew him because I'd worked with him

(05:29):
on the Princess Trust things. Andso we did it in two weekends,
and you know, it just itjust almost like made itself. But I
mean Phil, Phil saying drums onit. I also persuaded him to sing
a couple of harmony lines. Yes, but it just it went. It
went incredibly well, and you know, and then the rest is history.

(05:49):
You know. So I was veryI just kept believing in that song,
and you know, I wanted todo a version that radio could play.
And so proud of it now,you know, yeah, oh it's it's
such a staple. And it backto my original point. Your songs still
sound great on the radio, andsometimes you hear something that sounds incredibly dated

(06:13):
and you're like, you know,it's kind of it's fun to hear it
again, but it doesn't necessarilyarily stillfit. And you know, your songs
fit great up against Taylor Swift orEd Shearon, And I think that says
a lot, you know, fortyyears later, Well, I'm thank you
so much. That's a real that'sa real compliment. Thank you. I
appreciate that. I mean, Ithink they you know, it's always been

(06:39):
an aim for me. You know, the sound of the records to you
know, make them jump out atyou and really have like energy in them.
That that that and for people tostill be discovering them after forty years,
you know, it feels like,oh, yeah, that's why I
was here, That's why I'm hereon the planet. We are very thankful

(07:00):
you're on the planet, my Fred, because you have put out some amazing
songs that are that are anthems,and I think of something like like things
can only get better. I believethat is you know, that's an anthem
for a lot of people. That'sa song that has probably helps some people,
you know, get through a toughtime period. And it's such a
sing along song too. It cameout right before I graduated high school,

(07:20):
and I remember that entire summer ofeighty five just that song was just all
over the radio. And I appreciateyou mentioning radio so much. It's really
an anthem for a lot of people. Have you found that in, you
know, in talking to your fansover the years. Oh yeah, I
mean it's it's an anthem for metoo, you know. I mean we
you know, we always, weall go go through difficult songs, and

(07:44):
that's what the song talks about,you know, is is when things go
wrong and you and you and youreally you know, you've really got it
wrong, and you you kind ofblown it basically. But from that point
on you can still would be youknow, can still look at it at
the way Latin things can only getbetter from here. I'm going to turn
this around. I'm going to actuallymake this work, you know, even

(08:07):
though I've got it wrong, I'mgonna I'm going to make it right.
I'm going to make the future good, and I think that's the way.
That's the way I think of thesong and I sing it. You know,
I try and take that on boardmyself when things don't go so well
for me, you know, yeah, I'm thinking, I'll come on,
you know, pick yourself up,and things know and get better from here.

(08:28):
Very cool. Wrapping up with HowardJones. Still another minute or two
here, Howard, we're coming upon another anniversary of Live Aid. Can
you tell me what was that likeback in nineteen eighty five? It was,
It was totally unique. So there'sone hundred thousand people in Wembley,
there's all those people in Philadelphia,and there's two billion people on TV watching

(08:50):
and so like, no pressure,you know, going out there to play
one song at the piano, andyou know Bill Collins saying to me,
oh, there's a sticky note onbottom the piano, but don't worry,
you know, all right, thanksto Phil. So they're going out to
playing the song, being incredibly nervous, then getting to the chorus and the
whole of Wendley joins in with meand starts singing their hearts out and supporting

(09:16):
me, you know, And Ifelt that and then from that moment on.
I just totally enjoyed the day andI got to meet David Bowie and
watched Queen and watch You Know Youtwo, and meet Paul McCartney and Linda
McCartney Peep Townsend. I mean,it just went on and on and on
as a day because I was sopumped full of adrenaline because of the fear

(09:39):
and the excitement of the day.I remember pretty much everything that happened,
and so it was a unique datenever to be repeated, I don't think
for anybody who was part of it. And yeah, it was just one
of those things. It was justI'm so proud that I was part of
it. Yeah, I tell youas just a viewer and a listener because

(10:01):
it was broadcast on the radio.I just I was in awe of what
was accomplished that day between Wembley andPhiladelphia, and and of course phil doing
both um. But yeah, itwas it was just what an incredible day.
And it was such musically like eightyfive was like I feel like the

(10:22):
pinnacle of the biggest hits and thebiggest artists of the decade. Just it
was all hitting on all cylinders ateighty five. That's what it felt like.
Yeah, yeah, that's right,and it was obviously it was for
such a great cause and it reallydid work. The money was that was
raised is actually still saving people's livesin Ethiopia, you know. And it

(10:45):
just I thought it was the mostthe most significant event of the of the
eighties for me, where people cametogether to really think about others who are
suffering and having a bad time,and it just it and all those musicians
that wanted to help that, andgeld Off and Meet you're you know,
driving it forward, you know.Yes, brilliant is the perfect word for

(11:09):
it. Howard Jones, So nicetalking to you. Everybody goes see Howard
along with Berlin and Boy Georgian CultureClub this summer on tour. Thanks for
talking to me, Howard. Hell, thank you. Jeff, great talking
to you. Thank you.