Howard Jones

Few British synth-pop careers of the early 1980s were built as deliberately as that of John Howard Jones, a musician born in Hampshire to Welsh parents who grew up in Cardiff. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic has described him as one of the defining figures of mid-1980s synth-pop, and the label fits: Jones built his songs around crisp keyboard figures and bright, memorable melodies, and his music travelled well during the Second British Invasion of America. Across his career he has sold more than eight million albums.

His run began with "New Song", released in September 1983, which reached the top five in Britain and the top 30 in America. Ten top-40 singles arrived between 1983 and 1986, six of them reaching the top ten, among them "Like to Get to Know You Well", "What Is Love?" and "Things Can Only Get Better". His debut album, Human's Lib (1984), went to number one in the UK. Its 1985 successor, Dream into Action, reached number two at home and number 10 in the US. "No One Is to Blame" later became his biggest American hit, climbing to No. 4 in 1986.