John Howard

Location:
Murcia, Sp
Type:
Artist / Band / Musician
Genre:
Pop / Folk Rock / Glam
Site(s):
Label:
Several, see albums listing above
Type:
Indie
In the mid-'70s, I was signed to CBS Records and recorded three albums, (now referred to rather epically as 'The Kid Trilogy'). My debut set, Kid In A Big World, first released in 1975, was produced by Tony Meehan at Abbey Road and by Paul Phillips at Apple Studios.



It was reissued by RPM Records at the end of 2003 after being unavailable, apart from the occasional rare vinyl shop, for many years. The reissue got a five-star review in Uncut Magazine, and they made the album one of their Top 20 Best Reissues Of 2004. In April that year, I returned to the stage after a 25 year lay-off, with a show at the Jermyn Street Theatre, London. It got a five-star review in The Guardian.
This led to RPM releasing my other '70s material, the albums Technicolour Biography and Can You Hear Me OK?, which had never been released before. The latter featured the two singles I recorded with Trevor Horn producing in '78/'79.



Through the early part of the '80s I continued to record with people like Chris Rainbow, Nicky Graham and Steve Levine, releasing my last single, aptly titled Nothing More To Say But Goodbye, in 1984. I then moved into A & R, where I worked with artists like Elkie Brooks, Maria Friedman, Hazell Dean, Madness and the legendary and rather wonderful Crickets and apart from making the occasional (unreleased) recording with friends, as far as I was concerned my own career as a recording artist was well and truly over.
I retired from the music business in 2000, fully expecting to get a part-time job in a second-hand bookshop or something, relaxing into a life in the country. However, due to the revived interest in my music through the RPM reissues I have, much to my surprise and joy, started writing, recording and gigging again. I feel 19 years old again, only realising the truth whenever I look in the mirror.
So, a creative period is upon me once more. My first new album for many years, The Dangerous Hours, cowritten with poet/lyricist Rob Cochrane, came out in July '05 on Bad Pressings, and received four-star reviews in The Guardian and Uncut.
As I Was Saying, which was the first new album of my words and music for over thirty years, was released on Cherry Red Records in November '05, the reviewer in Plan B magazine naming it his Album of 2005. It even prompted Chris Roberts to write in his review of the album in Uncut, "He's a British Jimmy Webb", which, as a huge fan of Jimmy's since I was a teenager, made my year!
In May 2006, Same Bed, Different Dreams was issued in France on Euro-visions Records. It received really encouraging write-ups in the French music press, including one in the influential Les Inrocks mag where Celine Remy wrote: "A genuine hidden treasure of eccentric pop. Of a time when Elton John preferred writing to shopping." When released internationally by Cargo in January 2007, Same Bed received four star reviews from Snaz Music and Musicomh.
In June 2007, my live album In The Room Upstairs, recorded at Manchester's Briton's Protection in May and June 2006 and featuring many new songs written specially for the occasion, as well as some 'old favourites' like Kid In A Big World, The Deal, Maybe Someday In Miami and more recent songs such as These Fifty Years and Such A Drag, was released on iTunes.
In January 2008, my eighth album, Barefoot With Angels was released by Spanish label Hanky Panky Records via Cargo Records Distribution. I am beginning a new phase in life, having moved to live in Spain towards the end of 2007.



There has been a lot of iTunes activity of my back catalogue in 2008, with two new compilations, Sketching The Landscape - Demos 1973-1979 and Creating Impressions - Singles & Rarities 1980-1990. These were both extremely cathartic for me, finally getting out in the marketplace the last batch of recordings I've had stacked on my shelves for years, many of them never released before, several of them only having had a short vinyl life previously.
I also released on iTunes my 1996 album, The Pros and Cons of Passion, using the original 1996 CD master. It was an album I was always fond of and felt saddened when it never saw the light of day. I'd put three tracks from it on iTunes in 2007, (the Walk On The Wild Side E.P.) which became one of my most downloaded releases, so there was an appetite for the material, and I'm pleased the whole album is now commercially available at last.



And in October 2008, Volume 2 of my live recordings from The Briton's Protection in Manchester, More From The Room Upstairs was released on iTunes. Volume 1, In The Room Upstairs has proved a great success with people, so it made sense to have another listen to the recordings I didn't use for that to see if we could put together a second release. With performances of Goodbye Suzie, Family Man and Dear Glitterheart amongst the 11 tracks, I think More From the Room Upstairs will be a worthy companion to Vol. 1.



Navigate Home was released on iTunes in April at the same time as 'These Fifty Years - The Best Of John Howard', 16 tracks from my 35-year recording career plus two new recordings made specially for the album. And in September 2009 my entire catalogue was made available across all digital platforms, including iTunes, e-music, Napster and Amazon MP3 Downloads.
During 2010 I've released three albums, two are reissues of earlier albums which now include extra bonus cuts, one is Volume 3 in my demos and rarities series. The latter, 'Making Tracks' brings together all the recordings I've made but not released from 2001-2009. 'As I Was Saying (Special Edition)' is a reissue of my 2005 'comeback' album which now features a new sleeve and four bonus cuts not previously released including two live takes. 'Can You Hear Me OK? (Special Edition)' is a reissue of my 1976/2005 album, now featuring a new sleeve and two bonus cuts not on the original RPM album.
Now in 2011, my latest studio album, Exhibiting Tendencies' is to be released in February and you can hear tracks from the album on my My Space Music Player as well as my Facebook page (Google 'John Howard Singer Songwriter Facebook' to find me there).



Click here to find me on iTunes:
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