Interview: Howard Jones to lead ultimate '80s party at Artpark

‘Things Can Only Get Better’ tour features Jones, Wang Chung, English Beat, Modern English & host Richard Blade

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

Dust off your shoulder pads and acid-washed jeans; pull out the Walkman, warm up the synthesizer and open the line for Members-Only: The 1980s is returning to Lewiston – and in a big way.

Platinum-selling recording artist Howard Jones will bring his “Things Can Only Get Better” tour to Artpark on Wednesday, Aug. 12. The singer behind songs “Life In One Day,” “Like To Get To Know You Well,” “New Song,” “What Is Love?” and the titular “Things Can Only Get Better” will be joined by fellow ’80s hitmakers:

Wang Chung // courtesy of Wolfson Entertainment and Hired Gun Media

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•Wang Chung (“Everybody Have Fun Tonight,” “Don’t Be My Enemy,” “Don’t Let Go,” “Let’s Go,” “Dance Hall Days”)

English Beat photo by Jay Gilbert // courtesy of Wolfson Entertainment and Hired Gun Media

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•English Beat (“Stand Down Margaret,” “Get A Job,” “I Confess”, “Save It For Later,” "Mirror In The Bathroom”)

Modern English // courtesy of Wolfson Entertainment and Hired Gun Media

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•Modern English (“I Melt With You,” “Hands Across The Sea,” “Someone's Calling”)

Richard Blade // courtesy of Wolfson Entertainment and Hired Gun Media

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•SiriusXM host Richard Blade will emcee.

The show begins at 6 p.m.

“I've always wanted to have my own sort of mini-festival, where I curated the lineup of the show,” Jones said in a recent interview. “I was talking with our agents and my manager, Jonathan Wolfson, and I didn't think that it would come so quickly, but everybody's got behind it.

“ ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ tour is something we plan to have every year, and I'll choose some of my other great friends to accompany me; and then really give people a great time, in terms of the bands enjoy it, the audience enjoys it, and everyone gets on together backstage – and you feel that out the front.

“It's quite an undertaking, but it feels really good. It's going very well so far. So, hopefully, we will be doing this every year. There's loads of people I've got on my list to join me for the future, as well.”

Howard Jones photo by Rudy Gray // courtesy of Wolfson Entertainment and Hired Gun Media

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For the show at Artpark, “Wang Chung – Jack Hues is a friend of mine from way back, and we've never toured together, but I love their music,” Jones said. “When Jack was a professor at an English university, he invited me to kind of do a seminar for his students, which was great fun to do. And so, we got to know each other through that.

“And then, English Beat I have toured with, and they're such a great band live. The energy that they put out is just so incredibly infectious, and obviously very different from what I do, as well, music genre-wise. But I love it.

“And then Modern English; I've talked with them before. Very nice people with great songs.

“Of course, I mustn't forget Richard Blade, who's hosting and introducing and giving us a bit of pop history from the ’80s, educating us. He's so cool to have around.

“All the ingredients are there (laughs). Fingers crossed.”

“As you say, it's a whole night of music and songs that people are going to know. I mean, what's not to like?” Jones added. “I'm very keen to take this on for the future now, and that's how it's going to go forward.”

Though Jones’ curated concert will heavily feature fan-favorite songs, he’s quick to note his own set will include new material.

Jones recently released “Stand Up,” a single from his forthcoming “Global Citizen” album.

Interestingly, Jones dove back into the ’80s for this one. He had his 40-year-old-plus Roland Jupiter-8 keyboard – the synth used on his biggest hits – refurbished and put back to work.

“It was such fun because, obviously, I used to be programming the Jupiter-8 all the time, so it's like muscle memory to actually create sounds on it,” Jones said. “And I was just thinking, ‘This sounds so good.’ I mean, the (modern) software is great and everything, but the actual original synths – nothing can quite sound like them; so, I was having a lot of inspiration from just how good it sounds.”

Creating new music is a habit Jones can’t kick – “It is what I do. I can't help myself, really,” he said. “I'm always writing and creating new things in the studio. I'm in the studio every day. It’s who I am (laughs), so, I can't really stop myself.

“I mean, I don't have any illusion about how far the music will travel now, but I know my wonderful fans around the world: They love to hear new things that I'm doing. As long as it gets to them, then I'm really happy. I don't have great expectations for No. 1 records or anything like that. I make the music (and) I don't compromise on it sounding as good as it possibly can. It's just what I do.”

Howard Jones photo by Jasper Jones Gray // courtesy of Wolfson Entertainment and Hired Gun Media

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Something else Jones is known for – and what will be evident at Artpark – is that “I really do put a lot of effort into the details … and I love putting on a show,” he said. “Obviously, first thing is making it sound really good. I’ve always been a big fan of new technology, and it's great when you can present the music and it sounds amazing. Because, at a live show, that's the only time you're going to hear everything that loud and that clear – through a great PA. So, we spend a lot of time working every day on fine-tuning the sounds that are coming from the stage, so that people can really enjoy it.

“And then, there's the whole effort to sort of reinvent some of the classic Ho-Jo songs to bring them a bit more up to date and to sometimes do some remixes of them and play around with them. Every time that I play somewhere it's different, and people will get something new and hopefully be excited by that.

“I love going to see artists who have that ethos, as well – people who really care about how it sounds, and how it looks, and the clothes that people wear. It's a show, and you want to be excited by it. That's the motivation for that.”

Tickets for the “Things Can Only Get Better” tour are on sale online at www.artpark.net, and at Artpark, 450 S. Fourth St., Lewiston.