Here are some useful links for buying John's albums:
NAVIGATE HOME (2009 album, 13 new tracks including the single 'Lion In My Winter', album sleeve designed by Ian Hazeldine of Lumen and 'antonymes', available to download from iTunes, e-music, Napster, Amazon MP3 Downloads).
THESE FIFTY YEARS - THE BEST OF JOHN HOWARD (kid 1014) (35 years after John's first single, Goodbye Suzie, was released comes this 18-track compilation of some of John's most popular and most requested tracks over the years. The album also includes two brand new tracks, specially recorded for this album.)
To buy go to iTunes, e-music, Napster, Amazon MP3 Downloads or visit www.kidinabigworld.co.uk/discography.html
BAREFOOT WITH ANGELS (HPR009) (Released by Hanky Panky Records in January 2008. Featuring 12 new Howard originals. In Digipack Format. Sleeve and lyric booklet designed by Ian Hazeldine of Lumen)
To buy this album go to: www.cargorecords.co.uk/release_zoom.php?item=5019
KID IN A BIG WORLD (RPM 271) (John's debut album recorded 1974 and released in 1975, reissued by RPM in 2003 with added bonus tracks including previously unreleased demos, a rare B side and an alternative mix of Goodbye Suzie)
TECHNICOLOUR BIOGRAPHY (RPM 282) (the planned follow-up to Kid In A Big World, never completed or released, until RPM's 2004 CD release, with added bonus cuts including alternative versions of Kid In A Big World, Family Man and Goodbye Suzie plus the theme song from the 1975 Peter Fonda movie 'Open Season')
CAN YOU HEAR ME OK? (RPM 293) (the completed follow-up to Kid In A Big World, planned for February 1976 release but not issued until 2005 by RPM, includes John's 1976 single 'I Got My Lady' plus the Trevor Horn-produced 1978/79 singles, and a 1975 video clip of John performing 'I Got My Lady')
AS I WAS SAYING (CDBRED 293) (released by Cherry Red in 2005, this was John's first album release for thirty years featuring his words and music, with Andre Barreau on guitar and Phil King on bass. Sleeve and lyric booklet designed by Lora Findlay)
THE DANGEROUS HOURS (BP 1001) (released by Bad Pressings in 2005, this was John's first collaboration with poet/lyricist Robert Cochrane. Sleeve and lyric booklet designed by Gary Parkinson)
SAME BED, DIFFERENT DREAMS (euro 009) (released in France by Eurovisions in 2006, then by Cargo internationally in 2007, John began work on this album in early '04, but completion was delayed till early '06, also features bonus cuts of outtakes from As I Was Saying and The Dangerous Hours)
You can also purchase all the above albums from iTunes. Here's the link to John Howard on iTunes: ..
You can also now purchase all John's albums from e-music, Napster, Amazon MP3 Downloads. The entire catalogue is now available across all digital platforms.
ONLINE RELEASES AVAILABLE FROM iTunes, e-music, Napster, Amazon MP3 Downloads:
"Sketching The Landscape - Demos 1973-1979" - this is a new compilation of previously unreleased demos, including the original demo for Guess Who's Coming To Dinner. None of these tracks have been commercially released before.
"Creating Impressions - Singles & Rarities 1980-1990" - featuring many tracks which have not been commercially released before plus some singles which have not been available commercially since they were first released in the early '80s. Tracks produced by Steve Levine are featured, as well as John's last ever single release, Nothing More To Say But Goodbye.
"The Pros & Cons of Passion - The Original Cut" - recorded in 1996 but never released commercially till now, though three tracks from the album are now available as an iTunes exclusive E.P., "Walk On The Wild Side". This is the original running order, taken from the 1996 CD master.
In The Room Upstairs (Recorded live at Manchester's Briton's Protection in May and June 2006, released on iTunes in June 2007, featuring many new songs written specially for the occasion as well as some old favourites, such as Kid In A Big World and Maybe Someday In Miami)
More From The Room Upstairs - Live At The Briton's Protection Vol.2: the follow-up to In The Room Upstairs features Howard favourites performed live, such as 'Goodbye Suzie', 'Dear Glitterheart', 'Family Man' as well as two new previously unreleased songs.
E.P.s now available to download from iTunes, e-music, Napster, Amazon MP3 Downloads:
WALK ON THE WILD SIDE: Walk On The Wild Side/Angels, Punks and Raging Queens/Walk On The Wild Side (Miles' Mix) Cat. No. icons 001
MY BEAUTIFUL DAYS: My Beautiful Days/Echoes Of A Better Time/My Beautiful Days (live version) Cat. No. beautiful 1
THE BEWLAY BROTHERS: The Bewlay Brothers/Suzanne/(Talk To Me Of) Mendocino Cat. No. icons 002
SONGS FOR THE LOST AND FOUND: Canadian Man/Saunders Ferry Lane/Forsaken/Be Not So Fearful Cat. No. icons 003
SONGS FOR A LIFETIME: A 1970 Song/Michael From Mountains/Another Day/Sad Eyed Lady of The Lowlands/A 1970 Song 2 (Icons 5)
To buy these Albums and EPs from iTunes go to the following link:
HERE ARE SOME QUOTES FROM PRESS REVIEWS FOR JOHN'S ALBUMS:
RUTA 66 Magazine, 'Barefoot With Angels' Review (Eduardo Ranedo):
“This is an ordered, exquisite record, full of delicate pieces. Magnificent compositions, intricate but complete, that convey the greatness of the best pop of the ‘70s. Dignified pure talent. This should find success with an audience whose tastes are cultured, without prejudice and with an appreciation for fine pop music.”
Snaz Music 'Same Bed, Different Dreams' Review (Tony Bartolo):
"Same Bed is in many parts a wiser grandparent to Kid In A Big World...On this very fine album there are 16 tracks that have their own agenda, they are sung by a man who has had a life and wants you to share in that world, are you ready for the challenge?" ****
Plan B Magazine 'As I Was Saying' Review (Dickon Edwards):
"His pristine velvet tones startlingly unfettered by the years...the writing (is) now laced with the kind of tragicomic poignancy and arch wisdom only decades in the sidleines can command....Dear Glitterheart and The Time of Day are heartbreaking classics of elegant balladeering in anyone's book."
The Guardian 'The Dangerous Hours' Review (Alexis Petridis):
"Thirty years on, he still sounds astonishing - a man making up for lost time with enviable panache...the intervening decades have done nothing to blunt the edge on Howard's songs" ****
Uncut 'Can You Hear Me OK?' Review (Max Bell):
"It's terrific - all end-of-the-affair gloom, undercut by effete pragmatism...Howard's end? Hardly." ****
Record Collector, 'Technicolour Biography' Review (Steve Rippon):
"Stripped of band and orchestrations, the writing shines through. Howard's thrilling voice soars on the Nilsson-like Hall of Mirrors" ****
Uncut 'Kid In A Big World' Review (Paul Lester):
"Kid In A Big World is a magnificent collection of rococo balladry and florid vignettes from a singer-songwriter who might have rivalled Elton or Bowie..." *****
Influences
I've written a blog which details how the following artists and others affected and influenced my songwriting, which you might want to peruse. Oddly enough the blog is called My Influences. But, in brief, here are those who I guess influenced me the most:
The Beatles, Brian Wilson, Jimmy Webb, George Martin, Laura Nyro, David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Jim Croce, Roy Harper, Burt Bacharach, Bob Dylan, The Everly Brothers, Joni Mitchell, Noel Coward, Lerner and Loewe, Leonard Cohen, Scott Walker, Ray Davies, Joe Meek, Jacques Brel, Gilbert O'Sullivan ('70/'71 period), The Ronettes, Tony Meehan, The Incredible String Band, Stephen Sondheim, Terry Riley, Kenny Everett, Harry Nilsson, The Turtles, Judy Garland, Roxy Music, Edvard Grieg, Jean Genet, Edith Piaf, Marvin Gaye, Dylan Thomas, Samuel Barber, Sonny & Cher ('65/'66 period), Mamas & Papas, Dusty Springfield, Roy Orbison, Phil Spector, Cole Porter
Sounds Like
To check on the whole list of JH tracks on iTunes go to: ..
Rodney Collins Show on Offshore Music Radio has been a great supporter of my music over the last few months, playing tracks from various albums, currently he is playing the ad for my new album Navigate Home as well as playing tracks from the album. Lion In My Winter is now playlisted on Offshore Music Radio, as well as Isles FM and Replay Radio. Below is Rodney's airing schedule on OMR (all times are UK times so add on/subtract the hours relevant to your part of the world).
Sunday 12.00-13.20
Wednesday 13.00-14.20
Thursday 20.00-21.20
Saturday 08.00 - 09.20
JOHN HOWARD ON BBC RADIO 4's MIDWEEK: includes an interview with me about my recording career where I chat about my then new album As I Was Saying (the programme was first broadcast December 28th 2005): To hear the programme go to www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/midweek_20051228.shtml
and click on the 'Listen Again' option
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.
My new studio album, Navigate Home, was released on iTunes in April. Also on iTunes is '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.
Wow John, what a fantastic compliment from a master songwriter and singer, we are touched you took the time out. Your stuff is peerless, always has been. Happy new year to you too lets hope its a great one for us both. Deal are as rare as hens teeth at the moment though - still we'll plug away:-)
Dear Friends John & Neil...My very best wishes for the new year 2010!. Hope the Big Music will flow from John as usual, to our delight. Due to our common bonds with pets let me tell you that myself and my kitten Cuqui enjoy hugely the pictures of your venerable felines Daisy, Doris and George. Fuerte abrazo Amigos! and also the best for all the good people who shares the passion for John´s truly extraordinary Sounds. Antonio from Madrid
for the love of me, i cant imagine what christmas might be like in spain...especially from your point of view where previous winters were wet and cold,and the sweetheart was probably doing endless taxi work..i bet he doesnt miss that!.....love to you both....we love your music john.
yes..the interior of your home is just great...when i looked at that picture i thought of the huge shift it was for you both to leave england...and its very nice to see how its all worked out...its the good life.
when you sing 'all this time'...in the middle of the song.'where you ponder on the huge amount of time there's been between the both of you,i'm instantly struck at the vast amount of time and emotional investment...its vast...and when you sing that line,it's like standing on a cliff edge and looking down and getting vertigo.....its a great moment in the recording...you haven't hit a plateau in these later years john...its not easy to achieve that.....loads of writers just sort of settle for second best in themselves in later years before they eventually give up...you haven't done that......this period of your life in terms of songwriting has such depth...its a struggle keeping up...the bones get so lazy..but you have fought that laziness off and raised the bar even higher than your 'kid in a big world days'....
the singing is great...the skin tissue around your voice box sounds healthy and hydrated.
yes...the 'failure and reputation' was pointed at one specific prick who wrote on this very website in black and white that 'the man's a failure'...while the overly confident dick smoker himself had never done anything to fail with...
i'd been sitting chatting with ronnie wood earlier on in the day drooling over his cute beefy bodyguard,and the two contrasting experiences came together to trigger the song....i sat up all night with tears crawling down my face as i shat those words out of my faggy little arse.
isn't miss ashton one emotionally constipated fusty old brut of a teacher ....i do hope you sent her one of your records to let her know what a good fortune it was that she let you go ....the cow!!!!...i've heard that song a few timesbefore,but today i really chewed the fat on that one....there are amazing things on your player right now.
and then...isn't that the truth.....i'm not listening to these in one fell swoop..my attention deficit disorder gets in the way of everything...but everyday i'm coming back and for four minutes its just one hundred percent your song......over the course of time,i'm not the only one john...others have their one hundred per cent john howard moment too,and that's so much substantial than a million meaningless shrill hits to the website..........flying beneath the radar is a very wise,modern and beautiful thing.
Yoko was great - It was her first time playing as The Plastic Ono Band since 1969 - in the band this time she had her son Sean playing drums, guitar and piano and there were cameo appearances from Ornette Coleman, Mark Ronson & Antony Hegarty, who sang two songs with her.
I think you're right about her having a new audience now, I'd seen her before in 1996 and 90% of the audience then was made up of fans of The Beatles just wanting to see John's wife, but it didn't feel like that this time and she got a great reception - she's gone from the woman who broke up The Beatles to an influence on many current artists.
I do apologise for any lyrical errors - I'm so bad at remembering the exact words, but Pearl Parade was in my head all the way on my journey to work this morning ... and I wasn't even playing music this morning ...
Hello John Thanks for the lovely comment, i'm feeling a lot better now thanks. I see you've been busy! Looks like i've got some catching up to do. Wonderful title by the way. Paul
Happy Easter John. I'm enjoying the tunes on your player. I love your rich, warm, soothing vocals and the gentle plings on the keys..have a beautiful day!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN. IT'S GREAT TO SEE YOUR CAREER IN MUSIC IS HAVING A REVIVAL IN YOUR MID. FIFTIES. I'M 54 AND MINE HAS NOT YET STARTED! IF YOU HAVE A LISTEN TO THE SONGS ON MY PROFILE YOU'LL PROBABLY SEE WHY!
Hi John, just on itunes and as I've purchased some of the tracks that are featured on These Fifty Years previously, I was able to complete the whole album for just £1.58 - total bargain.
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Online Now!
