Howard Jones - In the Running (1992)
purchase this album (Amazon)

To type these words pains me more deeply than words can say, but it’s altogether likely that many of you aren’t — urgh — old enough to remember when Howard Jones was a commercial force to be reckoned with. Indeed, you may scoff at the notion of a Top 10 artist who got his start backing up a mime, or the idea that anyone named Howard could ever be a rock star. This is understandable, but the charts don’t lie — between, say, ‘84 and ‘89, the synth-loving HoJo was all over the radio, thanks to the sticky pop hooks embedded in oh-so-sensitive singles such as “No One Is to Blame” and “Everlasting Love.”

Then came the ’90s, and the dawn of the Nirvanazoic Era, and all wimpy keyboard-toting singer/songwriters promptly died. Howard apparently missed the memo, however, and issued what was to be his major-label swan song, In the Running, in 1992. I hope I won’t be spoiling the ending for you if I tell you that the album was not a hit. (more…)