It was 1983 when Howard Jones laid out his manifesto with his first synth-pop single, New Song calling on pop fans to challenge their preconceived ideas and throw off their mental chains.
New Song shot up the charts and over the next few years a surge of hit singles such as What Is Love?, Things Can Only Get Better, Pearl and The Shell and Hide and Seek followed establishing Jones not only in the UK but also in America.
Over a quarter of a century later, Jones still performs regularly to his legion of fans on both sides of the Atlantic and the new Cherry Red three CD set, Best, is a timely reminder of his career to date.
Compiled carefully into greatest hits, best album tracks and live acoustic performances, each CD could almost be a standalone album. All three however are lovingly curated to show three sides of Jones career and complement each other rather than contradict.
Andy Howells