More Howard Jones Reissues on the Way

Note: in my haste I forgot to accredit the fine Addicted to Vinyl for first mentioning the Wounded Bird reissue of The 12″ Album, which in turn led to my checking for new remasters and having something to report. Thanks, guys!

The Howard Jones box set from late last year, which compiled remasters of Humans Lib and Dream Into Action alongside a bonus disc of vintage live cuts – was a fun if light tribute to one of the more underrated artists of the ’80s. Happily, Jones’ independent label, Dtox Records, is looking to replicate that success with more reissues.

In a news post reported just before Christmas, HoJo’s official site mentioned that a second box set is on the way, which will collect both of Jones’ early remix albums: 1984’s The 12″ Album (the first LP appearance of hit “Like to Get to Know You Well”) and Action Replay (1986), the U.S.-exclusive EP which included the artist’s biggest U.S. hit, “No One is to Blame,” in a re-recorded version produced by Phil Collins. Much like the last box, a bonus disc will be included, which looks to collect other remixes that weren’t included across these two EPs.

“We are currently in the process of ordering and processing the original master tapes from Warner’s vaults,” the release went on. “More details will be announced on the track order as soon as we can confirm if all the tapes we have requested still exist.” While that line is a bit of a cause for concern, Jones nevertheless hopes to have the second box ready for February or March.

This discussion of collating the tapes casts suspicion from this writer over a recent reissue of The 12″ Album by Wounded Bird Records (WOU-543). Ideally, the forthcoming Dtox box will be as clear as any release these mixes (which we’ve had fun discussing in earlier Reissue Theory posts) have ever earned on CD.

Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Tags:
Mike Duquette
Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, having written at and worked for all three major catalogue music labels and contributing to Allmusic, Billboard, Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Classic Rock. He's penned liner notes for Verve, Chess, Mondo and Soul Music Records.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.

You Might Also Like

0 thoughts on “More Howard Jones Reissues on the Way”

  1. I’m stoked….and especially stoked to also read at his website that a live set is on the way, collecting his full album performances of Dream Into Action and Human’s Lib….CD and DVD…I’m down with that!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.