Cherry Red Records has a pair of treats for fans of English singer-songwriter and ’80s synthpop hero Howard Jones.  On November 30, the label will expand and remaster Jones’ chart-topping debut album Human’s Lib and its follow-up, Dream Into Action.

Originally issued in March 1984, Human’s Lib rocketed into the U.K. Album Chart at No. 1 with sales of over 100,000 units in the first week alone.  The double platinum smash spent a total of 57 weeks on the British chart, and yielded four top 20 hits (two of which made the U.S. Billboard top 40, as well): “New Song” (No.3), “What Is Love?” (No.2), “Hide and Seek” (No.12), and “Pearl in the Shell” (No.7).

Jones’ success continued with Dream Into Action.  The March 1985 release soared to No. 2 in the U.K., attaining Gold certification.  It, too, contained four top 20 hits: “Things Can Only Get Better” (No.6),
“Look Mama” (No. 10), “Life in One Day” (No.14) and “No One Is To Blame” (No.16).  That wasn’t all; the original CD issue also contained Jones’ non-LP single from the previous year, “Like to Get to Know You Well,” and that went to No. 4.  In the U.S., Dream became Jones’ breakthrough, getting to No. 10 on the Billboard 200 and going Platinum.  “Things Can Only Get Better” (No. 5) and “Life in One Day” (No. 19) mirrored their U.K. success, while a re-recorded version of “No One Is to Blame” featuring Phil Collins on vocals and drums became a top 5 smash single.  It remains Jones’ signature song in America.

Cherry Red has teamed with Jones to reissue both albums in four formats:

Single CD:

• Remastered versions of the original CD release, including bonus single sides
• 8-page booklets with track-by-track notes from the artist

Vinyl:

• Strictly limited-edition green (Dream Into Action) or white (Human’s Lib) vinyl release
• Inner sleeve containing rare photos and track-by-track annotation from the artist

Deluxe Expanded 2CD/1DVD Set:

• Each album housed in a digipak with 16-page booklet of photos, notes, and track-by-track annotations
• Featuring previously unreleased studio and live versions plus new-to-CD tracks.
• Includes a DVD (NTSC/Region Free) containing rare early footage of Howard rehearsing at the Gordon’s Arms in High Wycombe plus his Living Room demos, BBC TV appearances, and promotional videos.

Super Deluxe 12″ x 12″ Box Set – Human’s Lib:

• THE DELUXE EXPANDED 2CD+DVD SET
• 12″ PICTURE DISC FEATURING THE STEG ORIGINAL ALBUM FRONT COVER ARTWORK
• THE WHITE TAPE REPLICA PRE-CONTRACT DEMO CASSETTE CONTAINING REMASTERED VERSIONS OF FOUR ORIGINAL DEMO TRACKS
• AN EXTRA BONUS CD CONTAINING FURTHER PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED STUDIO, LIVE AND BBC SESSION AND REMASTERED TRACKS
• THE LONG DELETED LIVE IN JAPAN CONCERT RELEASED ON DVD FOR THE FIRST TIME & A REPLICA OF THE ORIGINAL HOWARD JONES FAN CLUB “RISK” MEMBERSHIP CARD
• HUMAN’S LIB ARTWORK LITHOGRAPH
• REPLICA OF HUMAN’S LIB 1984 TOUR PROGRAM
• SET OF 5 BUTTON BADGES

Super Deluxe 12″ x 12″ Box Set – Dream Into Action:

• THE DELUXE EXPANDED 2CD+DVD SET
• 12″ PICTURE DISC FEATURING ORIGINAL ALBUM FRONT COVER ARTWORK
• AN EXTRA BONUS CD CONTAINING THE FARMYARD SESSIONS PLUS OTHER PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED AND REMASTERED TRACKS
• THE LONG DELETED LAST WORLD DREAM CONCERT RELEASED ON DVD FOR THE FIRST TIME & A REPLICA OF THE HOWARD JONES FAN CLUB “RISK” MEMBERSHIP CARD
• DREAM INTO ACTION ARTWORK LITHOGRAPH
• REPLICA OF DREAM INTO ACTION 1985 TOUR PROGRAMME
• SET OF 4 BUTTON BADGES

These lavish sets are due from Cherry Red on November 30.  You’ll find the complete track listings below!  All Amazon links are currently inactive, but we’ll add as soon as they go live!  All titles are currently available for pre-order directly through Cherry Red!

Human’s Lib: Deluxe Expanded Edition (Cherry Red (U.K.), 2018)

Expanded CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2CD/DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
White Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3CD/2DVD/Picture LP/Cassette: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

* denotes previously unreleased track
** denotes track previously unreleased on CD

CD 1

1. Conditioning
2. What Is Love?
3. Pearl In The Shell
4. Hide & Seek
5. Hunt The Self
6. New Song
7. Don’t Always Look At The Rain
8. Equality
9. Natural
10. Human’s Lib
11. China Dance
12. New Song (Portugese 7″ Single Mix) **
13. What Is Love? (Rough Mix) *
14. Don’t Put These Curses On Me (Instrumental) *
15. Human’s Lib (Farmyard Mix) *
16. Pearl In The Shell (Rough Mix) *
17. New Song (Mix Take 1) *

Tracks 1-10 released as WEA WX1 (U.K.)/Elektra 40335 (U.S.), 1984
Track 11 from “Hide & Seek” 12″ – WEA HOW 3T, 1984
Track 12 from “New Song” single – WEA 229 24-9672-7 (Portugal), 1983

CD 2

1. New Song (Alternative 12″)
2. What Is Love? (Extended Mix)
3. Hide & Seek (Extended Version)
4. Pearl In The Shell (U.S. 12″ Mix)
5. Conditioning (Original Mix)
6. New Song (New Extended Mix) *
7. Hunt The Self (Live At The Marquee)
8. Bounce Right Back (Instrumental) *
9. Total Conditioning
10. Law Of The Jungle
11. Always Asking Questions (Rough Mix) *
12. Equality (Rough Mix) *
13. Hide & Seek (Rough Mix) *

Track 1 from RISK bonus disc from The 12″ Album / Action Replay box set – DTOX SET2, 2011
Tracks 2 and 7 from “What Is Love” 12″ – WEA HOW 2T, 1983
Track 3 from “Hide & Seek” 12″ – WEA HOW 3T, 1984
Track 4 from “Pearl In The Shell” 12″ promo – Elektra ED-4992 (U.S.), 1984
Track 5 from “New Song” 12″ – WEA HOW 1T, 1983
Tracks 9-10 from “Pearl In The Shell” 12″ – WEA HOW 4T, 1984

DVD 1

1. Conditioning (Rehearsal At The Gordon Arms, High Wycombe)
2. Human’s Lib (Rehearsal At The Gordon Arms, High Wycombe)
3. Equality (Rehearsal At The Gordon Arms, High Wycombe)
4. Risk (Living Room Demo)
5. Dreams Of a Better Place (Living Room Demo)
6. Love? (Living Room Demo)
7. Always Asking Questions (promo video)
8. New Song (Top Of The Pops  – 9/22/1983)
9. What Is Love? (Top Of The Pops – 12/8/1983)
10. What Is Love? (Oxford Road Show – 1/6/1984)
11. Hide & Seek (Top Of The Pops – 3/8/1984)
12. Equality (Old Grey Whistle Test – 3/9/1984)
13. Don’t Always Look At The Rain (Old Grey Whistle Test – 3/9/1984)
14. Pearl In The Shell (Top Of The Pops – 6/7/1984)
15. New Song (promo video)
16. What Is Love? (promo video)
17. Hide & Seek (promo video)
18. Pearl In The Shell (promo video)
19. Like To Get To Know You Well (promo video – London version)

EXCLUSIVE TO BOX SET EDITION

Picture Disc LP of original album

CD 3

1. New Song (New Farmyard Mix) *
2. Always Asking Questions (Farmyard Mix) *
3. Equality (Farmyard Mix) *
4. New Song (New Version)
5. Love? *
6. Tao Te Ching
7. Change The Man
8. Bounce Right Back (Live At The Marquee) **
9. New Song (Extended Version)
10. It Just Doesn’t Matter
11. Don’t Always Look At The Rain (Rough Mix) *
12. New Song (New Mix Version 2) *
13. Don’t Put These Curses On Me (Kid Jensen BBC Session – March 1983) *
14. Natural (Kid Jensen BBC Session – March 1983) *
15. New Song (Kid Jensen BBC Session – March 1983) *
16. Human’s Lib (Kid Jensen BBC Session – March 1983) *

Track 5 from self-released demo cassette, 1982
Track 6 from “Hide & Seek” single – WEA HOW 3, 1984
Track 7 from “New Song” single – WEA HOW 1, 1983
Track 8 from bonus 7″ included with select copies of “What Is Love” 12″ – WEA SAM 183, 1983
Track 9 from The 12″ Album – WEA WX-14, 1984
Track 10 from “What Is Love?” single – WEA HOW 2, 1983

Self-released demo cassette, 1982 *

1. Human’s Lib
2. Love
3. Risk
4. Always Asking Questions

DVD 2: Live In Japan (originally released as Warner Home Video 12WV32, 1984)

1. New Song
2. Tao Te Ching
3. Hunt The Self
4. Pearl In The Shell
5. Bounce Right Back
6. Hide & Seek
7. Always Asking Questions
8. Dreams Of a Better Place
9. Like To Get To Know You Well
10. Equality
11. Natural
12. Conditioning
13. Don’t Always Look At The Rain
14. What Is Love?

Recorded at NHK Hall, Tokyo – 9/23/1984

Dream Into Action: Deluxe Expanded Edition (Cherry Red (U.K.), 2018)

Expanded CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2CD/DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Green Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3CD/2DVD/Picture LP/Cassette: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD 1

1. Things Can Only Get Better
2. Life In One Day
3. Dream Into Action
4. No One Is To Blame
5. Look Mama
6. Assault and Battery
7. Automaton
8. Is There a Difference?
9. Elegy
10. Specialty
11. Why Look For The Key
12. Hunger For The Flesh
13. Bounce Right Back
14. Like To Get To Know You Well
15. No One Is To Blame (Remake) *
16. Like To Get To Know You Well (Demo Recorded In Howard’s Front Room) *
17. No One Is To Blame (The Long Mix – Janice Long BBC Session) **

Tracks 1-12 released as WEA WX-15 (U.K.), 1985
Tracks 13-14 from “Like To Get To Know You Well” single – WEA HOW 5, 1984
Track 17 from “No One Is To Blame” 12″ – WEA HOW 9T, 1986

CD 2

1. No One Is To Blame (Single Mix)
2. Like To Get To Know You Well (International Remix)
3. Things Can Only Get Better (Extended Mix)
4. Look Mama (U.K. Extended Mix) **
5. Life In One Day (Part 1)
6. Life In One Day (Part 2)
7. No One Is To Blame (Extended Mix)
8. Learning How To Love
9. Boom Bap Respite
10. The Chase
11. No One Is To Blame (Lambs & Planes Mix) *
12. Bounce Right Back (Cause & Effect Mix)

Tracks 1 and 10 from “No One Is To Blame” single – WEA HOW 9, 1986
Track 2 from “Like To Get To Know You Well” 12″ – WEA HOW 5T, 1985
Track 3 from “Things Can Only Get Better” 12″ – WEA HOW 6T, 1985
Tracks 4 and 8 from “Look Mama” 12″ – WEA HOW 7T, 1985
Tracks 5-6 and 9 from “Life In One Day” 12″ – WEA HOW 8T, 1985
Track 7 from “No One Is To Blame” 12″ – WEA HOW 9T, 1986

DVD 1

1. No One Is To Blame (Old Grey Whistle Test – 1/29/1985)
2. Things Can Only Get Better (Old Grey Whistle Test – 1/29/1985)
3. Look Mama (Old Grey Whistle Test – 1/29/1985)
4. Things Can Only Get Better (Top Of The Pops – 2/21/1985)
5. Look Mama (Wogan – 4/24/1985)
6. No One Is To Blame (Wogan – 3/7/1986)
7. Like To Get To Know You Well (promo video – U.S. version)
8. Things Can Only Get Better (promo video)
9. Look Mama (promo video)
10. Life In One Day (promo video)
11. No One Is To Blame (promo video)
12. Life In One Day (promo video – alternate broadcast version)

EXCLUSIVE TO BOX SET EDITION

Picture Disc LP of original album

CD 3

1. Things Can Only Get Better (Early Version – Farmyard Sessions) *
2. Dream Into Action (Early Version – Farmyard Sessions) *
3. No One Is To Blame (Early Version – Farmyard Sessions) *
4. Look Mama (Early Version – Farmyard Sessions) *
5. Assault & Battery (Early Version – Farmyard Sessions) *
6. Automaton (Robot Man) (Early Version – Farmyard Sessions) *
7. Is There a Difference? (Early Version – Farmyard Sessions) *
8. Elegy (Early Version – Farmyard Sessions) *
9. Specialty (Early Version – Farmyard Sessions) *
10. Why Look For The Key (Early Version – Farmyard Sessions) *
11. Hunger For The Flesh (Early Version – Farmyard Sessions) *
12. Like To Get To Know You Well (Alternative Mix) **
13. Things Can Only Get Better (Remixed) *
14. No One Is To Blame (TV Mix) *
15. Things Can Only Get Better (Radio Mix) *
16. You Jazzy Nork!

Track 16 from “Things Can Only Get Better” 12″ – WEA HOW 6T, 1985

DVD 2: Last World Dream – Live In Concert (originally released as Elektra 40103-3 (U.S.), 1986)

1. Pearl In The Shell
2. You Know I Love You…Don’t You?
3. Like To Get To Know You Well
4. No One Is To Blame
5. Life In One Day
6. Look Mama
7. Will You Still Be There?
8. Always Asking Questions
9. Hide & Seek
10. Dream Into Action
11. What Is Love?
12. New Song
13. Things Can Only Get Better