Chart entered : 11 April 1992
Chart peak : 52
Another eighties pop act makes their exit here. Howard's hot streak was between 1983 and 1985 both here and in the US. "What Is Love" was his biggest hit here, reaching number 2 while in the States it was "No One Is To Blame" which got to number 4. Howard got to perform a song at Live Aid but was one of the most prominent acts to suffer lean times in its wake. His third album "One To One" failed to yield a Top 30 hit and his 1989 effort "Cross That Line" failed to make the Top 50.
"Lift Me Up" was his first release of the nineties. Written in conjunction with producer Russ Cullum, it's an uptempo number with a rather dated Fairlight brass sound. As ever , the lyrics convey nothing but a vague sense of positivity and Howard's voice remains a dreary instrument but it's a hummable tune and probably did as well as any record bearing his name was going to by this time. It's also his last hit in the US where it reached number 32.
The new album "In The Running" was released shortly afterwards. The single is untypical of the album which sees Howard trying to move into the AOR market with glossy piano-based ballads in the style of Bruce Hornsby. It proved a costly mistake. The follow up singles "Two Souls" and "Tears To Tell" were minor hits in Germany and Canada respectively but the album failed to chart anywhere.
The following year Warner Brothers wrapped up his contract with a compilation which reached number 36 in the UK. He recorded a cover of Donald Fagen's "IGY" as a taster single for the album but it was only a hit in Germany.
Howard's time in the sun was clearly over but he's continued to be an active musician with frequent tours and a string of albums on his own Dtox record label. The first one, 1993's "Working in the Bathroom" which was mainly sold at his concerts sees him drifting into moody electronica getting more morose and abstract as it goes along ; the five minute "Egypt Love Trance" sounds like he fell asleep and left the machines running.
His 1997 album "Angels & Lovers" was only released in Japan but re-packaged the following year as "People" for release on Miles and Stewart Copeland's label Ark 21, The latter was one of a number of guest stars on the LP as Howard moved back towards a sprightlier pop sound on tracks like "Let The People Have Their Say", a very minor hit in Germany ( his last anywhere ).
Howard continued to tour , often as part of eighties packages, and run his vegetarian restaurant. He played keyboards on tour for Ringo Starr in 2001. In 2005, he was approached by dance act Mohito for permission to use a sample from his 1984 hit "Like To Get To Know You Well"; Howard insisted on re-recording the part. It's the closest he's got to another hit. That same year he released his first new album in eight years with "Revolution of the Heart" matching Buddhist-inspired lyrics to electronic trance music. He manages one good song in "Just Look At You Now" but elsewhere it struggles to hold your attention and is musically threadbare in places.
Four years later came "Ordinary Heroes". It follows the same pattern as its predecessors of starting with more uptempo numbers and then slipping into lachrymose balladry. There are some nice piano melodies decorating indifferent songs.
In 2015 he released "Engage" to compliment his multimedia live show. It drops in some mock-classical instrumentals such as "5 Pianos" among the usual electronic numbers.
There's every reason to think there'll be more and you've got to admire him for plugging away in the face of public indifference. He obviously believes in what he does and seems like a good guy to have in your corner. The suspicion that he's a second rater who overachieved from having the right sound at the right time remains.
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