Howard Jones’ third studio album marked a shift towards a more expansive adult pop sound, while its CD edition preserved one of the era’s most notable collaborations with Phil Collins.
Howard Jones released One To One on 13 October 1986, the third studio album of a run that had established him as one of the defining British synth-pop artists of the early 1980s. Forty years later, the album remains notable not only for its chart success, but for the unusual collection of musicians around Jones, including Nile Rodgers, Steve Ferrone, Marcus Miller and Phil Collins.
One To One reached No. 10 on the UK Albums Chart, making it another Top 10 album for Jones at a time when his electronic pop was becoming increasingly elaborate. It also reached No. 59 in the US, No. 24 in Canada and No. 65 in Australia, while the album was certified Gold in the UK.
The album followed Jones’ 1985 breakthrough Dream Into Action, which had produced the original recording of “No One Is To Blame”. That song took an unexpected turn in 1986 when Jones re-recorded it with Phil Collins, who produced the new version with Hugh Padgham and contributed drums and backing vocals.
That re-recording was added to the CD edition of One To One as a bonus track. It gives the album a direct connection to one of the biggest production and recording partnerships of the era, with Collins and Padgham bringing a different rhythmic character to Jones’ song.
The first 10 tracks on One To One were produced by Arif Mardin, with Kevin Killen engineering. The sessions were recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin and mixed at Atlantic Studios in New York, giving Jones a production environment considerably broader than the stripped-back electronic image with which he had first become associated.
The musicians assembled for the album underline that change. Guitar duties included Nile Rodgers, Reb Beach, Nick Moroch and Phil Palmer, while Mo Foster and Jones’ brother Martin Jones played bass. Steve Ferrone and Trevor Morais supplied drums, with Gary Burton on vibraphone and a substantial brass and backing vocal ensemble adding further colour.
Jones remained at the centre of the production, handling vocals, keyboards, drum and percussion programming and sequencing. The result was a record that retained electronic foundations but expanded the palette around them.
The singles also showed Jones moving across different parts of the pop market. “All I Want” was released in September 1986 and reached the Top 40 in several European countries. “You Know I Love You… Don’t You?” followed in November and reached the US Top 20, while “Little Bit of Snow”, released in March 1987, reached the UK Top 75.
The album itself is a mixture of romantic uncertainty, introspection and questions about relationships and direction. Songs such as “The Balance of Love (Give and Take)”, “Where Are We Going?” and “Will You Still Be There?” suggest a more reflective songwriter than the exuberant keyboard performer associated with Jones’ earliest hits.
That change in tone was noticed at the time. Some contemporary criticism regarded the move into a more polished adult pop setting as a dilution of the colourful character of his earlier work. The commercial results, however, placed One To One firmly within Jones’ most successful period.
The album also contains a remarkable list of less obvious contributors. The backing vocal credits include members of Afrodiziak, Marcus Miller and Fonzi Thornton, while a boys choir from St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin appears on the record. Arif Mardin arranged strings for “Little Bit of Snow”, while flute, penny whistle, brass, vibraphone and experimental instruments further broaden the sonic landscape.
The closing track on the original album is “Little Bit of Snow”, but the CD version adds the single recording of “No One Is To Blame”, making the Collins collaboration part of the album’s legacy.
Forty years on, One To One occupies an interesting position in Howard Jones’ catalogue. It captures an artist moving beyond the minimal electronic pop of his early records and into a large-scale studio production, surrounded by musicians from jazz, soul, rock and pop. The Phil Collins connection is perhaps the most recognisable detail, but the deeper story is the breadth of the musical world Jones assembled for the record.
One To One Tracklisting
“You Know I Love You… Don’t You?”
“The Balance of Love (Give and Take)”
“All I Want”
“Where Are We Going?”
“Don’t Want to Fight Anymore”
“Step into These Shoes”
“Will You Still Be There?”
“Good Luck, Bad Luck”
“Give Me Strength”
“Little Bit of Snow”
“No One Is to Blame” (Single Version)
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