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Howard Jones records with the Orpheus, May 2009

 









 

Click on the title in the player above to hear Howard Jones speaking with Alan Thompson on BBC Radio Wales' "Evening Show". With thanks to the BBC for permission to host this recording.

 

Click here to take you to Howard Jones' website

SYNTH-POP star Howard Jones went back to his roots in May when he recorded with the Morriston Orpheus Choir in Cwm Chapel Swansea. Bursting onto the scene in the early 1980s with New Song, Jones had a string of hits like Life In One Day, What Is Love?, Like to Get to Know You Well and Hide and Seek.

 
 

During the past 25 years, he has sold more than eight million records. The new song he recorded with the Orpheus, Soon You’ll Go, is for his new album  Ordinary Heroes. 

 
 
















 
Howard Jones said: “I spent some of my childhood in Cardiff and remember the Morriston Orpheus Choir performing at a local church in Rhiwbina and that memory stayed with me. My mother was also from Treboeth in Swansea, and one of my uncles was actually a member of the Morriston Orpheus, so I went along to one of their rehearsals and they agreed to sing on this track, which is excellent.”
The link-up between Howard Jones and the Orpheus has been a particular pleasure for the Choir’s Musical Director Joy Amman Davies who is a big fan of Howard Jones.
Joy said: “I went to some of Howard’s concerts in the ’80s but I never imagined then that I would be meeting him, let alone performing with him on one of his albums! What an exciting prospect it was for me to receive a phone call from Howard Jones himself asking if the Morriston Orpheus Choir would be willing to sing on his new release Soon You’ll Go. We immediately said yes to and we feel very touched that he has asked us. When Howard and I met up to discuss matters regarding the song, he did disclose to me the fact that he had heard the Morriston Orpheus Choir when he was a very young boy and was very moved by the sheer warmth of the sound which had a lasting impact on him.
His new song is about the letting go process that parents have to confront when their offspring leave the nest to venture into the world and face their unpredictable futures. It is a song of great love and protection for his daughter who will leave home soon.”
 

On Friday 13 November 2009, the Morriston Orpheus Choir, along with thousands of their fellow countrymen travelled to Cardiff.

For the Choir however the venue was not to be the Millennium Stadium and the Autumn International between Wales and Samoa, but nearby St David's Hall where an equally enthusiastic audience had gathered to see Howard Jones in the final concert of his Ordinary Heroes Tour.

Howard had invited the Choir to open the concert with a number of favourites from their extensive reportoire.

For the Choir however the highlight of the evening was joining Howard in the concert finale (see below) to sing two of the songs featured on his Ordinary Heroes album. First came "Straight Ahead" followed by "Soon You'll Go"  which Howard recorded with the Choir earlier this year and which has also been released as a single.



 

 

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