HOWARD JONES BUILDS A NAME ACT

What’s he doing there?

It was English singer/synthesizer player Howard Jones they were speaking so condescendingly about. At the Grammy show in February he was featured in a sizzling synthesizer jam session with Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock and Thomas Dolby. Someone backstage racked that Jones being in that fast company was like a plow horse competing in a thoroughbred race.

Many people didn’t even know who he was. Backstage they were saying, “Howard who?”

You couldn’t blame them. Jones certainly wasn’t a household word. Though he had a large English following, his techno/pop music hadn’t caught on here. However, he was slowly building an audience. Touring as the Eurythmics’ opening act was a boost. Also, there had been an encouraging response last year to his debut album on Elektra Records, “Human’s Lib,” featuring the modest hit single, “What Is Love?”

“That show was a fantastic break for me,” Jones pointed out. “What great exposure. Herbie (Hancock) got the whole thing together. He liked my music and wanted to include me. Some people may have said I didn’t belong there--I don’t care about that. I did all right. It helped my credibility in America.”

Since then Jones has acquired even more credibility. His second album, “Dream Into Action,” is about to enter the Billboard magazine pop Top 10. He already has his first Top 10 single with the funky, danceable “Things Can Only Get Better” from that album. An indication of his popularity is that his Greek Theater show coming up Saturday sold out quickly. He’s also playing the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater on June 4.

Many are still unconvinced of Jones’ musical worth. He’s commonly dismissed as a Thomas Dolby rip-off or another tarnished product of the maligned British techno/pop assembly line.

This criticism makes some sense if he’s being judged by his first album, “Human’s Lib,” which is laden with inferior songs and colorless vocals. His considerable synthesizer skills shine through, but not enough to make much difference.

On “Dream Into Action” he veers into something fairly substantial. The first album wasn’t funky. This one is.

“I wanted to do things differently this time,” he explained. “I wanted the album to be funky and punchy and have more of a variety of sound. I didn’t want to be the typical synth player doing the typical synth album.”

The fans obviously like the new album much better. The critics do too. However, Jones doesn’t really know what the critics have been saying about him.

“I don’t read reviews,” he insisted. “To be honest, I don’t find them to be of much value. I used to read the music press before I put out my own album, but then I realized the true nature of what goes on with the press. That really turned me off. I listen to my friends; I value their opinions much more.”

Though he’s not in that classically “cute” category with younger English artists like the members of Wham and Duran Duran, Jones--who’s wiry, with offbeat good looks--is still coveted by legions of female fans. That’s surprising, since Jones, 30, has been married seven years and hasn’t tried to hide it. In pop music, usually only young single artists become heartthrobs.

“I know you can have a lot of fun in this business if you’re popular and you’re single,” he said. “You can get anything you want. But I’d rather be married. I’m not bothered by all the things that distract all those guys who are single. I can get more work done that way.”

Jones is one of those rather reserved people who turns into a dynamo on stage. “When you get in front of thousands of people, you’re larger than life,” he explained. “It makes me push myself to a higher level. You can’t get on stage and act normal.”

While Jones was growing up in a London suburb, he was more interested in classical piano, which he started playing at 7. After a while he acquired a taste for classical music laced with rock, Emerson-Lake-and-Palmer style. At 17 he began playing in rock bands with classical underpinnings.

During his period of playing clubs and bars, he forced himself to learn how to sing.

“Singing was something I had never planned to do,” he explained. “I was never proud of any of the singing I did. I never had much confidence in my singing. At first I was just the keyboards player and writer in bands, but I gradually got into singing. It was so scary at first. And the idea of talking to an audience terrified me. The only way I could get over it was being in front of audiences constantly.”

Jones made it even tougher on himself. He started a band in which he did not only the singing but played all the music. It was a one-man band.

“I couldn’t find anyone I liked to play with,” recalled Jones, who played synthesizers in a way that simulated the sound of a band. “I wanted to do something unique, something that hadn’t been fully explored.

“I had to overcome a lot. People expected a band--I had to show them I was just as good as a band. So many people said a one-man band wouldn’t work. That was great motivation: I wanted to prove them wrong.”

At first it seemed that Jones’ detractors would have the last laugh. “The first hundred or so shows went badly,” he said, “I had many very bad experiences on stage. But I gradually got more confident. I was learning by my mistakes and building an audience at the same time. I just kept at it, hoping it would pay off.”

His reward was a record contract, signed two years ago. “That was the first step for me,” he said. “Things have been getting better ever since.”

Jones relishes fame. It allows him to bask in the kind of life he’s always cherished.

“I love the high-powered life,” he said. “It’s something I’ve wanted as long as I can remember. It’s the kind of life that’s challenging. So now I’m more content. I’ve never wanted an ordinary life, I’ve always wanted to be more than just anybody. Being just anybody is too easy.”