The recent reissue of Howard’s Kid In A Big World, a 1974 work of genius, awoke a new generation to the joys of this ornate songwriter. Pitched by modernists as a missing link between the Eltons, Bowies and Suedes of this world, Kid… wasn’t all Howard had in his locker, as this epic piano and vocal disc shows. All his songs tell a libertine’s tale?life, art college, sexuality all inform his compositions. “Take Up Your Partners” and “Oh Dad (Look What You’ve Done)” are positively hunky dory, while “Hall Of Mirrors” and “Lonely Woman” are ultra cabaret, classically designed for any era. Way beyond fashion yet uncommonly chic.
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