Four bands that defined the sound of MTV's early years are rolling through the New York area this week, with Howard Jones headlining a package tour that lands at Northwell at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh on Thursday before crossing into New Jersey the following night. The Things Can Only Get Better Tour also features Wang Chung, Modern English and The English Beat, and unlike a typical festival bill, every act is playing a full set rather than a truncated slot.
As reported by PIX11, the tour brings together four iconic acts under one roof, hosted by veteran radio personality Richard Blade. Blade built his name as a leading DJ on Los Angeles station KROQ-FM in the 1980s and now hosts SiriusXM's 80s new wave channel First Wave, according to 313 Presents. Blade even helped launch the tour in April with a live interview and studio performance alongside Howard Jones on SiriusXM channel 33.
The Wantagh stop takes place at Jones Beach Theater on Thursday, August 20, an outdoor amphitheater with a capacity of 13,855 that originally opened in 1952 inside Jones Beach State Park. The venue, per PartySlate, is now operated by Live Nation and once featured a moat where performers arrived at the stage by boat. The following night, Friday, August 21, the tour moves to PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey — a 17,500-capacity amphitheater designed by modernist architect Edward Durell Stone that opened in 1968, owned by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and also operated by Live Nation.
A Headliner With Nine Top-40 Hits
Howard Jones will perform his signature title track, Things Can Only Get Better, which reached No. 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart after its February 1985 release as the lead single from Dream into Action, an album that later went platinum in the United States. Jones has sold more than 8 million albums globally since his 1983 debut single New Song, placing nine singles in the US Billboard Hot 100 top 40 during the 1980s, according to Songwriting Magazine. His 1986 re-recorded version of No One Is to Blame later became his highest-charting US single, hitting No. 4. He'll also play What Is Love during his set.
Wang Chung shares top billing, bringing its 1986 party anthem Everybody Have Fun Tonight, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the 1986 holiday season and topped Canada's RPM singles chart the following January. The song, from the album Mosaic, popularized the pop-culture catchphrase “Everybody Wang Chung tonight.” The track has found new life recently after being featured in the official trailer for the video game Grand Theft Auto VI, per Forbes — notable exposure for a band that had gone largely inactive for nearly two decades following its 1990 breakup.
New Wave and Ska Round Out the Bill
Modern English will bring I Melt With You, the 1982 single that became a major US hit the following year thanks to heavy MTV rotation and its placement in the film Valley Girl, eventually peaking at No. 7 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. Frontman Robbie Grey wrote the track amid high UK unemployment and Cold War-era nuclear anxiety, and it has since become an enduring new wave staple.
The English Beat closes out the lineup with Save It for Later, released in April 1982 on the album Special Beat Service. The song reached No. 47 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 58 on the Billboard Dance/Disco chart in the US. Guitarist and singer Dave Wakeling wrote the track using an unconventional DADAAD guitar tuning — a choice distinctive enough that rock legends Pete Townshend and David Gilmour reportedly called Wakeling directly to ask how to play it. The band has a history with New York audiences dating back over a decade, having played San Francisco's Bimbo's 365 Club as part of a local live music lineup Hoodline covered in 2014.
A 20-City Package Built for Nostalgia
Howard Jones officially announced the Things Can Only Get Better Tour in April, curating a 20-city North American run that opened July 19 in Napa, California. After the Jones Beach and PNC Bank Arts Center dates, the tour continues toward its final stop, set for August 23 at The Bowl at Sobeys Stadium in Toronto, Ontario. Tickets and additional tour information are available through howardjones.com.
