Given his ‘synth legend’ status, it seems remarkable that Howard Jones had never before owned a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, but we’re delighted to be able to tell you that he’s finally acquired one. And, judging by the video he’s just posted, he’s pretty excited about it.
“This is one of the early ones,” says HoJo, as he carries his new toy over to his desk and switches it on. “It just doesn’t sound like anything else,” he remarks, before taking a spin through some of the presets.
“There’s the Japan type sounds… Richard Barbieri,” murmurs Jones as he plays through some of the tones. “What an amazing synth,” he says, as the warmth of the instrument practically jumps out of the screen.
“This is such fun,” he adds later, and you get the feeling that, having waited so long to get his hands on the Prophet-5, Jones is in no hurry to stop playing it.
Given the time of its availability - between 1978 and 1984 - it’s surprising that Jones never owned one. Yes, he didn’t release his first single until 1984, but he’d been active in bands for several years before that, so he must surely have come across Sequential’s most famous synth.
Back then, Jones was seemingly more taken with the Roland Jupiter-8 and Juno-60 - he’s just had his original one fixed - and Yamaha DX7. We reckon he might take the time to explore what the Prophet-5 has to offer now, though, so it’s a case of better late than never.
