Strong Island

Howard Jones at Bestival? Yep.

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010. Published in Music & Bands by

One of the more surprising names on the latest line up announcement for the annual hoe down that is Bestival on the Isle of Wight, which includes The Prodigy, Dizzee Rascal, LCD Soundsystem and The Flaming Lips is the long forgotten synth pop man Howard Jones. Jones had a string of hits in the 1980’s including New Song, What Is Love, Things Can Only Get Better, Life in One Day and Hide and Seek and then faded away to obscurity. But following a four year campaign on the official Bestival website forum, Bestival head-honcho and curator Rob da Bank has wilted under the pressure and finally agreed to book the keyboard wizard to play the festival.

The leader of this campaign is one Robin Seamer, writer of one of Portsmouth’s most prolific music blogs – Breaking More Waves. But why Howard Jones? Looking at his blog Robins own tastes seem to be far more modern – the campaign for a long forgotten pop star seems somewhat at odds with his blog, which was named as one of the Tastemakers of 2010 in the annual BBC Sound Of 2010 poll. “It all started as a bit of a joke really,” Robin explains. “Then it just escalated, and before I knew it I was obsessing about getting Howard booked for Bestival. Part of the appeal is that he has never been seen as a hip or cool artist, yet Bestival always attracts such an eclectic and cool mix of bands and punters I thought it would be funny to campaign for a man who once sang the words ‘I don’t want to be hip or cool’, in one of his biggest hits.”

The campaign has now paid off, and Bestival regulars are delighted. “I finally got to meet Rob da Bank in London a few weeks ago and when he confirmed to me that Howard had been booked to play Bestival. I almost kissed him,” he laughs. “It’s going to be a right old party when Howard takes to the stage,” says Robin. If you want to join the party, get your tickets now before Bestival sells out.

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3 Comments to Howard Jones at Bestival? Yep.

  1. And now a certain DJ Hojo Hits has also been added to the bill – the worlds first and only Howard Jones tribute DJ. Now I wonder who that could be ? Well, the name rseamer keeps cropping up on the Bestival forum :)

    robinseamer@hotmail.co.uk on March 31st, 2010

  2. Legends together!

    Paul ™ on March 31st, 2010

  3. [...] is a fantastic resource for finding out about bands old and new and Robin is somewhat legendary for a four year “joke” campaign which saw 80s synth hero Howard Jones being booked to play a…- a dream into [...]

    Curxes » “Creatures”, “Jaws” & New Waves… on April 12th, 2012

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Features

The 2nd Strong Island Ale – Dry Dock No. 1

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012. Published in Features, Food & Drink, Strong Island by

As you may know each year we run a home brew competition in February where the winning brew has the opportunity to be brewed by Irving & Co Brewing Co. and sold around the city in the summer. Last year’s brew, the Strong Island Hopper Ale, was hugely successful being one of Inving’s best selling ales and selling out so quickly it went through a second brew run. This year’s winning ale is Dry Dock No. 1, originally brewed by Lee Immins, went on sale in some of Portsmouth and Southsea’s pubs over the weekend.

We spoke to The Hole in The Wall in Southsea who said the new ale went down a storm with it being their best seller on Sunday and with almost two barrels empty by the end of the Bank Holiday weekend. Those guys at the Hole in The Wall and their regular ale drinkers know their stuff so for us this was amazing early news with the ale.

To officially launch Dry Dock No. 1 we are having a launch party with the lovely souls at The Belle Isle on Thursday evening. The ale will be on full flow, come down and try a pint or two. As well as being on sale all around the city the ale will also be available in Chichester’s Belle Isle too, so you can drink it away from home for the first time too.






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The Isle Of Wight Randonnee 2012 – Team Strong Island

Monday, May 7th, 2012. Published in Bikes & Cycling, Features by

Just over a year ago, a group of Strong Islanders were sat on the Isle of Wight ferry on our way to the yearly Randonnee cycling event; 60 miles around the island spread across 5 checkpoints. Whilst on the crossing we couldn’t help but admire various enthusiasts and their custom team jerseys. Fast forward a year and it is my great pleasure to unveil the Strong Island cycling jersey. Made as a one off for the event, the jersey is our way of representing this city and all the values that come with it. Thanks to the combined designing efforts of Chris Ballingall and Tristan Savage, we were able to produce this clean, retro looking jersey that 11 of Southsea’s finest could wear to conquer the island’s endless hills. Well done chaps.

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