“Things Can Only Get Better” by Howard Jones

"Things Can Only Get Better" led off Howard Jones' second album, Dream into Action, in 1985, and it's every bit as upbeat as the title promises. Jones wrote and sang it, and Rupert Hine produced, dressing the synths up with punchy brass from the TKO Horns and a springy slap-bass line. The backing vocals come from the all-female group Afrodiziak, with Claudia Fontaine, Naomi Thompson and Caron Wheeler pushing the chorus toward gospel-sized uplift.

Spin's John Leland heard it as the best of the Anglo soul movement boiled down, all crisp bass, tight horns and welcoming vocals. In America it climbed to number 5 on the Hot 100, and it made number 6 in Britain. Stephen W. Tayler recorded and mixed it.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.