Howard Johnson hails from Florida. U.S.A. Like many others he began his singing career in local bars and clubs. In 1977 he was discovered by Sandu Torano (guitarist and producer associated with The Commodores and Phylis Hyman) who asked him to join his vocal group Nite Flyte. Nite Flyte had a recording contract with Ariola and this is how Johnson’s career took off. Nite Flyte recorded only two albums with Ariola but it created enough of a buzz for A&M to sign Howard Johnson for a solo career. His debut album Keepin’love new (also available on PTG Records) was produced by a trio of producers featuring Kashif Paul Laurence and Morris Brown. The single So fine did very well also on the British and European markets. He did in total three albums with A&M. The other two were Doin’it my way and the Vision (also released by PTG). The Vision (1985) his last album for A&M features the strong songs Stand up and Knees both produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. In 1986 Howard recorded a duet titled Perfect timing with Donna Allen for her album. In 1989 he returned to A The ’90s were a slow period for Howard Johnson until he showed up again with old pal Branson in the new millennium in Japan that had gone mad for the sound of his old-school ’80s soul. ‘Packed and Waitin’ was released in 2002 only a few years after the Instinct label had seen fit to repackage and reissue the original Nite Flyte material.

1. Stand Up
2. Knees
3. So Tuff
4. Outta My Head
5. You’ve Got a Lot to Learn
6. Show Me How
7. All We Have Is Love
8. Older Girl
Bonus Track
9. Stand Up (Special Remix Version)