Howard marries Lesley Anne Boulton on October 2nd 1982 and soon after they moved to America where they set up their own Music Studios in Tampa Florida. Howard was 36 years of age and Lesley was 25 yrs. old, with eleven years between them.

Howard and Lesley Conder’s wedding day – October 2^nd 1982 

Howard was very much into the electronic music scene when they moved to America and pop groups such as the Eurythmics were topping the charts with Sweet Dreams. The Conders took a lot of music equipment with them and soon added more to their kit list which gave them quite an edge such as Roland’s much sought-after Jupiter 8, the famous Linn Drum and other hi-tech equipment in that new era of electronic music

They eventually bought the very first Mac Computer ever produced to run Master Tracks software which was to create music sequences. The Conders started with only an Allan & Heath audio desk and 8 track tape recorder and eventually built the kit list up to include all that you would ever need.
See the videos and photos of their studios over the remainder of the decade.

 There is quite a lot to pack into the decade Howard and Lesley lived and worked in Florida but try and keep it as short as possible.
Once the first studio had been built by Bill Barber and his crew which was in Southview Avenue Hyde Park Tampa, they opened, and it was very successful from day one. Howard was prepared for it to take a while to gain enough clients and was looking at doing some work in a local restaurant as a waiter. Thank God there was never the need for him to do that as the studio was an immediate success with many clients.

After only one year in America, the Conders are sent back to England by USA Immigration.

There had been a big mistake by the Conders lawyer in the USA and they were asked to return to the UK and reapply for a Business B2 Visa.
This meant selling their home, their new studios and all the kit in a quick sale.
When they returned to the UK they stayed with Lesley’s parents and Howard immediately applied for a B2 Visa which would allow them to live and work in America. This took several months and during that time they had their first child, Luke. Born 1984 in Kingston Hospital. This was a fraught time as the Conders did not know if they would be successful in obtaining the B2 visa which meant there was great anxiety during this time.
After several appointments, eventually, the American Embassy granted the Conders with the B2 visas which had to be renewed every two years which meant the Conders had to leave America and return to the UK every two years to go through the renewal of their visa applications and again during the following application their second child was born whilst back in the UK and his name was Joel. Having to renew their visa every two years was a crazy situation but after nearly a decade of this, the Conders finally left America as God had other plans for them which becomes clear and is documented ahead of this article.

Joel Lesley and Luke Conder

Please note that there are some very interesting experiences that the Conders will share about their time in America in separate articles such as working with Fitzgerald Scott, a young songwriter/music producer that Howard helped in his early days and who went on to sell over 30 million records.

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