Howard Johnson was a team-mate of mine on the Inter Kerrang! football team in the early to mid 90swhere he was a rock in central defence.
Whilst he was indeed a keen supporter of melodic rock in the early 80s (having to 'Kerrang!' from his fanzine days with the Manchester based 'Phoenix' publication)he became more interested in many other forms of rock music. Indeed, he was the frontman for the Birmingham Goth band Dawn After Dark and did work for Sanctuary Management at one time. I remember going on a couple of trips with him to cover Iron Maiden and Helloween in Europe.
Howard later became editor of 'Raw' and was at the helm when it was turned into a short-lived BritPop magazine by the powers that be at EMAP Metro.
He later worked for a variety of football/sports magazines. I believe he still does.