I had never heard of Joe Jackson until hearing him sing with William Shatner on Shatner’s cover of Pulp’s “Common People” (one of the best covers I’ve ever heard, on one of the best albums of 2004). Jackson has an interesting voice, but I still know nothing about his career or his music. Can anyone summarize him, compare him to anyone, or recommend any “required” albums or songs? I heard he did some kind of big band thing in the '70s or '80s, which sounds neat, but I could be way off there.
Joe started in the late 70’s as part of the New Wave movement - more songwriterly and melodic and frankly commercial than Punk. At the time, we was most commonly compared to Elvis Costello. Angry young man who could write the heck out of a song.
He made a couple of albums - Look Sharp and I’m the Man - that really sound like a double album set. Sharp, hookey, melodic - lots of trebly Fender guitar and wonderful melodic bass lines courtesy of Graham Maby, one of my favorite bass players ever. If you had to pick one, get Look Sharp, but both are really great.
After that, he did…Beat Crazy, I think. Also great, exploring more ska type stuff. Then he did Jumpin’ Jive which is full on swing - great Louis Jordan covers and really wondeful jump blues. Again, both are wonderful and would serve you well to own.
Then he did Night and Day - much more symphonically piano-driven. That’s not to say he used a symphony - he didn’t - but much more Bacharach influenced. Still has the biting lyrics and angry, untrained-voice delivery, but the music underneath is melodically-interesting adult contemporary. You know how with Norah Jones, there’s a fine line between blah easy listening and wonderful easy-on-the ears stuff? Joe found that line on this album.
After that he did a bunch of albums that are all over the place. Some folks love Body and Soul (with it’s cop of a Sonny Rollins album cover). But nothing since then has really cut through the way those first five albums did, IMHO.
That’s it in a nutshell. I really like him and wish he maintained his vitality as much as ECostello has…
The big band record is Jumpin’ Jive. Mostly, it’s covers of Louis Jordan songs. It’s good.
Look Sharp remains a fine record. Lots of sneering.
The other one I like is the 3-sided live record.
Summary? A poor man’s less wordy Elvis Costello. Started out kinda punk/ new wave. After the odd big band thing, went guitarless (Night and Day) to some effect. Went orchestral (horrible) in the early 90s.
Well his two biggest hits (early 80s IIRC) were “Is she really going out with him?” and “It’s different for girls”. They both still sound fresh and original IMHO - check 'em out at Amazon’s Best of Joe Jackson page.
‘Stepping Out,’ from the Day and Night CD is a fine cut as is ‘Is She Really Going Out with Him’ another one (hold on, I am looking for it) the one with the refrain ‘Can’t we talk it over in bed…’ (nope, can’t find it)
Although Jackson is ID’d with the punk movement to an extent, he’s punk the same way that Elvis Costello or The Police were…his melodic ambitions were a little greater than most punk bands of the era. In a nutshell, imagine a punk band fronted by a really good piano player with classical and jazz training, and you’ve got it. Torchy and snarling by turns, he’s one of my favorite vocalists, like a less…um, let’s say less idiosyncratic version of Donald Fagen.
This collection is a good starting point. It covers the hits and a pretty good selection of album tracks, and I’d recommend it even over a single-disc anthology for exactly those reasons…that way if you decide not to explore his work further, you’ve got about all you’d ever really need.
Big World is probably my favorite full-length album. He recorded it in three days during concert performances directly to two-track, so he couldn’t cheat and overdub later. After the concerts, the applause was edited out, so it sounds like an extremely lively and vivid studio album (he’d requested that the audience not respond until each song had completely died out, for exactly that purpose).
Body And Soul is another favorite, a small-ish big band session recorded in the main at an old Masonic Lodge that Vanguard Records used to use for their classical sessions. The cover art is an (actually, pretty damned good) approximation of an old Blue Note cover.
If you don’t recognize the name, he’s probably best known for “Steppin’ Out,” along with “Breaking Us In Two” and “You Can’t Get What You Want.” Those will be the odds-on favorites for songs that you’ll hear and go, “oh, that one!”
He did a live album in 1986, called “Big World” where he arranged beforehand with the audience not to go nuts with applause or other noises. The effect he wanted was that of the tension of the band performing flawlessly in front of people without it being a conventional live album. IIRC, if somebody flubbed the cadenza, they started again. There were no overdubs later. And flawless it is! There are great, great moments on it, like “Right And Wrong” and a stunning reworking of “Steppin’ Out” that isn’t even recognizable as that song until he sings the second line, and even then the audience can’t help but lose it (although mixed way in the background). Joe is one of those musicians who doesn’t play his records in concert. He will arrange them differently every tour, and you go to hear songs you may know, done in a way you couldn’t possibly expect. “Big World” is out of print currently, but much of it has been reissued on “Live 1980/1986.” Recommended!
The 3-sided live record hawthorne metnioned is Big World…the fourth side says something like “THERE IS NO MUSIC ON THIS SIDE” and has, depending on when and where it was pressed, a 20-odd minute long blank groove or a token few seconds’ worth of groove cut into it. It also has the lyrics and technical info in six languages.
The Body And Soul cover references both Sonny Rollins’ The Contemporary Masters album in the front cover photo/design and an old Blue Note cover on the back, down to the fonts and musician lists. (Side note: The Contemporary Masters is the album pictured on the table in the radio booth on the front cover of Donald Fagen’s album The Nightfly as well.)
You could pretty comfortably go from Look Sharp and I’m The Man directly to Big World…they’re all a little more guitar-heavy, whereas the first Night And Day, Body And Soul and Jumpin’ Jive have the more symphonic, piano and/or jazz-based sensibility.
Big World and Live 1980/86 are actually two different sets of recordings. None of the Big World material appears on the other album…Jackson mentions in the liner notes that since the recordings were live in the first place, there was no point in doing them over again. The live version of “Steppin’ Out” is only on Live 1980/86, and closes that album. Each of the four sides was recorded on a different tour…side one on the 1980 Beat Crazy! tour, side two from an Australian Night And Day show for ABC Radio, side three from another Australian show from the Body And Soul jaunt, and side four taken from a couple shows in support of Big World. There should be no common material in any U.S. issues of Big World and Live 1980/86.
I too looked up Joe Jackson after I heard him on the Shatner album. When I heard “Steppin’ Out,” I realized it was one of those songs that I’ve always known, but never can remember where I heard it. I don’t listen to the radio, so I wonder if I heard it on a commercial or in a movie at some point.
His vocals are really powerful in the “Common People” cover.
My vote is for Laughter and Lust . It’s the only Joe Jackson cd I own and one of my favorite cd’s of all time. Every song sticks to the theme of relationships without being sappy.
Must mention Summer in the City, a live album with a version of “Hometown” that made me cry, and Night and Day II, which has some really excellent stuff on it. He’s been putting out some great stuff lately. We saw him in concert in Milwaukee a few years ago and he absolutely blew the house away, even though he was recovering from a terrible bout with the flu. Excellent stage presence – it’s fascinating to watch him move, so lanky. And he opened the second set alone at the keyboard and did about five songs that way. Awesome.
People, people. Not one of you has listed Volume 4. He got his original band back together, went on tour, wrote some new songs, and generally partied like it was 1979 again. It came out at the beginning of 2004/end of 2003, IIRC.
And none of you have mentioned the forgotten album, the soundtrack for the movie Mike’s Murder. It’s never been issued on CD!
The first side is a great collection of uptempo rock, with superb lyrics. “Memphis” is one of his best songs, angry and snarling, and “Laundromat Monday” is as funny as the B-52’s “House of Work” and along the same theme.
Side two is mostly instrumental moody stuff that can only be properly played on a good home stereo with lots of bass. On a cheaper system it just sounds muddy but if you can hear it with fine speakers it’s like an ominous heartbeat taking over your soul.
I agree with all the good comments made about his other music. “Steppin’ Out” is one of my all-time favorites, and the Steve Barron mini-movie video is the perfect accompaniment. There were a couple of years when music videos seemed to poised to become an art form and this was a shining example.
“It’s Different for Girls” is of nearly equal quality. Any songwriter with two songs in that pantheon is among the greats.
“Real Men” on Night and Day is a killer, with heartrending lyrics, while the adjacent tune, “Cancer” is utterly hilarious. He has an almost unique ability to do both that well.
As you can tell, I’m a big fan, and have been since the first time I heard “Is She Really Going Out with Him.” He goes off in too many directions for him to become an ordinary star but he’s one of the all-time greats for those who love smart music.
