Hugely underrated artist. Joe Jackson tried different styles. He started out as kind of new wave but evolved into this jazzy sound. He recorded alive album called Big World where he had the audience make no sounds. He wanted the live sound without the crowd noised. The band is tight and it is beautiful
IMHO, Joe Jackson’s best stuff is on his live albums. The slow version of “Steppin’ Out” on “Live 1980/86,” not to mention the best version of “Jumpin’ Jive” that doesn’t have Cab Calloway’s name on it. And the whole “Summer in the City” album is wild.
I’d recommend that you listen to the entire album. Cha Cha Loco is also a track that you’ll probably really like. My own personal Joe Jackson guilty pleasure is his album Joe Jackson’s Jumpin’ Jive, a collection of covers of songs by Cab Calloway, Glen Miller and especially Louis Jordan. It’s one of my favourite driving albums.
This was the big hit from that album, but the whole album is terrific. It was a lot jazzier than his work until then, and while a lot of the other tunes may not necessarily be suitable for reactions (mostly deeper cuts), you should definitely check it out on your own - think you'll love it!
Yes, this is awesome. The British Soul/Funk scene was amazing in the 80's. But, IMHO, the Joe Jackson song you're missing out on is "I'm the Man." For more of this kind of sound, check out "Holding Back the Years" by Simply Red.
I was certain he'd already listened to 'I'm The Man', but no. I still like the albums with the original JJ Band the best, while _this_ kind of stuff is pretty good also, of course 😊
The majority of this album was recorded live with full band on stage with just a few overdubs for vocals, piano, and horns. This would have been a killer tour to catch.
Hooray for more Joe! One of my favorite artists! Great song! More please! How about Soul Kiss from the album Big World? Graham Maby is such a fantastic bassist!
I have never heard this but I am really grooving to it. Great way to get up in the morning.I can't believe you haven't listened to his cover of "Jumping Jive".
The whole album is full of bangers like this! I was a sucker for Joe Jackson in my early 20s. Good to see he´s got you going!!! ;-) Fun fact: the album cover is referring to the design of the Blue Note label 😇
One of my all-time favorite songs! I’ve been waiting for someone to react to this one. Glad you loved it as much as I do. Greetings from a fellow Orlandoan!
Great album,very jazzy but my fave from JJ has to be Night and Day. EVERY track on that is fire with great lyrics. I thoroughly recommend you do an album review of that. Has a dirty,New York kind of vibe to it even though Joe is from Portsmouth,England.
I recommended this song as THE best of the great Joe Jackson catalog the very first time you listened to Joe Jackson and for all the reasons you cited. I believe I provided a guide, album-by-album, of the must-hits and why.
Joe Jackson is one of the reasons that proves Jack Bruce was absolutely right when he called "Rockpalast" the best thing in TV all over the world. Jackson was not well known until he appeared in the 12. Rockpalast Night in April 1983. Fantastic performance that immediately made me somewhat like a fan. He made many great albums with a wide musical range that makes it difficult to put the stamp of a specific genre on him. Genre Jackson I would say. This is my favourite album of his among other reasons because of the way it was recorded. All tracks were played live without overdubs except piano to avoid the artificial sounding atmosphere of the productions at that time. No filler track on this album.
FYI, this album was recorded live in a theater but without an audience, JJ wanted to get a natural reverb. The next album, Big World, was also recorded live in a theater, but with the audience asked to be quiet while playing.
It was fun watching your reaction to this spectacular cut. I don't think Joe Jackson could ever top this one but I hope you check out more of his stuff. Maybe similarly driving songs 'Me and You (Against the World)' or 'Go For It'? A deep dive into this very album will reveal many treasures. Can we hope? Cool hearing you mention my name with the others who recommended this. Thanks, JP! You're tops!
Oh my, 40 years ago, this was soooo surprisingly goodsounding. As a matter of fact, Joe decided to record this album digitally, it was the time when CD's made their entrance. He had a hard time.... comprehending how small flaws slapped him in the face when listening back to the recordings.
Jackson's career is a musical journey- from punk, post-punk, swing music, jazz, classical, soudtracks- and his newest album due out soon is English musichall. He's covered Louis Jordan, Duke Ellington, Max Champion- and he even wrote a cantata on the seven deadly sins- Heaven & Hell.
A challenging song for any bass player but fun to play nonetheless, and slap is my weakness too. Joe Jackson has tons of awelsome music in many genre. Recommend: "Jack You're Dead", "No Pasaran" with caution, "Right and Wrong", "I'm The Man", and "Jumpin' Jive".
Great reaction, thanks... I was just waiting for the instrumental break to come along, I knew you'd be blown away 😀 The whole album is brilliant - recorded in a masonic hall in New York state, and it's one of those rare records where you can really hear the *room*... (... and the album sleeve is a homage to that of "Sonny Rollins, Vol. 2")
This LP was recorded in a more traditional way with older style and expensive mics and in a dynamic range that allows you to really turn the volume knob up and down for miles. Unlike today’s garbage recordings that blast your ears. Notice the sound. It’s more 50’s 60’s studio than the compressed format crap we have now. He did that on purpose. Recorded mostly in a music hall with the band playing together on closed mics and then mixed with additional instruments added to certain tracks. You can hear the reverb from the hall. Masterwork of recording. This LP will BLOW YOU AWAY!
Very enjoyable track. I know very little about Joe Jackson's career. From what I heard, I liked some things, others not so much. This, without a doubt, was one of the most interesting. Thanks!
I knew you were gonna like this one :-) This and 'Happy Ending' are my favorite Joe Jackson songs. 'Be My Number Two' and 'Real Men' are great too. Joe is so underrated.
JP nice one, today. You mentioned the drummer playing for Paul Carrack; multi-faceted vocalist and keyboardist, known for Squeeze, Roger Waters’ back-up band (Radio KAOS tour) and Mike + the Mechanics
Thank you, Justin, for doing another one of my requests. I knew you'd love it! Joe Jackson is such a versatile musician and a great songwriter! You mentioned that you had not heard of Shawn Colvin. I would highly recommend her song, "Sunny Came Home" from her excellent, "A Few Small Repairs" album. She has a beautiful voice and writes some great songs, usually in the country/rock genre.
I forgot about this song and album. I was listening to a lot of Joe Jackson in the mid-80's up until the Night and Day album. He's a musician's musician, surrounded by top guys like his bassist Graham Maby. Every genre he switches to he pretty much owns. Beat Crazy, one of his earlier (1st?) albums as the Joe Jackson Band is awesome, as are Look Sharp, I'm the Man and Jumpin' Jive (a fantastic album of be-bop jazz covers - Louis Jordan, Cab Calloway, Glenn Miller...). Always a bit of acidic social commentary with JJ too, which is fun.
😁 I got what I wanted!!! Horns and a groovy guitar, with a delicious popping bass, and smooth vocals. I know that's what I wanted for a Friday wake-up!😎💣🎄!✌&❤.
Afternoon, Justin. Talented chap, our Joe. When it comes to musical genres, he can do Everything Under The Sun. New wave, jive, jazz, funk, prog, pop, film soundtracks, classical - they're all there on his twenty brilliant albums. I've got about eight of them, including Body And Soul, and I've seen him live a few times. I agree, this is a terrific, joyful, funky track but there are plenty of classics on this album. P.S. my song ref Everything Under The Sun is by Extreme.
JP, I'm with your other followers. Please help us relive our surprised pleasure upon first putting this album on our turntables. Joe Jackson, English Punk rocker, revealing his Latin Jazz soul. My favourite track is the passionate instrumental, "Loisaida". Light some candles in your wife's favourite room of your home, turn down the lights and slow dance with her. She will fall madly in love with you, all over again. "Loisaida" is, according to the liner notes, how immigrant Noo Yawkahs pronounce the Lower East Side.
As far as I can tell, Joe was a solo musician at the time his first demo secured him a recording contract, so even his first band was one the record company gave him. They pretty much worked themselves to death, it ended, Joe had money, so he started down the path of doing exactly what he pleased, and hiring musicians for each project. Sounds to me like that system works very nicely sometimes. He picked musicians who could feel this music, and picked other musicians, if necessary, for the next objective. (If you search on his latest work you'll find he's been "working with Fred Champion, the music hall singer", who might just be a conceit for Mr Jackson, himself (whose original name was not Joe). I like the new songs, but others might not. The trouble with following your heart is that you then fail to do people-pleasing, sometimes. That's just how it goes, I suppose. *mr Brown* - the one who's renowned throughout the length, breadth, and all depths (except, perhaps the bottoms of canals, which are the province of a band called *Univers Zero* ) of Belgium, and not the more famous one, has just the other day done a Joe Jackson cover, together with kid rider, AKA Marieke Berendse, the creator of cover art and slow animations. The song is (as they would have it) *real men* ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_MjVe6D3q7g.html
Ikr? I feel I need a suite of songs right now Mr Jackson filling in those steps from knowing what you want, to getting what you want. We have been denied. Song was OK in an 80s radio-friendly kind of way. I could feel my lower right leg moving.
Joe Jackson has been one of the most consistently excellent songwriters of the past 45 years. Few better. Even Elton John, Peter Gabriel and Neil Finn, my favourites, are less consistent than Joe.
After the album Beat Crazy, Joe definitely moved on to something far removed from rock, starting with his swing covers album Jumpin' Jive. Then with his albums Night and Day and Body and Soul, Joe Jackson's music became much smoother, like a kind of Latin-jazzy pop (not so far from Steely Dan or Donald Fagen solo). It's damn well done and played, but I have to say that I prefer his first three albums full of pub-rock, new wave, reggae and ska to this sophisticated pop made for the radios.
@@Kevvinm It's an album that I quite underestimated at the time of its release, mainly only appreciating its first side, but it's been several years I re-evaluated it, and now I find Beat Crazy just as successful that Look Sharp! and I'm the Man.
