Joe Jackson (musician)
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| Joe Jackson | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | David Ian Jackson | |
| Born | August 11, 1954 Burton upon Trent, England |
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| Genre(s) | Rock, Pop | |
| Instrument(s) | Piano Vocals |
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| Years active | 1979 - Present | |
| Label(s) | A&M Records Virgin Records Sony |
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| Website | http://joejackson.com/ | |
Joe Jackson (born August 11, 1954 in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, as David Ian Jackson) is an English musician and singer/songwriter probably best-known for the 1979 hit song "Is She Really Going Out With Him?", which still gets extensive FM radio airplay, and for his 1982 hit, "Steppin' Out".
He was a part of the trio of British-based artists that challenged the punk scene and brought a New Wave sound to the United States in the late 1970s, along with Elvis Costello and Graham Parker.
He was popular for his power-pop and New Wave sound early on before moving to more eclectic, though less commercially successful, pop/jazz/classical musical pieces.
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[edit] Biography
Although born in Staffordshire, Jackson grew up in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.
He started off learning to play the violin but soon switched to piano. From the age of 16 he played in bars, and won a scholarship to study musical composition at London's Royal Academy of Music. Jackson did not like the prospect of being a serious composer, and moved towards pop and rock.
His first band was Edward Bear, later renamed Arms and Legs, which collapsed after two unsuccessful singles. He then spent some time in the cabaret circuit to make money to record his own demos.
In 1978 a producer heard his tape, and got him signed to A&M Records. The album Look Sharp! was recorded straight away, and was released in 1979, quickly followed by I'm the Man and Beat Crazy in 1980. He also collaborated with Lincoln Thompson in reggae crossover.
The Joe Jackson Band was very successful and toured extensively. After the breakup of the band, Joe took a break and recorded an album of old-style swing and blues tunes, Jumpin' Jive, featuring songs of Cab Calloway, Lester Young, Glenn Miller, and most prominently, Louis Jordan. He then went on to record 1982's Night and Day, an album that paid tribute to the wit and style of Cole Porter (and indirectly to New York City) and was his last album to hit the Top 10, peaking at #4. Jackson would call New York home for the next 20 years, incorporating the sound of the city into his music throughout the 80's and beyond.
He recorded another record that was heavily influenced by jazz, pop and jazz standards, and salsa, Body and Soul, which hit #20, containing the hit "You Can't Get What You Want ('Til You Know What You Want)". Though the album was a modest commercial success, it is widely regarded among audiophiles as a digital recording of the highest quality.
Jackson followed with Big World, a three-sided double record (the fourth side consisted of a single centring groove and a label stating "there is no music on this side"). The instrumental Will Power set the stage for things to come later, but before he left pop behind he put out two more cerebral and celebratory albums, Blaze of Glory and Laughter and Lust. For some years he drifted away from the pop style, going on to be signed by Sony Classical in 1997, which released his Symphony No. 1 in 1999 for which he received a Grammy award.
While 2000's Night and Day II lacked any radio-friendly individual tracks, it succeeded in displaying fine lyrics and some elegant songwriting, as is usually the case with Jackson's work. Volume 4 in 2003 reunited the original band and was well received. A promotional CD, bundled with the initial release, of the 'live' band playing some of Jackson's strongest material was widely admired.
Jackson is also an author, having written A Cure for Gravity, published in 1999, which Jackson has described as a "book about music, thinly disguised as a memoir". It traces his early musical life from childhood until his 24th birthday. Life as a pop star, he suggested, was hardly worth writing about.
In 2002 'Steppin' Out' appeared in popular videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, playing on pop radio station Flash FM. A loop of the instrumental portion of this song is used as the theme music for the WYES-TV (New orleans) weekly arts and entertainment program "Steppin' Out."
In 2003, he reunited his original quartet for an album (entitled "Volume 4," implying that it was the follow-up to his first three albums with the original band) and lengthy tour.
In 2004 Jackson performed a cover of Pulp's Common People with William Shatner for Shatner's album Has Been.
Jackson toured 45 US and Europe cities in 2005 with Todd Rundgren and the string quartet Ethel, appearing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien performing their collaborative cover version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". (video)
Thereafter, he embarked on a short tour in a piano-bass-drums trio format.
He has actively campaigned against smoking bans in both the USA and the UK [1], writing a 2005 pamphlet The Smoking Issue and issuing a satirical song ("In 20-0-3") on the subject [2]. It was in 2003, soon after the New York City smoking ban, that Jackson fled the city that had been his home for more than two decades and returned to Portsmouth, where he lives in a flat in the oldest part of the city and overlooks the harbour. He has been quoted as saying he now "divides his time" between the two cities, presumably at least partly dictated by work commitments. When at home in Portsmouth, he is often spotted in city pubs that serve Real Ale, an enthusiasm for which he describes in his autobiography "A Cure For Gravity".
[edit] Discography
- Look Sharp! (1979, A&M) #20 US, #40 UK
- I'm the Man (1979, A&M) #22 US, #12 UK
- Beat Crazy (1980, A&M) #41 US, #42 UK
- Jumpin' Jive (1981, A&M) #42 US, #14 UK
- Night and Day (1982, A&M) #4 US, #3 UK
- Mike's Murder (1983, A&M) #64 US
- Body and Soul (1984, A&M) #20 US, #14 UK
- Big World (1986, A&M) #34 US, #41 UK
- Will Power (1987, A&M) #131 US
- Live 1980/86 (1987, A&M) #91 US, #66 UK
- Tucker (1988, A&M)
- Blaze of Glory (1989, A&M) #61 US, #36 UK
- Laughter & Lust (1991, Virgin) #116 US, #41 UK
- Night Music (1994, Virgin)
- Heaven & Hell (1997, Sony)
- This Is It (The A&M Years 1979-1989 (Joe Jackson) (1997, A&M)
- Symphony No. 1 (1999, Sony)
- Summer in the City: Live in New York (2000, Sony)
- Night and Day II (2000, Sony)
- Two Rainy Nights (2002, Great Big Island)
- Volume 4 (2003, Rykodisc)
- AfterLife (2004, Rykodisc)
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||||
| US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | UK | German Singles Chart | Dutch Singles Chart | |||
| 1978 | "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" | #21 | - | - | #13 | Look Sharp | ||
| 1979 | "Sunday Papers" | - | - | - | - | Look Sharp | ||
| 1979 | "One More Time" | - | - | - | - | Look Sharp | ||
| 1979 | "Fools In Love" | - | - | - | - | Look Sharp | ||
| 1979 | "I'm The Man" | - | - | - | - | I'm The Man | ||
| 1979 | "It's Different For Girls" | - | - | - | #5 | I'm The Man | ||
| 1980 | "Kinda Kute" | - | - | - | - | I'm The Man | ||
| 1980 | "The Harder They Come" | - | - | - | - | - | #35 | non-album track |
| 1981 | "Jumpin' Jive" | - | - | - | #43 | Jumpin' Jive | ||
| 1982 | "Real Men" | - | - | - | - | - | #15 | Night And Day |
| 1982 | "Steppin' Out" | #6 | - | #7 | #6 | #28 | - | Night And Day |
| 1983 | "Breaking Us In Two" | #18 | - | - | #59 | Night And Day | ||
| 1983 | "Memphis" | #85 | - | - | - | 'Mike's Murder' soundtrack | ||
| 1984 | "You Can't Get What You Want" | #15 | - | - | - | Body And Soul | ||
| 1984 | "Happy Ending" | #57 | - | - | #64 | - | #34 | Body And Soul |
| 1984 | "Be My Number Two" | - | - | - | #70 | - | - | Body And Soul |
| 1986 | "Left Of Centre" (Suzanne Vega f/Joe Jackson) | - | - | - | #32 | - | - | Pretty in Pink (soundtrack) |
| 1986 | "Right And Wrong" | - | - | #11 | - | - | - | Big World |
| 1988 | "Is She Really Going Out With Him? (Live)" | - | - | - | - | - | #3 | Live 1980/1986 |
| 1989 | "(He's A) Shape In A Drape" | - | - | - | - | - | #29 | Tucker soundtrack |
| 1989 | "Nineteen Forever" | - | #4 | #16 | - | - | #27 | Blaze Of Glory |
| 1991 | "Obvious Song" | - | #2 | #28 | - | - | - | Laughter And Lust |
| 1991 | "Stranger Than Fiction" | - | - | - | - | #53 | - | Laughter And Lust |
| 1991 | "Oh Well" | - | #20 | #25 | - | - | - | Laughter And Lust |
[edit] Literature
- A Cure for Gravity, 1999, autobiography ISBN 1-86230-083-6
