Joe Jackson’s Big World is an album I want to know much better than I do.
Released in 1986, it’s an album of original material that was recorded and mixed live with no added overdubs or post-production. The audience was asked not to applaud during or immediately after the performances. Stew used a similar tactic on his great album, The Naked Dutch Painter and Other Songs.
There is something about much of Joe Jackson’s music that keeps me at arm’s length. A broad, theatrical quality merged with a braininess that makes it difficult to form an emotional connection.
I don’t feel that way about all of his songs but I feel that way about enough of them to keep me from listening to him very often.
1991’s Laughter & Lust was the last “traditional” album Joe Jackson released, and it was my first exposure to him (apart from knowing ‘Steppin’ Out’ and ‘Breaking Us in Two’ from the radio).
I remember buying the album because the cover and general vibe reminded me of Elvis Costello’s Spike, and having recently discovered Mr. Costello, I thought maybe I’d luck into another great discovery.
Fifteen years before swing music hit mainstream pop culture through bands such as the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Squirrel Nut Zippers and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Joe Jackson put out his own album of swing covers called Jumpin’ Jive.
Jumpin’ Jive was Jackson’s fourth album and it was released just three years after his debut. It was followed a year later (in 1982) by Night and Day, his most successful record (which featured ‘Steppin’ Out’ and ‘Breaking Us in Two’).
I recently had a request for a Joe Jackson song on the blog, so here it is.
I’m actually surprised this is the first time I’ve featured Jackson. I like his music a lot, own several of his albums and consider him a uniquely talented artist. In fact, he’s not just worthy of a SOTD, he’s worthy of his own theme week.
I’m guessing the reason I’ve avoided Jackson is that for all his talent he tends to leave me a little bit cold. There’s a studied quality to his music that I don’t find all that inviting.
Meet Me In Montauk 