Joe Jackson (musician)
149420
224173696
2008-07-07T17:37:17Z
J Milburn Bot
7423137
All Music Guide has now been rebranded to Allmusic
{{Infobox musical artist
|Img=Replace this image male.svg <!-- only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people - see [[WP:NONFREE]] --> | | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
| Name = Joe Jackson
| | Img_capt =
| Img_size = 150
| Background = solo_singer
| Birth_name = David Ian Jackson
| Alias =
| Born = {{Birth date and age|1954|8|11}}<br />[[Burton upon Trent]], [[England]]
| Instrument = [[Vocals]], [[Piano]]/[[Keyboards]]
| Genre = [[New Wave music|New Wave]], [[Pop music|Pop]], [[Power-pop]], [[Jazz]], [[Classical music|Classical]]
| Occupation =
| Years_active = 1978 - Present
| Label = [[A&M Records]]<br />[[Virgin Records]]<br />[[Sony]]<br />[[Ryko]]
| Associated_acts =
| URL = http://joejackson.com/
| Notable_instruments =
}}
'''Joe Jackson''' (born '''David Ian Jackson''', [[11 August]] [[1954]], [[Burton upon Trent]], [[Staffordshire]] <ref> [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hifuxqe5ldae~T5 All Music Guide biography]</ref>) is an [[England|English]] [[musician]] and [[singer-songwriter]], described as a unique and critically acclaimed recording artist, whose five [[Grammy Award|Grammy]] nominations span 1979 to 2001.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
| location= London
| pages= p. 274
| id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5}}</ref> He is probably best-known for the 1979 [[chart-topper|hit]] [[song]] "[[Is She Really Going Out with Him?]]", which still gets extensive [[FM radio]] airplay; for his 1982 hit, "[[Steppin' Out (Joe Jackson song)|Steppin' Out]]"; and for his 1984 hit, "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)".
Along with [[Elvis Costello]] and [[Graham Parker]], Jackson was a part of the trio of British-based [[musician|artists]] that challenged the [[punk rock|punk]] scene and brought a New Wave sound to the [[United States]] in the late [[1970s]]. He was popular for his [[power-pop]] and [[New Wave music|New Wave]] sound early on before moving to more eclectic, though less commercially successful, [[pop music|pop]]/[[jazz]]/[[classical music|classical]] musical pieces.
==Biography==
Although born in Staffordshire, David Jackson (as he was then known) grew up in [[Gosport]] and [[Portsmouth]].
He started off learning to play the [[violin]] but soon switched to [[piano]]. From the age of sixteen he played in [[bar (establishment)|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 music|rock]].
Jackson's first band was Edward Bear, not to be confused with the 1970s Canadian band fronted by [[Larry Evoy]], which had a mid 1970s hit with "Last Song". The band was later renamed Edwin Bear and then Arms and Legs, in order to avoid confusion with the Canadian group. Arms and Legs dissolved in 1976 after two unsuccessful [[single (music)|singles]]. Although he was still known as David Jackson while in Arms & Legs, it was around this time that Jackson picked up the nickname "Joe", based on his perceived resemblance to the puppet character [[Joe 90]].
Joe Jackson, as he now called himself, then spent some time in the [[cabaret]] circuit to make money to [[sound recording and reproduction|record]] his own [[demo (music)|demos]].
In 1978 a [[record producer]] heard his tape, and got him signed to [[A&M Records]]. The [[album]] ''[[Look Sharp! (Joe Jackson album)|Look Sharp!]]'' was recorded straight away, and was released in 1979, quickly followed by ''[[I'm the Man (Joe Jackson album)|I'm the Man]]'' (also 1979) 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, Jackson took a break and recorded an album of old-style [[swing music|swing]] and [[blues]] tunes, ''[[Jumpin' Jive (Joe Jackson album)|Jumpin' Jive]]'', featuring [[song]]s of [[Cab Calloway]], [[Lester Young]], [[Glenn Miller]], and most prominently, [[Louis Jordan]].
Jackson hit paydirt with 1982's ''[[Night and Day (album)|Night and Day]]'', an album that paid tribute to the wit and style of [[Cole Porter]] (and indirectly to [[New York City]]). Night and Day was Jackson's only album to reach the [[Top 40|Top 10]], peaking at #4, and the cuts "Steppin' Out" and "Breaking Us In Two" were chart hits, the latter of which was widely notable for the borrowed opening [[melody]] from [[Badfinger]]'s "[[Day After Day (song)|Day After Day]]". The tracks "Real Men" and "A Slow Song" have pointed obliquely to the city's early 80s gay culture<ref name="Gay Pop Music">[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1306240 "NPR Weekend Edition Sunday: Gay Pop Music", June 22, 2003]</ref>. Jackson would call New York home for the next twenty years, incorporating the sound of the city into his music throughout the [[1980s]] and beyond.
A little more than a year later, Jackson recorded the #20 album ''[[Body & Soul (album)|Body and Soul]]'', also heavily influenced by [[pop standard|pop]] and [[jazz standard]]s and [[salsa music|salsa]], showcasing the #15 hit "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)". The album was a modest commercial success and is widely regarded among audiophiles as a digital recording of the highest quality.{{Fact|date=December 2007}}
In 1986 he collaborated with [[Suzanne Vega]] on the single "Left of center" from ''[[Pretty in Pink]]'''s [[Pretty in Pink (soundtrack)|soundtrack]] (with Vega singing and Jackson playing piano).
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"), which was recorded live. 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 (Joe Jackson album)|Blaze of Glory]]'' and ''[[Laughter & 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 for Best Pop Instrumental Album|Grammy Award]].
In 1990, [[thrash metal]] band [[Anthrax (band)|Anthrax]] recorded a [[cover version|cover]] of Jackson's "Got The Time" for their ''[[Persistence of Time]]'' album, which got considerable [[airplay]] on [[MTV]].
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 twenty fourth birthday. Life as a pop star, he suggested, was hardly worth writing about.
In 2001, [[Tori Amos]] covered Jackson's song "Real Men" on her album ''[[Strange Little Girls]]''.
In 2002 "Steppin' Out" appeared in the 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 tune]] for the [[WYES-TV]] (New Orleans) weekly arts and entertainment program "Steppin' Out."
In 2003, he reunited his original [[quartet]]<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
| location= London
| pages= p. 274
| id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5}}</ref> for an album (entitled ''[[Volume 4 (Joe Jackson album)|Volume 4]]'', implying that it was the follow-up to his first three albums with the original band) and lengthy tour. As before the quartet consisted of Jackson, [[Graham Maby]], Dave Houghton and Gary Sanford.
In 2004 Jackson performed a cover of [[Pulp (band)|Pulp]]'s "[[Common People]]", with [[William Shatner]] for Shatner's album ''[[Has Been]]''.
Jackson toured 45 U.S. and European cities in 2005 with [[Todd Rundgren]] and the string quartet [[Ethel (string quartet)|Ethel]], appearing on ''[[Late Night with Conan O'Brien]]'' performing their collaborative cover version of "[[While My Guitar Gently Weeps]]".
[http://www.joejackson.com/newsfaqs.htm (video)]
Thereafter, he embarked on a short tour in a piano-bass-drums trio format. He toured Europe in Spring 2007, again in a trio format, and announced that he is recording. Jackson's new album, ''[[Rain (Joe Jackson album)|Rain]]'' was released by [[Rykodisc]] on 28 January 2008 in the UK and one day later in the U.S.<ref>[http://www.noblepr.co.uk/Press_Releases/ada/joe_jackson.htm Rykodisc press release]</ref> The album will include a CD and a bonus [[DVD]] containing over 40 minutes of material, including concert and behind-the-scenes footage and interviews. Jackson plans to perform two UK shows in Spring 2008, followed by a full UK tour later that year.
In 2008, Jackson's "One More Time" was used in [[Taco Bell]] commercials in the U.S.
Jackson has actively campaigned against [[smoking ban]]s in both the U.S. and the UK <ref>[http://www.forestonline.org/output/Page303.asp Forestonline.org website]</ref>, writing a 2005 pamphlet ''The Smoking Issue'', a 2007 essay ''Smoke, Lies and the Nanny State''<ref name=Joe Jackson">[http://www.joejackson.com/news.php?id=78&m=05&y=2007 The Official Website of Joe Jackson<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>, and issuing a satirical song ("In 20-0-3") on the subject <ref>[http://www.joejackson.com/forest.htm Joe Jackson.com]</ref>. It was in 2003, soon after the [[New York City|New York]] smoking ban, that Jackson left the city that had been his home for more than two decades, and returned to Portsmouth, England, where he has a flat in the oldest part of the city that overlooks the harbour. Recently, in the DVD interviews in ''Rain'', it was stated that he moved to [[Berlin]] in early 2007.
He has been quoted as saying he now spends most of his time in Berlin, but still has places in Portsmouth and New York City. He has often been spotted in Portsmouth [[Public house|pubs]] that serve [[cask ale|real ale]], his enthusiasm for which is noted in his [[autobiography]], ''A Cure For Gravity''.
==Discography==
*''[[Look Sharp! (Joe Jackson album)|Look Sharp!]]'' (1979, [[A&M Records|A&M]]) #20 [[Billboard Hot 200|U.S.]], #40 [[UK Albums Chart|UK]]
*''[[I'm the Man (Joe Jackson album)|I'm the Man]]'' (1979, A&M) #22 U.S., #12 UK
*''[[Beat Crazy]]'' (1980, A&M) #41 U.S., #42 UK
*"[[The Harder They Come]]" (EP) 1980
*''[[Jumpin' Jive (Joe Jackson album)|Jumpin' Jive]]'' (1981, A&M) #42 U.S., #14 UK
*''[[Night and Day (album)|Night and Day]]'' (1982, A&M) #4 U.S., #3 UK
*''[[Mike's Murder]]'' (1983, A&M) #64 U.S.
*''[[Body & Soul (album)|Body and Soul]]'' (1984, A&M) #20 U.S., #14 UK
*''[[Big World]]'' (1986, A&M) #34 U.S., #41 UK
*''[[Will Power (album)|Will Power]]'' (1987, A&M) #131 U.S.
*''[[Live 1980/86]]'' (1988, A&M) #91 U.S., #66 UK
*''[[Tucker (album)|Tucker]]'' Original Soundtrack (1988, A&M)
*''[[Blaze of Glory (Joe Jackson album)|Blaze of Glory]]'' (1989, A&M) #61 U.S., #36 UK
*''[[Laughter & Lust]]'' (1991, [[Virgin Records|Virgin]]) #116 U.S., #41 UK
*''[[Night Music (album)|Night Music]]'' (1994, Virgin)
*''[[Heaven and Hell (Joe Jackson album)|Heaven & Hell]]'' (1997, [[Sony]])
*''[[This Is It! (The A&M Years 1979-1989)]] (Joe Jackson)'' (1997, [[A&M Records|A&M]])
*''[[Symphony No. 1 (album)|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 (Joe Jackson album)|Volume 4]]'' (2003, [[Rykodisc]])
*''[[Afterlife (Joe Jackson album)|AfterLife]]'' (2004, Rykodisc)
*''[[Rain (Joe Jackson album)|Rain]]'', (2008, Rykodisc)
<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
| location= London
| pages= p. 274
| id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5}}</ref>
[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hifuxqe5ldae~T5]
==Singles==
{| class="wikitable"
|rowspan="2"| '''Year'''
|rowspan="2"| '''Title'''
|colspan="6"| '''Chart positions'''
|rowspan="2"| '''Album'''
|-
|U.S. [[Billboard Hot 100|Hot 100]]
|U.S. [[Modern Rock Tracks chart|Modern Rock]]
|U.S. [[Mainstream Rock Tracks chart|Mainstream Rock]]
|[[UK Singles Chart|UK]]
|German Singles Chart
|Dutch Singles Chart
|-
| 1979
| "[[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 (Joe Jackson song)|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 (Till You Know 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''
|}
<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
| location= London
| pages= p. 274
| id= ISBN 1-904994-10-5}}</ref>
==See also==
*[[List of albums (J)]]
*[[List of rock and roll performers]]
==References==
{{Refimprove|date=February 2008}}
<references/>
==Literature==
*''A Cure for Gravity'', 1999, autobiography ISBN 1-86230-083-6
==External links==
*[http://www.joejackson.com/ Official site]
*[http://www.onamrecords.com/gallery/view/Joe%20Jackson Joe Jackson's career on A&M Records with gallery, international discography]
*[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hifuxqe5ldae~T1 Joe Jackson biography] at [[Allmusic]] [[website]]
*http://www.jj-archive.net/
*[http://www.myspace.com/joejacksonmusic/ Joe Jackson's Myspace]
* [http://www.revu.nl/10619.Video-interview_met_Joe_Jackson Video-interview with Joe Jackson on revu.nl, 31 January 2008]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Joe}}
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:English male singers]]
[[Category:English songwriters]]
[[Category:English singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music]]
[[Category:Music from London]]
[[Category:People from Paulsgrove]]
[[Category:New Wave groups]]
[[Category:Koch Records artists]]
[[Category:Grammy Award winners]]
[[de:Joe Jackson]]
[[es:Joe Jackson (músico)]]
[[fr:Joe Jackson]]
[[is:Joe Jackson]]
[[it:Joe Jackson]]
[[nl:Joe Jackson]]
[[ja:ジョー・ジャクソン (ミュージシャン)]]
[[pt:Joe Jackson]]