# Joe Jackson



## Bill Schuster (Oct 22, 2019)

Joe is often dismissed as just another angry young man like Elvis Costello and Graham Parker. He is so much more than that brief early period. Pop, rock, soul, jazz, classical, etc. Top forty pop hits. A symphony. A collection of pieces that seemed lik a symphony. A Duke Ellington tribute. An homage to Cole Porter. Soundtracks. Classically trained, he got his break by joining Edward Bear and playing their big am 70s hit Last Song. He is my favorite musical figure ever and he is still going. Lucky me. He is that rare artist whose modern work is as good as or better than his classics. Any other JJ fans?


----------



## Guest (Sep 28, 2020)

Bill Schuster said:


> Classically trained,* he got his break by joining Edward Bear and playing their big am 70s hit Last Song*.


This is unequivocally untrue - "Edward Bear" was a Toronto-based Canadian group with 3 Top Ten songs charting in Canada -

"You, Me, and Mexico" - 1970 - # 3

""Last Song" - 1972 - # 1 - (# 3 in the USA)

"Close Your Eyes" - 1973 - # 3

In 1974 Joe Jackson joined a Portsmouth (UK) band called Edward Bear.

In 1975 - the band signed a recording contract with UK label MAM Records. Being told that 'Edward Bear' was already the name of a Canadian group, the band changed its name first to *Edwin Bear* and then to Arms & Legs.


----------



## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

For a minute I thought this was a thread about “Shoeless” Joe Jackson!:lol:


----------



## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I wasn't a fan but I did like his _Jumpin' Jive_ album from 1981. He did a damned sight more with that one album of swing music than Robbie bloody Williams did with his tiresome _pro-forma_ impersonations of Darin, Martin and Sinatra.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Bill Schuster said:


> Joe is often dismissed as just another angry young man like Elvis Costello and Graham Parker. He is so much more than that brief early period. Pop, rock, soul, jazz, classical, etc. Top forty pop hits. A symphony. A collection of pieces that seemed lik a symphony. A Duke Ellington tribute. An homage to Cole Porter. Soundtracks. Classically trained, he got his break by joining Edward Bear and playing their big am 70s hit Last Song. He is my favorite musical figure ever and he is still going. Lucky me. He is that rare artist whose modern work is as good as or better than his classics. Any other JJ fans?


Thanks for that description. I never explored his music, but I always wondered why Rolling Stone called him a cool chameleon.


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I've picked _Night and Day_ and _Body and Soul_ for my list of all-time favourite pop/rock albums (work still in progress, total will most likely be around 250). His excursions into classical music did not impress me.


----------



## Bill Schuster (Oct 22, 2019)

Dylan and the Band said:


> This is unequivocally untrue - "Edward Bear" was a Toronto-based Canadian group with 3 Top Ten songs charting in Canada -
> 
> "You, Me, and Mexico" - 1970 - # 3
> 
> ...


I stand corrected. I could have sworn that I remembered otherwise, from reading his autobiography. Obviously, I was mistaken. Human memory is notoriously unreliable in all circumstances.


----------



## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

"Jumpin' Jive" was a radical departure at the time and VERY enjoyable.

I nearly got hold of a ticket to see this band perform at a Cambridge May Ball. to have him come on in a large tent sometime in the early hours must have been quite a gig. Odd what the memory banks bring up...


----------



## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

This thread makes me want to dig out my Joe Jackson records (original vinyl releases, all) and re-explore them all. I have several, and even the Symphony. _Body And Soul_ certainly rules the roost.


----------



## Bill Schuster (Oct 22, 2019)

SONNET CLV said:


> This thread makes me want to dig out my Joe Jackson records (original vinyl releases, all) and re-explore them all. I have several, and even the Symphony. _Body And Soul_ certainly rules the roost.


Nice! I found original vinyl copies of Body and Soul, as well as, Big World recently. I bought them on cassette when they were first released. I also own the CD versions. I was especially excited because Body and Soul has always been so quiet, relative to other 80s JJ albums. I truly relished playing these beauties, that I know so well, at a loud volume, while singing along and admiring the album package.


----------



## Varick (Apr 30, 2014)

Big fan of JJ. Saw him in NYC about 2 years ago. Excellent show. He put out a lot of really good albums. "Look Sharp!," "I'm The Man," "Night & Day," "Volume 4," to name a few, and even a more recent album of his called "Fast Forward" is just great! I believe he is HIGHLY underrated.

V


----------

