For no particular reason, I’ve been on a bit of Joe Jackson kick, lately. I’ve always been a fan of his, but like many, I’d assume, I remain partial to his comparatively earlier material. I applaud his penchant for experimentation, but I can’t say I’m as enthused about his forays into chamber music and clasical as I am of his classic records from the post-punk era, as dispiriting as he’d probably find that. Regardless his first few records with his original band — particularly his debut, Look Sharp — are absolutely unstoppable. While often lumped in as one prong of the thorny triumvirate of “Angry Young Men of the British New Wave,” I’d say Looks Sharp blows Elvis Costello’s My Aim is True and Graham Parker’s Squeezing Out Sparks (as fine as they both are) completely out of the water. But, hey, that’s me.
I also quite like Jackson for his pronounced affinity for my native New York City, most floridly expressed on his 1982 breakout album, Night and Day, wherein he was basically starting to shedd his spikier leanings in favor of more jazzy, sophisticated pop.
In any case, I stumbled upon the recording below, this morning, and it captures our Joe when he was still straddling this compelling middle ground between the nervous pugnacity of Punk Rock and his obviously more accomplished musical chops. This would have been recorded just prior to the release of his second album I’m The Man. This was captured in the intimate confines of The Bottom Line at 15 West 4th Street. I did not attend this show as, at the time, I would have been 12 years old and living on the Upper East Side.
Today, Joe Jackson lives in Berlin, driven away from living full-time in his adopted NYC given the smoking ban. He’s still recording, releasing records and touring, although he’s on an English Music Hall kick, at the moment, which I don’t believe I’m that enthused about. The Bottom Line, meanwhile, closed in 2004 and is now an antiseptic NYU facility.
Crank it.
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