(The White) Joe Jackson

I saw him in concert in the early 80s.

He was a total asshole. Wanted to control audience reaction.

A veritable Patti LuPone, minus cell phones.

I was convinced he was fucking one of the band who was very pretty.

Jackson was never a good looking man, but now he looks like a white guy doing Zhou Enlai drag.

I remember hating Steppin’ Out with a passion. I had a huge crush on C. Thomas Howell during his Outsiders days & read in one of my sister’s teen mags that it was his fave song & he’s a huge JJ fan. My ardor kinda waned after that…

Was he ever popular with younger folks/teens? His music has an ironic, mature sound a lot of the time.

I am a HUGE Joe Jackson fan, have seen him every time he's come around since I was old enough to go, and have tickets to see him in a few weeks. Funny thing, R2, Steppin' Out came out when I was maybe 13 and I hated that "yuppy music." Same thing with Steely Dan's " Hey 19. " When it was a radio hit it made my skin crawl. But I listened to Night and Day with fresh ears and fell in love with that whole album, and especially love the shimmering, road-tripping, "Steppin' Out."

I always found him attractive, perhaps not conventionally. I especially find alluring the image of him and the band in the Night and Day gatefold (photo linked below). That looks like a happy vibe I would love to be able to step into at will. His book was a trip. After hearing of the rowdy clubs where JJ got his start, I respect that he knows how to command the stage and not let a few loudmouths ruin it for everyone. In concert, his covers are a treat. "Girl" (The Beatles) is one of my favorites.

R4 Glamour and Pain from Night and Day II features vocalist "Dale Re Vere." It's known now that this is Joe Jackson in drag, however I remember the scuttlebutt and sleuthing that happened after this album's release. So many great albums over the years but N&D2 really picks up that shimmering urban vibe that N&D layed out.

"Steppin' Out" takes me back to a specific time and place in my past.

His best song. Real Men I would be my number two.

Joe Jackson is so talented. The successful leap he made from the "Look Sharp" and "I'm the Man" albums to "Night and Day" is extraordinary in pop music.

And Night and Day wasn't some fluke, created by a behind-the-scenes producer, it was Jackson's work and he continued to create and release albums that moved away from the new wave, post-punk sounds of "Sunday Papers" and "Is She Really Goin' Out with Him?"

I was him perform in 2018 or 2019 - an amazing evening. One of the best concerts I've ever seen.

I love him and his jazzy tunes, he is still touring and has had some extreme surgery from what I last saw.

I loved Stepping Out when it was released, though I was just a kid. I think it sort of represented my imaginary life as an adult, in which I went from elegant nightclub to nightclub, sipping cocktails and being devastatingly attractive all over the place.

Of course my adult life wasn't like that at all, but it was a nice dream while it lasted!

He is looking very odd these days, kind of Madonnaeque…

I was a teen when his first new-wavish first records came out, Look Sharp and l'm The Man. Bought both of them and saw him once at The Palladium, perhaps 1979? He had solid releases through the mid-1980s, then he waned, or I was losing interest, or both.

Love "You Can't Get What You Want." It is my 80s jam.

They used to play "Breaking Us in Two" sooo often on MTV in the early days, I guess because there were few videos to choose from. Like all adorable early 80s music videos, it makes little to no sense.

Body and Soul was a great album. One I especially like is, Happy Ending (with Elaine Caswell). I think Joe Jackson picks fantastic women to sing duets with, and highlights their voices fantastically well in his arrangements, and compliments their voices well with his vocal delivery too.

Heart of Ice is another favorite of mine from Body and Soul, especially the vocals that kick in at the end (around six minutes).

The entire Body & Soul album is one of my '80s pop favorites. I used to listen to it on my yellow Walkman while running through Rock Creek Park.

Steppin’ Out is a bit of class.

R14 I always felt bad for the bird in that video that was tied to the perch by his foot.

Saw Joe Jackson's concert last night in San Francisco. It's fantastic how JJ has maintained his patented vocal tone and delivery over the decades . Wonderful musicianship, arrangements, and presentation. Brilliant as ever.

I love the part of his shows when the rest of the band gets a break and JJ plays a few of his piano/voice-driven songs and cover tunes. Joe Jackson's covers are always interesting, richly colored interpretations, and never note-by-note karaoke like some of these other suckers. Fortunately, someone posted to YT Jackson's cover of ABBA's "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (linked below). Jackson introduced the song by saying something like (and I'll probably butcher the joke): "I always cover songs I really like by bands I love. Tonight I thought I would try something different... a song I really like by a band I never loved..."

"Stepping Out" came out during my freshman year in college. It's brightness reminds me of being young. Ilove it. I also like "Is She Really Going Out with Him?". "Breaking US in Two" has a tune that sounds almost exactly like Badfinger's "Day After Day" (which is one of my favorite songs)...I'm kind of surprised that Pete Ham's estate didn't go after Jackson for plagiarism.

I loved his work from the Is He Really Going Out With Her era to around Body and Soul.

He's bi and apparently, based on a few of my male friends who lived in NYC and met him/met up with him there, has a HUGE cock.

However, I can see why R1 responded as they did - have seen him twice, once "solo" and once in a special concert where he was playing with a jazz band and a few other acts - and he did give off the vibe of asshole, of "I don't want to be here." The only other concert I ever attended like that was a Squeeze concert, where you could tell all night that Difford and Tillbrook wanted the other to DIAGF, preferably yesterday, and it was torture to be around that vibe.

DEAR GOD HE LOOKS ANCIENT.

Like John Laroquette crossed with an albino Lisa Rinna

I remember they used Stepping Out in a dream sequence/dance sequence on Who's The Boss between Tony and Angela. I was surprised that they got the rights and Jackson allowed it.

[quote] I was surprised that they got the rights and Jackson allowed it.

A girl's gotta eat!

I don’t listen to him very often but think he is a fine musician. R20’s clip is interesting because he is really performing, just “ out there on his own”. I think that’s pretty cool.

I was a kid when his music was most popular. I do remember hearing that song “Real Men” and sensing that it was like an anthem, very personal and emotional in quality. I admire that.

Yes, I liked him when Is She Really Going Out With Him came out and I still do. I had a couple of his albums back then and now I have some of his songs on my permanent playlist.

See the nice boys, dancing in pairs

Golden earring, golden tan, blow wave in their hair

Sure, they're all straight, straight as a line

All the gays are macho

Can't you see the leather shine?

You don't want to sound dumb, don't want to offend

So don't call me a f*gg*t

Not unless you are a friend

Then if you're tall and handsome and strong

You can wear the uniform and I could play along

Isn't that a great lyric R28? Man it really reflected back the time it was written. It's got a video as well.

Ok I loved r1's Zhou Enlai line, but I think he looks dashing and cool in that photo. (I saw him in concert back in 1990 and had several of his early albums)

His cover of "Common People" with William Shatner is hilarious, outstanding.

Love him. Many of his songs are in the permanent soundtrack of my life. Others pop into my head unexpectedly. Last week I found myself singing "I'm the Man" for no reason, but it's so fun that even singing it lifted my mood.

I read years ago -- was it here? -- that his lover was a eunuch, and it kind of blew my mind. Was it true? Who knows?

I've read other hints of odd kinks here and there (perhaps no surprise given the lyrics to "Real Men.")

R20 Wow, thanks for posting that. I've always loved that song too. I found myself wanting to sing backup: "This time we're through, this time we're through....this time we're through, we're really through...."

I bought a three-disc collection from Europe and the third disc has the soundtrack for Mike's Murder. Jackson's material was dumped for a score by John Barry.

Steppin' Out was in heavy rotation on the music video shows and channels when I was an impressionable tween. Like r6 it takes me back to a very key time in my life.

And this song wasn't necessarily part of it but like r10 I also had those ideas of what adult life would be like based on TV shows, movies, and music videos. I laugh looking back because it was nothing like what I imagined but it's funny how strong the image still is in my mind

I have thought often that the sound and look of the video "Steppin' Out" along with "Overkill" by Men At Work might the most quintessential 80s videos done.

I was a baby when Steppin’ Out was released, I hated all that Adult Contemporary FM Radio cocktail bar stuff in my childhood.

I love the song now, though.

my fave

Someone gave me a couple of tickets he couldn't use years ago in San Francisco.

Joe Jackson was fine. Not outstanding or earth shattering but it was an enjoyable evening.