"Biology" I agree, Mark, with a nifty intro here. I gotta say, JJ's songs tend to excel at groovy intros. Lyrically, this is an odd song from JJ, in that we know so little about his personal life and here it seems to be about a musician returning home from a road trip; I don't associate these things with JJ. Nice catchy chorus & a sweet build as the female speaks to the narrator.
For me, "Biology" is one of the highlights of the album. I like the fact that underneath the somewhat typical new wave arrangement, the song itself seems like a nod to the doo-wop era, and I especially enjoy the lyrics. The narrator becomes so intolerable that when the woman finally speaks, I just want to give her a big high five.
A song without a bridge, too. The tension mounts quite effectively. (Call me crazy, but kinda like "Paradise by the Dashboard Light". Just a thought I'll likely regret because I heard that song just yesterday).
In a way, these last three tracks tie together nicely in an ironic Trilogy of what it is to be a (real) man. "Biology" - gender equality & male virility as a biological excuse for infidelity "Pretty Boys" - men as packaged sex symbols (not anything JJ ever experienced) "Fit" - gender politics
I was sort of "built" with Beat Crazy. I still am. Screaming, protesting, still trying to navigate. Joe got into jazz. Maybe I should follow, if not in music, maybe in mind. Trying to Look Sharp, or be The Man.
Pretty Boys This track is a return to the ska stylings of the first album and is a pretty direct look at what a lot of us were thinking at the time. The start of the video era of music put a lot more emphasis on appearance than substance and it seemed like the music industry was going to be overrun by attractive people with less than stellar musicality. Obviously in movies and tv sex appeal and appearance had always been super high on the agenda, and this was even more true of females, often careers being cut short stupidly by ageing and all those horrible natural things that are unacceptable to a society obsessed with appearance ... anyhow ... This is a cool song and works really well for me. It is somewhat of a recovery from the last two tracks that I personally have a couple of problems with.
This is one where my reaction is very different from that of Mark W--this track is just plain annoying to me. It seems to be trying to sound as vapid and annoying as the entertainers it targets, and succeeds a bit too well for my taste (much like with "Hit Single" a decade later). He would practically re-write the song as "Thugz R Us" on Volume 4. The lyrics don't especially bother me, though hearing this for the first time in the late '80s (that is, several years after "Money for Nothing") may have made the topic seem more cliched than it might have in 1980. I do see an irony, though, in that it seems to me that many of the song's criticisms (packaged for stardom, not able to play their instruments properly, etc.) are exactly those that were often lobbed at punk and new wave artists who were presented as anything but pretty--would he have alienated more of his fans if he were to have written it as "Snarly Boys?" I'll grant that his vocals sound good--he seems to be getting better at adding more color to them at this point--and who wouldn't enjoy an accordion solo in a rock song?
Easy Reference Guide Joe Jackson talks about his music 1989 - Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * Arms and Legs - She'll Surprise You Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * Is She Really Going Out With Him/You Got The Fever 1978- Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * Look Sharp 1979 - Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 1 One More Time Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 2 Sunday Papers Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 3 Is She Really Going Out With Him Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 4 Happy Loving Couples Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 5 Throw It Away Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 6 Baby Stick Around Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 7 Look Sharp Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 8 Fools In Love Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 9 Do The Instant Mash Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 10 Pretty Girls Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 11 Got The Time Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * b-side Don't Ask Me Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * I'm The Man Oct 1979 - Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 1 On Your Radio Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 2 Geraldine And John Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 3 Kinda Cute Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 4 It's Different For Girls Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 5 I'm The Man Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 6 The Band Blue Shirts Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 7 Don't Wanna Be Like That Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 8 Amateur Hour Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 9 Get That Girl Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 10 Friday Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * b-side Come On Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * The Harder They Come EP 1980 - Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 1 The Harder They Come Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 2 Out Of Style Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 3 Tilt Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * Beat Crazy 1980 - Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 1 Beat Crazy Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 2 One To One Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 3 In Every Dream Home ... Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 4 Evil Eye Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 5 Mad At you Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 6 Crime Don't Pay Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 7 Someone up there Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 8 Battleground Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 9 Biology Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread * track 10 Pretty Boys Joe Jackson - Album by Album thread *
"Pretty Boys" I agree with both of you about this track actually. Back in the day, I liked it a lot more than I do now. Then, it was a fun song with a lot of jump to it: pure entertainment. It is a little before the break of MTV and video though which was just getting started. JJ was still living in England though, & the lyrics are pointed to a very fickle UK music circle who promote the flavor of the month, & JJ certainly didn't wish to be that. Recall that the term New Wave was not a moniker that musicians wanted then because it would suggest than they would be flash in the pan. Currently, the production is a bit sharp for me and the song sounds to be more of a holdover from the first two records. This JJ looking backwards and not forwards. It was released a month earlier on the Times Square soundtrack. A&M released this as the 2nd single from Beat Crazy, which makes perfect sense given the musical climate of 1980. All the singles ("Mad At You", "Pretty Boys", "One To One" & "Beat Crazy") unsurprisingly flopped. The "Mad At You" video is unwatchable for me, and really there is no 'single' on this album outside of this track potentially.
Fit - I also like this song. I like the opening a lot and it has a nice use of space. As someone stated earlier we have a lyric that may well be a precursor to the themes we will accentuate in Real Men. I think this is a good song, but I am not sure that should be the album closer... I think with a mind to trying to be different to the first two albums they didn't want to end with an uptempo song ... but that is just my speculation.
Is that an accordion? I always thought it was a melodica? I had one as a kid and thought it was cool that Joe used one in a song.
I really like this song as well. Dealing so directly with transgender and multiracial issues was pretty ahead of its time to say the least, and that final verse evoking the self-satisfaction of "normal" life before adding "But maybe in some other life time, you won't fit...and if you don't fit..."---just gave me chills as I listened. I probably would have preferred a less shouty, less guitar-centric arrangement (maybe a little more like what he would do with "Real Men"), but I still have to give this one a pretty big thumbs up.
Probably is a melodica, as that's what Joe normally uses. Not sure why it sounded so accordion-ish to me on my last listen that I made the assumption, but now I assume you are correct.
Re. "She'll Surprise You" I highly doubt it. I never heard the track before I stumbled upon it on You Tube just recently!
Well...leave it to a member named, "Curiosity", posted in 2007! Edward Bear - all you ever needed to know But that's...not all you ever needed to know. Turns out, some doof adds to his thread, because "Curiosity" is talking about the Canadian Edward Bear, of "Last Song" fame. So, this other guy brings up the Portsmouth band...which is apparently what I'd just dug up on a web-search, leading us right back here to the good ol' Hoffman Board. And so, here I've posted the thread. ...and, I look down through the thread, because the guy at the top it turns out wasn't the guy who eventually answers my previous question for me. And...look who it is...! My mom used to reassure me, I was smarter than I really knew. Turns out, she was right...and she still is-!
"Fit" is a suitable closing track which defines what JJ's career will be...for the next 38+ years, he will not fit any mold & seems to rail against the idea of even trying. Unlike Look Sharp! & I'm The Man, Beat Crazy ends contemplatively & pensively rather than with a bang - a fade versus a complete stop. Did you notice that there is a guitar solo?
To my ears, Beat Crazy is still a winner, but I don't listen to it as much as some others. "Beat Crazy", "Crime Don't Pay", "In Every Dream Home" & "Someone Up There" are my favorite tracks. "Pretty Boys" is just not quite there for me, but I don't skip it ever.
Arms and Legs Mid-70's band from Portsmouth, England, with band members Joe Jackson (key, voc), Mark Andrews (g, voc), Graham Maby (b), Dave Cairns (dr.) and Clive Bates (g)
I can’t say I am a fan of everything Joe Jackson has done - but I recognize whatever he does is not some passing fancy/stick your finger to see which way the wind is blowing reinvention with him. And if he did nothing else, he will always have me with this one: “Skateboards - I almost made them respectable”
Enough Is Not Enough This track was the b-side to Mad At You. Unfortunately the Jackson info isn't a well collated as it should be online. A reminder of how under appreciated this guy really is. This track has a bit of punk feel and comes across really well. I understand why it wasn't on the album, but it was a great b-side for Mad At You.
You all are on your own for a spell. I am in Costa Rica on an annual missions trip and simply can't post or read much.
Joe Jackson's Jumpin' Jive Studio album by Joe Jackson Released June 11, 1981[1] Recorded May 1981 Studio Basing Street Studios, London Genre Jump blues, swing revival Length 42:17 Label A&M Producer Joe Jackson Released in 1981, it is a collection of covers of classic 1940s swing and jump blues songs originally performed by musicians such as Louis Jordan and Cab Calloway, the latter of whom's song "Jumpin' Jive" was the eponym for this album. The album and single were credited to Joe Jackson's Jumpin' Jive.[3] Jackson's foray through jump blues anticipated the so-called "retro-swing revival" (Squirrel Nut Zippers, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Brian Setzer Orchestra) by a full fifteen years. Musicians Joe Jackson – vocals and vibraphone Pete Thomas – alto saxophone Raul D'Oliveira – trumpet Nick Weldon – piano Dave Bitelli – tenor saxophone and clarinet Graham Maby – bass Larry Tolfree – drums All – backing vocals Production Joe Jackson - arrangements, producer Norman Mighell - assistant producer, recording engineer Matt The Goose - assistant recording engineer Joe Jackson, Pete Thomas, Dave Bitelli, Raul D'Oliveira - horn arrangements Jeri Heiden and Sandy Brummels - art direction Anton Corbijn - photography 1. "Jumpin' with Symphony Sid" Lester Young, King Pleasure 2:43 2. "Jack, You're Dead" Walter Bishop, Dick Miles 2:46 3. "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby" Bill Austin, Louis Jordan 4:57 4. "We the Cats (Shall Hep Ya)" Cab Calloway, Jack Palmer 3:19 5. "San Francisco Fan" Sammy Mysels, Dick Sanford 4:28 6. "Five Guys Named Moe" Jerome Bresler, Larry Wynn 2:30 7. "Jumpin' Jive" Cab Calloway, Frank Froeba, Jack Palmer 2:41 8. "You Run Your Mouth (and I'll Run My Business)" Louis Armstrong 2:31 9. "What's the Use of Getting Sober (When You're Gonna Get Drunk Again)" Bubsy Meyers 3:46 10. "You're My Meat" Skeets Tolbert 2:54 11. "Tuxedo Junction" Erskine Hawkins, Buddy Feyne, William Johnson, Julian Dash 5:18 12. "How Long Must I Wait for You" Jerry Black, Lucky Millinder 4:06 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although I love Jackson's first three albums, this is where it all starts to get serious for me. This guy is a little different. This guy isn't just going to regurgitate the same ideas to make his records, and this was confirmed by the next equally different release. I love this album, and it probably as much as anything else led me into the world of Swing, first, and then Jazz, via some other artists that during the seventies and eighties sat on the border of those genres doing stuff more accessible to pop and rock trained ears ... George Benson comes to mind as the other artist that mainly drove me in the direction of jazz, via the Breezin' album. There are a couple of songs on here that I can take or leave, but the majority of this album is a-class brilliance that I love and the sound and feel of the band are quite authentic. Anyhow, what are your thoughts on this groundbreaking album. Give us your perspective and tomorrow we'll hit the first song. Cheers, Mark
I pretty much love the idea of of this, and its instrumental execution is flawless. Perhaps oddly, given how much a fan I normally am of Joe's vocals, his vocals are kind of thin throughout this album, and sometimes just get too abrasive for me, even to the point of clashing with the music. I recall this being most pronounced on "San Francisco Fan." I get the sense he might have been exaggerating the punky/screamy aspect of his singing to try to appeal to those who might have been turned off by his musical 180 degree turn--i.e., "I might be doing old-fashioned music, but I'm still doing it in a punk way!" As with almost everything he recorded prior to Night & Day, I strongly prefer live versions I've heard of this material. Despite that particular misgiving, I'm really glad he did this album, as it seems like it freed him from what I think of as the stylistic straightjacket of his first albums, opening the way to what I consider among the most extraordinary sequences of albums of any decade in pop music (Night & Day through Blaze of Glory).
