Joe Jackson…. an artist whose albums regularly feature in various AWers albums of the year, a writer of a a brilliant blog, yet someone who continues to maintain a relatively low profile (i.e. he probably does not get the recognition he deserves).
Anyway, I have just received a recent reissue of his seventh studio album, Body & Soul. This has just been released by Intervention Records in the US on SACD and features a new mastering. There is a vinyl coming, but has been delayed (apparently most of the vinyl pressing plants have been shut due to the ongoing plague). This is the fourth reissue of the Joe Jackson back catalogue by Intervention – they have previously reissued Look Sharp!, I’m The Man and Night & Day on vinyl only (although they are apparently working on SACD releases and they are being re-pressed on vinyl).
Body & Soul is probably one of my favourite Joe Jackson albums. I loved all his previous albums too – the new wave of Look Sharp! and I’m The Man, the smooth sounds of Night & Day, the “fun” of Jumpin’ Jive….. I was almost a teenager at the time of his debut and so grow up with his albums and his appearances on TOTP, but a “sophisticated” 17 year old doing A levels when Body & Soul was released, something hit the spot. Maybe it was the move into more jazz orientated sounds, the mixture of Latin rhythms (Cha Cha Loco) with confessional ballads (Be My Number Two), the horn heavy tracks, the gorgeous trumpet melodies (the instrumental Loisaida), it was and still remains a favourite album.
I have long felt that Joe Jackson’s early albums were prime candidates for reissues – they seemed to become bargain label staples with poor sound and packaging (and for an artist with such a long and varied career, there doesn’t appear to be much in the way of deluxe editions, extra material etc etc). As I don’t do vinyl, I have not yet sampled the Intervention reissues of the first two albums and Night & Day, but when this SACD was announced, I immediately preordered. I’ve not done a side by side comparison with my old CD yet, but initial reaction after a few listens is very very positive – sounds very clear with a “punchy” bass and horns, and dare I say it – more “analogue”. I definitely look forward to future SACD releases of his catalogue. And for those of a vinyl bent, I read that the vinyl releases have all been positively received.
So, Joe Jackson – where do you stand and what are you favourites ?
https://www.interventionrecords.com/records/body-and-soul-cd-sacd/
it’s my favourite release of his too – haven’t seen any mention of it over here but still check it out.
I got direct from Intervention (more expensive shipping though). I think that it is now on Amazon UK. although they appear to have messed up the listings with the Matthew Sweet SACD that Intervention have also released, so I am not too sure……
I would love to buy this. I have the previous remaster, which has a few, er, problems, and would really like to have a decent copy – this, along with Jumpin’ Jive, is my favourite of Joe’s ealry albums.
But.
$30 plus postage from the record label direct? Or maybe £40 from the dodgers via an incorrectly tagged page (thinks this is a release from Matthew Sweet – which one would they ship?). That’s too rich for me. Joe needs to get his people to sort out availability and pricing if he wants to shift copies to his fans from the last century.
@Chrisf – see above. How much did they charge you to ship?
It was USD 20 for the shipping to Singapore (I know – but it is one of my favourite albums). So total of $50 is about the same as the dodgers price.
@Chrisf
nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggg
(sound of temptation)
But, but, and but again. What will the dodgers actually ship, given that their product page for this new remastering is completely f*cked?
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Well given that Intervention have also just released the Matthew Sweet album, I think there is a fair chance you will get the wrong one……
I would wait for them to fix.
In the meantime if you “need” a digital preview (CD layer only I’m afraid) the you know where to find me…..
🙂
I’ll give it a week or two and see if the page resolves itself.
In the meantime I’ll clear out my Dropbox folder and see if there is anything with which I might reciprocate.
You do know that Joe is a Tory right? If Amazon mess up they will correct things very quickly, often with compensation. Whatever their faults customer service is second to none.
* listens to crackle and splutter of JJ discs as they burn*
Frank Zappa was a bit of a twat too, but Peaches is still my ringtone.
Zappa’s political views are certainly to the Right of mine but not so very bad. He was decidedly in favour of capitalism but his heart was in the right place. He seemingly despised Republicans but seemed pretty disappointed with the Democrats of his day too.
From “Hot-Plate Heaven At The Green Hotel”, which is about homelessness, slum housing and the effects of Reaganomics.
“Republicans is fine if you’re a multi-millionaire, Democrats is fair if all you own is what you wear. Neither of ’em’s really right ’cause neither of ’em care ’bout that hot-plate heaven, ’cause they ain’t been there. They really oughta go ‘n’ find out how the hall-way smell. They’d benefit to know ’bout what the bums in there could tell. Of course we’re only dreamin’ but I s’pose it’s just as well. That’s all you get to dream up in the Green Hotel.”
I was thinking more of his sexual politics than his politics politics.
His sexual politics were very much of his era. He WAS a misogynist, despite his constant denials. I expect he genuinely thought that he wasn’t one.
The vast majority of male US musicians of his time were too, as were the audience he aimed his songs at.
Not an excuse, because there are none, but probably due to having a very traditionally-minded Sicilian immigrant father and a subservient mother.
What an outstanding artist Joe Jackson is.
His old records were great.
His new records are also great.
Hats off to the man with the pointy white shoes!
My fave JJ, too.
The “remastered” CD from 20+ years ago had clicks in it, it was terrible, I took two copies back before I gave up.
Discogs tells me they are all mastered by Kevin Gray (Steve Hoffman’s right-hand-man) at Coherent Audio. Today is going to get expensive.
Night and Day was my epiphany, sealed by the live show at Roundhay Park, where he was the support for some long forgotten rock dinosaurs. But I like all his stuff , especially where and when Graham Maby is on bass.
One of the century’s greatest songwriter/ arrangers as far as I am concerned.
Diverse Vinyl import into the UK. The first three LPs are £40 each, and the live Summer In The City 2LP is £56.
I think I’ll have to make do with my A&M originals.
You could always try dropping a note to the label owner telling him all about your Replay Papworth events (when they restart) and see if you can get a “sponsored” copy……..
Tried that… “Try Diverse Vinyl”. They have no stock. Oh well.
I love it when someone mentions on here, something I love but have forgotten about. Playing the cd now…original version I think. Sounds great to my ears!
Last weekend, I found a pile of DVDs that I had copied years ago, and I had forgotten about them too. One was the Joe Jackson 25th anniversary concert. Great stuff and a lovely surprise evening’s entertainment.
I saw him once many years ago in Edinburgh. The guitarist (who’s name has slipped my mind) had broken his leg or ankle. He played leaning against a tall stool and he had a stookie on!
I was a member of a Joe Jackson list years ago too. One of the members got everyone to send copies of concert ticket stubbs, which she arranged artfully, photographed and got t shirts made. I still have mine.
I have been a fan since the beginning. Thankfully punk rock had burnt itself out(I hated it) and the likes of Joe and Elvis Costello appeared. They had the energy of the punks, but so much more, and none of the crap.
Just remembered that Gary Sanford was the plasterred guitarist.
The original CD version was fine, the first remaster was pants. You were wise to buy it then and hang on to it!
I saw him live last year for the first time. Was an excellent evening’s entertainment and the new songs were good too. Highlight was them doing Steppin Out live (“for the first time”) with the original arrangement and instruments.
As for this particular album, am not familiar with the whole but thought the singles were a bit below his best ones.
I’d be interested in the technology behind the SACD layer. The album was recorded on a 3M 32-track digital multitrack tape machine, which was limited to 16-bit 50kHz (actually 12-bit but I’ll leave that aside for now). Mostly recorded live to two track by an overhead pair of Neumann M50 ribbon mics, with the rest of the channels used for close-mics or overdubs.
Given the 16/50 source, the SACD is not going to have much going on above the resolution of the CD layer.
Correct – this was a digital to digital remaster and the higher resolution of SACD shouldn’t really add any sonic improvements (I remember reading somewhere the head of Intervention stating as much). However, the remastering (by Kevin Gray as you mention above) does give a significant improvement (to my ears anyway). Not done a direct comparison of the CD vs SACD layer, but as this is only available as an SACD anyway, its somewhat of a mute point. When Intervention started a few years ago and released the first JJ albums they were only on vinyl – there was a push for them to move to SACD – I seem to recall something about all the digital stuff in the mastering is done with DSD, so SACD makes sense.
Steve – Do you want me to ask? I work with the founder of Intervention Records.
He said:
All that’s on my website: https://www.interventionrecords.com
We converted the PCM files to DSD from a Pacific Microsonics to a Sony machine.
Crikey – they reissued This Is Big Audio Dynamite!
I loved JJ from the day he did Sunday Papers on OGWT. I don’t have the first album and this one – well, on tape – which is a shameful gap in my collection. I have up to the live one on vinyl and the reunion of the JJ Band on CD (a fine album in its own right) and saw the tour in Paris which was superb. I night the CD collection I think you’re referring to when it came out and it does sound a bit harsh but the songs are so good who cares. I really must plug the gaps!
Steely Dan fans note he did the odd Dan cover live and Walter Becker was a fan of his singing and thought he was one of the few who could put the songs over property.
Anyway I just bought a supposedly mint second hand copy on eBay for 7 quid which I will do my own needle drop and remaster for CD.
Yeah he did King of the World live when I saw him, also The Beatles’ Rain which was nice but probably superfluous.
Alchemy
One More Time
Is She Really Going Out With Him?
Another World
Big Black Cloud
Fabulously Absolute
Stranger Than Fiction
Drowning
Real Men
Rain
Citizen Sane
It’s Different for Girls
Fool
Sunday Papers
King of the World
You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)
Ode to Joy
I’m the Man
Steppin’ Out
Got the Time
Alchemy [reprise]
That Alchemy song is superb isn’t it? Might be my favourite single track of last year.
Been into JJ from the start as well and he’s still great. Possibly my favourite album is the almost forgotten Blaze of Glory. I love most of his recent stuff – Rain got into my list of 21st century albums and in reality it could have been joined by other albums of his only I went with the self-imposed rule of one album per artist. I love that Rain is just piano, bass and drums and yet every track sounds unique.
“Songs over property”
Afterword t- shirt
Nice.
I bought it on vinyl when it came out and it’s my favourite Jackson album as well, alongside the criminally underrated Blaze of Glory. Seen him live four or five times over the years and he’s never been less than superb.
On the bargain front – “Live in Europe 2010” is available from the Bezos crew for £7.
This is on double vinyl. My copy was delivered a few days ago and sounds amazing.
Fill yer boots !
Oh, good spot. Not an Intervention release but worth a punt at £7. Thanks.
Didn’t know about that album. It’s out of stock at the moment but have placed an order in the hope they get some more in. Thanks for the tip – I saw that trio in Manchester, maybe a couple of years earlier, and they were terrific.
JJ has always been a great live performer, never giving less than full commitment and a thought out well balanced set list. Probably my favourite was the Blaze of Glory tour, at Hammy Odeon, when he did the entire album with the superb band that he’d recorded with, alongside the hits and more. Absolutely stonking show.
I saw the Night and Day tour which was fantastic and the following week they broadcast it on BbC so i taped it. Still have it somewhere . The Live 1980/86 album is good.
From my increasingly fuzzy memory, I seem to remember that “Body and Soul” was actually recorded live at some hall in North America ( New York ? ).
Joe explained this to the audience and asked them not to applaud at the end of each song.
Thereby giving the impression that it was a studio recorded album.
To concur. One of my favourite JJ albums.
Yes it was live wasn’t it. I remember now.
That was Big World, the 3-sided double album, where the audience were asked to wait until they clapped so that they could be edited out.
Body & Soul was recorded in a masonic hall in New York, mostly live to digital two track, a bit like the Cowboy Junkies did on Trinity Session a few years later (although they used a single Soundfield mic and a DAT recorder).
Ah yes you’re right. Fine album. I have two three sides albums – the second Johnny Winter album was three sided too. Interestingly my copy the 4th side is blank and my mate’s has side three on both sides.
Mine is blank @Twang
Incidentally, there is a great website called Setlist FM. This attempts to show every gig that there has ever been. I have tested it out about half a dozen times and it hasn’t let me down yet ranging from Jethro Tull in 1969 to the last Joe Jackson concert I went to which was June 2008 at the Bridgewater Hall. The app records all the gigs you have attended into your very own list showing the setlist for each one.
Hours of fun and one to test your memory if you don’t keep the ticket stubs.
Setlist FM is deserving of its own Blog so I will post one shortly.
Please do – this is the sort of little gem I love to discover. Send me an @ when you do it?!
@Chrisf – thanks mate.
Loved reading this thread, been a fan of Joe since 1979s Look Sharp LP (a mate of mine worked in HMV Manchester and got me a promo JJ tie!!….unfortunately now lost)…a lot of love above for Blaze of Glory but no mention for Laughter and Lust and 2015s lovely Fast forward, possibly my two fave JJ albums….well worth a listen for those who havent….
I have Beat Crazy on vinyl, which I loved at the time and I recall that Night And Day was on heavy rotation in a flat I shared in the early/mid-80s.
Since then Joe’s career has largely passed me by and I have only been aware of him when he has made the news with his pro-smoking pronouncements.
Having said that I should perhaps renew my acquaintance, though via Spotify rather than over-priced SACD.
You can find a copy of the unremastered CD for a few quid on Discogs if you poke around.
There’s a review on the dodgers that explains that the original A&M CD (with the catalog number CDA-65000) is the one to have, as it does not have all the flaws of the official remaster that has been the only version extant for many years.
Discogs lets you home in on a specific release like this, which in this case is a huge advantage over the dodgers blunt instrument webpage, which in this case is not only blunt but incompetently buggered up!
Trust me if the vinly I have ordered is clean the Twang remaster will be the way to go.
I have no idea which version I have, but it sounds great to my ears. It’s all very confusing. On the front cover of the cd, above JOE JACKSON, it says A&M CD3286. Inside cover, spine and cd says A&M CD69979. Made in Canada. Also Audio Master Plus Series.
I listened to my LP of Night & Day yesterday. Various songs point at what was to come. This, for instance, could have been on Body & Soul.
What bugs me about Joe is his tendency to reject work. He was on a podcast some time ago and has decided he doesn’t rate Body & Soul anymore. Feels like a slap in the face for me, but he always seems to have an odd attitude to his fans. I’ve seen him a few times and he always gives a great show but then spoils it by always playing Slow Song. I always keep tabs on him but his later A&M albums were quite poor and cliched.
We, as fans love his work, probably because it reminds us of times when we were younger/ happier and had less responsibility. He, as an artist, looks back at his work and can probably only see faults, or parts that should have been improved. It was 36 years ago. I guess like the rest of us, he’s changed a lot since then.
Prompted by this thread, I’ve odered his latest three on vinly, all reasonably priced (the Duke Ellington one was only 8 quid). I’ve heard them in passing but not sat down and listened on the Linn for a proper appreciation.
Laughter & Lust (his last for A&M) shows him on the cover wearing a prison uniform and holding a bal and chain – it’s like he’s trying to tell us something… He admits to a decade of writer’s block.
I loved Laughter & Lust, has some of my favourite JJ songs on it, Obvious Song, The Other Me, My House. Fast Forward is recorded in four different studios with four different sets of musicians, he always trys something different does Joe. His last album Fool was almost like a return to his Night & Day / Body & Soul era….Any love for his 1994 album Night Music??
I’ve only heard Night Music once. Same for the follow-up, Heaven & Hell, although I have one of the tracks on Jane Siberry’s odds & sods comp, City.
can also recommend Night & Day 2 from 2000 containing this little gem…
I love this more than the first.
My 2nd hand vinly has arrived and sounds fantastic.
Yes, I played my Body and Soul vinyl and it was hair-standing-up-on-the-back-of-my-neck stuff. I do have some minor qualms about the primitive digital equipment used to record it – the cymbals sound rather ‘fizzy’ – but it is my favourite.
I also tracked down a
cheapcopy of the Intervention vinyl release of I’m The Man. My least-favourite of his first five solo albums, the improvement in sound quality is astounding. Like listening to a master tape.I’ll be pre-ordering September’s Intervention repressings of Look Sharp! and Night And Day.
Bought I’m the Man in Liverpool ca 1981 new for 99p. Patchy album.
If it wasn’t for It’s Different for Girls, he’d likely be a one-hit wonder
No, a two hit wonder.
3?
Different For Girls
Is She really going out with him
Stepping out
Possibly 4, but Breaking Us In Two didn’t make the top 50
(and I’ve only just found that out)
I meant ISRGOWH? then… nothing.
None of the other singles from Look Sharp! or I’m The Man hit the charts, the next two albums flopped, he’s lucky to have released Night & Day given those figures.
I recall reading somewhere (in his book?) that he pays for the recordings himself (and possibly own his own publishing?) and licenses his recordings, so the record company has a low-risk release. Press up a few, see if they sell, no massive advance to dish out & recoup.
2 hit wonder when it’s different for girls is removed.
I don’t understand the 1/2/3 hit wonder tag. I would think a 1 hit wonder was someone who made a hit record then disappeared. Joe Jackson is an artist. He’s been making music his whole life, experimenting with different styles and formats. It’s art. Obviously he’d like to sell his art, but I don’t think that’s the reason he does it.
Yes, I dont subscribe to this view just pointing out he had 3 hits not 2 like @fentonsteve implied.
I haven’t heard it for years but I remember it had its moments – the title track, “Geraldine and John” and “Time” come to mind.
I played “Body and Soul” for the first time this evening, after having snapped up a cheap old CD copy on Discogs.
Yeah. Sounds good.
What’s my favourite track?
“Loisada”
I always like instrumentals. I don’t know why this is, but I always do.
Instrumentals are great, aren’t they?
Cha-cha Loco.
Cha cha loco.
Cha chah Loco.
So inspired by this thread I picked up a mint copy of the vinyl in Toronto’s legendary Sonic Boom store.The cost? $3.75. The other records I bought cost another $90 though!
A pal got a copy of the SACD via eBay for £26.
I tracked down an Intervention pressing of This Is Big Audio Dynamite for a bit under £20. It sounds better than the original UK pressing, but not anywhere near as much of an improvement as the A&M vs. Intervention cuts of I’m The Man.
I’m waiting for Look Sharp! and Night and Day to be repressed in September.
Intervention vinyl of Joan Armatrading’s debut is just out, £51 from the UK dodgers, a bit of a markup on $35.
Re: Intervention vinyl of Joan Armatrading’s debut
It’s always great to read your vinyl news and tips, fentonsteve, but the album called “Joan Armatrading” wasn’t Joan’s debut, even though it looks and feels like it, being eponymous and everything.
First she did an album with Pam Nestor, and then the first Joan Armatrading solo album was “Back to the Night” in 1975.
Ah, bugger. What is it they say? Write about what you know. It’s the first Joan Armatrading album I own, if that helps. I only have three or four of hers.
She used to regularly play the Cambridge Corn Exchange, every autumn, but I stopped going after two or three times. I find her a bit ‘worthy but dull’ in large doses.
I’d like to hear that Intervention vinyl but when $35 = £26, paying £50 is a bit steep. It’s £45 at Diverse Vinyl, whereas most others are £40 tops. I picked up the B.A.D for £20.
For 10 bonus points, on which instrument did Joe Jackson take his final diploma to graduate from the Royal Academy of Music?
a) violin
b) oboe
c) piano
d) timpani
After a very long wait, Intervention Records are finally releasing Body & Soul on vinyl.
Double 180g cut at 45rpm for maximum wallop. I may have to remortgage the house.
https://www.interventionrecords.com/records/body-and-soul-180g-lp/
It arrived today, on import via Juno Records in That London.
I had time for a quick spin of side A before Mrs F had to go into an online meeting in the adjoining room.
It sounds gert lush.