Disco de Joe Jackson: “I'm the Man”

This album came out 9 months after Joe's debut with "Look Sharp!" It covers the same basic musical territory, but with perhaps an even better collection of songs. They are both way, way up on my list of all-time favorites.

As with Look Sharp!, this is everything you could ask for in a CD remaster: dramatically improved sound, a killer live version of a Chuck Berry song as a bonus track, expanded album art, full lyrics, new liner notes, and a mid-range price...

Fashion goes in circles. Take the first Star Wars movie for example. In the early1990s we rolled around laughing at Luke Skywalker's blow-dried 70s haircut. Watching the film today, that same haircut looks fairly modern. Indeed, the whole film looks like it was made yesterday. In music the same applies. Cheesy 70s fusion and pedestrian jazz-funk is today recycled and mass produced but today it's called `Lounge'. And then you have music which transcends fashion, purveyed by bands like Beatles, Stones, Elvis Costello, etc. Joe Jackson's first two albums - of which `I'm the Man' is the first - are classic examples. A perfect fusion of pop savvy, punk attitude and musical brilliance. Good, solid songs, simply arranged (guitar, bass, drums and the odd keyboard), and with lyrics that are at once funny, poignant and candid. There are no fillers but my favourites include the title track which is ferocious in its intensity, the wonderful `It's Different for Girls' (a top 10 hit in 1979), school geek-comes-good anthem `On Your Radio' and the reggae-tinged `Geraldine and John'. It was released in 1979, but sounded as good throughout the 80s and 90s and still sounds great today. If you like punchy pop with an attitude, you should check this one out.

While lacking the immediacy of "Look Sharp," Joe Jackson delivered the goods with his follow-up, the darker "I'm The Man." Starting with the revenge of the nerds anthem "On The Radio" and closing with the life-is-hell-but-we-don't-care worker cry of "Friday," Jackson was already rapidly moving away from the skinny tie pop showcase of his debut.

While "I'm The Man" doesn't boast anything near as confectionary as "Is She Really Going Out With Him" ("Kinda Kute" tried), Jackson's fascination with jazzier textures begin to blossom here. "The Band Wore Blue Shirts" looks at Jackson's days as a cover band keyboard player in a style that was more low-key than anyone would have expected, and "It's Different For Girls" began a strong streak of complex ballads that explored relationships between the sexes. (Think "One On One" and "Breaking Us In Two.") He also still had his rocker instinct, as the terrific title track slings barbs at the consumer culture and himself.

Jackson's first two albums were pretty much of a pair. He was still working out his aggression and trying to stay inside a genre he'd all but abandon in two more albums. (The liner notes to "Beat Crazy" had him questioning his motivation, ending with the sentence "Why did we even try?") But for this pair of original albums, Joe Jackson (along with The Police, Elvis Costello and Graham Parker) was proving that new wave was not as restrictive a form as its critics sometimes made it out to be.

This is an awesome album with great bass. The bass has this chunky, pick sound. "I'm the man" and "Come on" are the best songs.

Joe Jackson's first two albums have always represented, to me, what was good about the New Wave/No Wave flash-in-the-pan of the late '70s to early '80s. I'M THE MAN is so packed with great songs that it has a "Best-Of..." kind of feel to it. The songs range from the reggae ballad ("Geraldine and John") to sensitive self-reflection (It's Different for Girls") to plain ass-kicking rock ("I'm the Man").

What's evident in this album is that Joe Jackson wasn't going to be hemmed into New Wave for very long; he was too diverse and talented for that. And sure enough he broke loose with the underrated JUMPING JIVE and the overrated NIGHT AND DAY. Still, this album and LOOK SHARP are the CDs I turn to for pure fun.

The CD has a great sound and the accompanying goodies make it well worth the very reasonable price.