Joe Jackson's Look Sharp 10" EP Double Vinyl Album Collector Edition with Button
$
19
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Description
Overview from Rolling Stone and Wikipedia- He didn't have Elvis Costello's way with words, or Graham Parker's blue-eyed-soul-man style. But Joe Jackson's debut showed that he could match his rival angry young Brits where it counted: song-for-song. Look Sharp! is a near-perfect short, sharp New Wave-pop album, toggling from wiry punk ("Got the Time") to witty ballads ("Is She Really Going Out with Him?"), from social commentary ("Sunday Papers") to bruised romance ("One More Time"). Secret weapon: Jackson's ferocious little four-piece band, especially bassist Graham Maby, who nearly steals the show.
Joe Jackson looks very sharp indeed on this head-turning debut album that not only crackles with the vivacious sonic vigor of mid-Sixties Merseybeat, but also makes explicit (even more than the Clash or the Police) the New Wave/reggae connection. In the process, Jackson comes on like a feisty cross between Billy Joel and Elvis Costello, and even pulls off an uncanny Keith Relf impersonation. Not bad for a Royal Academy of Music graduate.
Look Sharp! was heavily indeed influenced by reggae music, which, in a June 1979 interview, Jackson said he was "totally immersed in". Jackson also sought to capture a spontaneous feel on the album; he reflected at the time, "A lot of the tracks are first takes and there are no overdubs, though we think now it is a bit thin. We wanted a bit more live band sort of sound. In retrospect you always feel there's something you can improve on. Next time 'round we'll feature the guitar a bit more".
On TV's Freaks and Geeks - Joe Jackson’s “Look Sharp” is the perfect way to start out on a high that can only come crashing down. Speaking of crashes: The show often uses multiple songs from the same artist in a single episode, and this one throws in Jackson’s “I’m the Man” in its opening scene, playing on the radio in the Weir family station wagon before Lindsay (Cardellini) and the freaks get into a car crash.
Tracklist
A1 One More Time 3:15
A2 Sunday Papers 4:22
A3 Is She Really Going Out With Him? 3:33
B1 Happy Loving Couples 3:08
B2 Throw It Away 2:49
B3 Baby Stick Around 2:36
C1 Pretty Girls 2:55
C2 Look Sharp! 3:23
C3 (Do The) Instant Mash 3:12
D1 Fools In Love 4:23
D2 Got The Time 2:52
Credits
Art Direction – Michael Ross (3)
Bass – Graham Maby
Crew [Road Crew] – Frankie Enfield
Drums – Dave Houghton
Engineer – "Hot" Rod Hewison*
Engineer [Assistant] – Aldo Bocca
Guitar – Gary Sanford
Photography By – Brian Griffin (3)
Producer – David Kershenbaum
Vocals, Piano, Harmonica, Written-By, Arranged By – Joe Jackson
Other A&M 4743
Released: March 1979
Chart Peak: #20
Weeks Charted: 39
Certified Gold: 9/11/79
In addition to this album being one of Rolling Stone's Top 100 Debut Albums of All Time, the Look Sharp cover, featuring a pair of white shoes, ranked number 22 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest album covers of all time.
In 2000, it was voted number 865 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.
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