Joe Jackson -- Body and Soul

 

It's Thursday once more and so that means another Reminiscings of Youth article. Once again, I bring you the fantastic Joe Jackson. Back in March 2021 on KKP, I introduced the Staffordshire singer/songwriter and musician through his sophisticated New Wave "Steppin' Out" and the wistful "Breaking Us In Two", both tracks from his 1982 "Night and Day". 

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I still love the cover of "Night and Day" which illustrated the high life and high class of the bright lights and big city. But a couple of years later came his March 1984 album "Body and Soul", and the cover of that one was a straight emulation of "Sonny Rollins Vol. 2" (from 1957) according to Wikipedia aside from the tint. The impression that I got was that we were going from the gorgeous if isolated penthouse of that New York skyscraper down to the underground jazz club somewhere in Manhattan with Joe. He and his band were going more be-bop, I gathered. Even the title of the album is a tribute to Coleman Hawkins' 1939 recording of jazz standard "Body and Soul".

The reason that I decided to go for the album rather than just one track was that three of them were heavy-rotation songs on the radio, and for good reason. All of them were released as singles and all of them possessed different styles. However, what they all had in common was that no matter where you heard them: at home, in the park or in front of a stage, they could welcome an audience. Even if you were alone, you felt like you were among Jackson fans at the Masonic Hall in Manhattan where my favourite of the three singles was recorded.

My favourite is "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)" which is filled with all types of jazzy goodness: Jackson's earnest vocals, the tight percussion, the groovy guitar by Vinnie Zummo, the boppy bass by Graham Maby (which would have sent Toshiki Kadomatsu to the moon in ecstacy) and those horns. On the radio, I usually got the shorter version which excised most of the instrumental bridge including Maby's and Zummo's work, so it was always a treat when the station would give me the full five minutes or thereabouts. 

I've always thought that "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)" could have been a great theme song for some sort of New York-based detective movie or TV show because of the jazz involved. Otherwise, it would have made for a great accompaniment to a montage of a nighttime swing through the Big Apple.

"Happy Ending" could also fit some sort of rom-com based in New York City, and it's a duet with Jackson and Elaine Caswell that I think would be amazing heard live anytime on stage by the professionals or at karaoke by the amateurs. It does have that 1960s pop ring along with that indelible Jackson-ness and it was another track that got plenty of airplay on the radio. The horns here sound really boss as if they were the E Street Band playing for The Boss. 

When I was thinking about doing this article, I hadn't thought to include "Be My Number Two" within my New York movie analogy, but then reading about its story on Wikipedia, I've changed my mind. As Jackson himself put it in an interview with "The A.V. Club" online newspaper back in 2019:

"I would say it's a bit world-weary or, not world-weary, but a bit, how else to express this? Once bitten, twice shy. It's saying, 'Well, let's try again, but it's not going to be like it was the first time.' So it's poignant, I think."

Listening to the first few lyrics of the song all these years, I had simply assumed that the song was about some lout deciding to go with his next-in-line girl after his former girlfriend had dumped him. But now I realize that things are perhaps even more poignant as Jackson was quoted. The marriage failed and maybe should never have happened in the first place, but the guy might have another chance to be with the one that he should have been with all this time, although there may always be a millstone hanging around the guy's and maybe even No. 2's necks. How heavy those stones weigh will depend on time and work.

The melody pretty much loudly whispers poignancy along with melancholy, redemption and hope through the tinkling piano and Jackson's cooing vocals. As I mentioned, this could describe a certain bittersweet coda at the end of a movie with at least one of the protagonists learning a life lesson. That big sax finish might be signalling the new or renewed couple accepting each other's hands and taking a walk to the supermarket...just like they used to in the old days. FIN

"Body and Soul" did pretty well on the charts in the USA and Canada with the album hitting No. 20 in the former while peaking at No. 13 in the latter.

So, what were hitting No. 1 and No. 2 on Oricon in March 1984?

1. Anzen Chitai -- Wine-Red no Kokoro （ワインレッドの心）

2. Seiko Matsuda -- Rock n' Rouge