Joe Jackson - Night and Day

Having already come close to beating Graham Parker, Elvis Costello, and Louis Jordan at their own games, Joe Jackson made a play for becoming the Cole Porter of his generation with this 1982 collection. Actually that's a bit of a cheap shot, especially considering what a refreshingly innovative album this was. Jackson truly hit his stride with a memorable set that combines new technology and classic songwriting. From the infectious "Chinatown" to the hits "Stepping Out" and "Breaking Us in Two," the album is a showcase for killer hooks wrapped up in shiny keyboards and Latin-tinged percussion. Small wonder that Jackson waited two decades to attempt a sequel. --Bill Forman Amazon.com

Joe Jackson - Schizophrenic Album Wsa Joe's Highest Charting Disc

After the "Beat Crazy" album in 1980 Joe broke up his original band and recorded an album of swing music called "Jumping Jive" which was completely different from anything he had done up to this time. Jackson then did another 360 with "Night And Day" in 1980 when the one time punk turned himself into a songwriter not unlike his older heroes like Cole Porter or George Gershwin. Most of the punk, new wave is gone on this one in favor of a jazzy sometimes salsa lounge act feel. The album does still rock in places, but this is a very different Joe Jackson album from anything that came before it. Ironically "Night And Day" would prove to be a huge success with the album climbing to #4 in the U.S. charts and the single "Stepping Out" becoming Joe's biggest hit. "Breaking Us In Two" and "Real Men" would also get significant airplay and all three songs continue to be staples of Joe's live shows to this day. The album is represents a portrait of life in 1980's New York City with the disc broken up into "day" and "night" making it somewhat of a concept piece. I find this album to be rather schizophrenic in nature. It has several of Joe's all time best songs on it, but the rest of the album has never done a lot for me. First the good, "Breaking Us In Two", "Real Men", and "A Slow Song" rank up with the very best material Jackson has ever written. The rest of the album is rather pedestrian by Jackson standards with songs like "Cancer", "T.V. Age", and "Target" taking on rather mundane issues of the day in a rather average manner. The rest of the songs on the disc have never done a lot for me. "Night And Day" was Joe's biggest seller and there are some very very high points on it, but overall I like some of his other discs a lot better. October 8, 2008

A True Classic

This album was such a refreshingly beautiful when it appeared in 1982. Jazzy, Latin-y pop filled with a beautiful old sound reinvented for the era. The songs all speak for themselves - there's not a bad one in the bunch. A Slow Slong just came on my IPOD and I had to write this. One of my all time favorites. September 18, 2008

Night andDay

Realy ahead of it's time! Latin riffs and diferent musical instruments combined. Most people didn't start doing that till the 1990's
More like Sting mets Pete Eschvedo!
I would reccomend it! Still very upbeat. June 13, 2008

Songs are excellent but over-produced sound!!!

This album has some of Joe's best songs. Another World, Cancer, Breaking Us in Two and the immortal classic, Real Men. That alone would make this album a worthy buy. BUT, the over produced synthesized sound of this album is AWFUL! At least on the first opening tracks. Another World is a great song but the rendition here is terrible. Just overproduced and synth-like which makes it painful to hear.

I highly recommend getting Joe's 1980-86 live album which has much better renditions of all of this albums best material and it's not over-produced and "synth-like" in production.

I don't know what Joe was thinking when he produced this album but the synth-like sound has not aged well at all and it takes away from what otherwise is gorgeous song writing.

I think Joe Jackson is one of the most talented pop artists of the past 25 years, without question! His output is prodigious and prolific. He's experimented with many different styles and alas, his fan base has only shrunk as crappier pop material got more airplay and Joe somehow got forgotten. His latest Rain album is a superb comeback piece but it really misses the sound of a guitar to it.

But as for Night and Day, while it has many of Joe's greatest songs, it truly was an overproduced piece of work that, frankly, if Joe were to spend time reviewing, he might well have rejected if he hadn't been caught up in the craze of synth-80's like sound which dominated pop radio in the 1980s.

Slow Song is a beautiful piece of music but you can find many other renditions of this done ever better than the studio version.

Night and Day should have been produced without the synth sound. It would have made for an album with much longer staying power. April 23, 2008

Joe Jackson's breakthrough album.

"We--
Are young but getting old before our time
We'll leave the T.V. and the radio behind
Don't you wonder what we'll find
Steppin out tonight.
You--
Can dress in pink and blue just like a child
And in a yellow taxi turn to me and smile
We'll be there in just a while
If you follow me."

This is one of my favorite Eighties albums. After releasing his 1981 album of jump jive covers, Jumpin' Jive, Joe Jackson released the 1982 album Night and Day finally bringing him the recognition he long deserved. Up until Night and Day, Jackson was mostly known for his 1979 "New Wave" single, "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" (from the Look Sharp! album). The album title is taken from a Cole Porter song, and in a sense the album pays tribute to Cole Porter (and to New York City, where Jackson was lived for 20 years until smoking was banned in clubs). The album evokes a New York City-inspired urbanity, the "aural equivalent of a movie classic from half-a-century ago, filmed in shimmering black and white." The album's Latino-rhythm-driven sound was more sophisticated than Jackson's previous releases, and resulted in two hit singles: "Steppin' Out" and "Breaking Us In Two." If there was ever any doubt before, the tracks "Real Men" and "A Slow Song" confirmed Jackson's familiarity with the 1980's gay culture. ("So don't call me a faggot/Not unless you are a friend/Then if you're tall and handsome and strong/You can wear the uniform and I could play along.") The album features Jackson on organ, synthesizer, harmonica, piano, alto sax, vocals, vibraphone, and fender rhodes; Sue Hadjopoulos on flute, percussion, bongos, conga, timbales, vocals, xylophone, and bells; and longtime bandmember Graham Maby on bass, percussion and vocals. Tracks include:

1. Another World (4:00)
2. Chinatown (4:06)
3. T.V. Age (3:42)
4. Target (3:46)
5. Steppin' Out (4:28)
6. Breaking Us In Two (4:52)
7. Cancer (6:04)
8. Real Men (4:04)
9. A Slow Song (7:03)

G. Merritt
February 3, 2008

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