“Is She Really Going Out With Him?” Joe Jackson, 1979. Great song.

[-]

Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello, and Graham Parker were the quintessential "angry young men" of UK new wave. For me, Jackson's first two albums ("Look Sharp", "I'm The Man"), Costello's first four ("My Aim Is True", "This Year's Model", "Armed Forces", "Get Happy!!"), and Parker's "Squeezing Out Sparks" are all absolute classics that I still enjoy!

[-]

plasticfangs@reddit

I love this album and its cover!

Also, I love that this song references the Shangri-La's "Leader of the Pack," though I also appreciate (and prefer) the deadpan delivery of "Is she really going out with him?" on the Damned's "New Rose" which also references the Sahngr-La's, but predates this by a few years.

[-]

Psychostick77@reddit

Always wanted to figure out how to work this line into a tattoo, as it straddles so many killer musical efforts!

[-]

Alycion@reddit

I like the Goldfinger cover too. I don’t know why it cracks me up.

[-]

solomons-marbles@reddit

JJ is nails on chalkboard

[-]

corneliusvanhouten@reddit

If you think that's good, check out his duet with William Shatner: https://youtu.be/ainyK6fXku0?si=CIF2kEAv3_3qwsfh

[-]

RDZed72@reddit

One More Time is my fave on that album. Maby's bass lines are borderline sex.

[-]

EdwardBliss@reddit

This is my favorite song of his. This transports me back to '85. This was the soundtrack in my mind walking the highschool halls and locking glances with girls I had a crush on

[-]

RedDorf@reddit

It took me forever to process that this Joe Jackson is the same Joe Jackson that did the Common People cover with Shatner.

[-]

ColdStreamPond@reddit

The greatest cover/performance of all time, bar none.

[-]

RomanHawk1975@reddit

Joe Jackson had some great songs. Loved Stepping Out.

[-]

FlexVector@reddit

Stepping out is highly underrated

[-]

Gloomy-Ad-222@reddit

I learned to play this version of Stepping Out on Piano and it’s a crowd pleaser:

https://youtu.be/MS8Bzn_OJsE?si=wtMMrNL8Clj-NoIK

[-]

Bad-job-dad@reddit

He had a really good punk run too. Really legit.

[-]

Cool_Dark_Place@reddit

That one always takes me back to my early childhood. One of the first songs I remember hearing a lot on the radio.

[-]

Wonderful-Elephant11@reddit

I love the song, but it’s a key shit bird song just like “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield. Whinging over some other dudes girl.

[-]

greentangent@reddit

Reminds me of Fast Times.

[-]

cindy6507@reddit

Fav Joe Lyric: Such a Happy Couple, So Inseparable.

[-]

Longjumping-Low8194@reddit

"Look over there."

[-]

Cool_Dark_Place@reddit

WHERE?!?!

[-]

lizrdsg@reddit

There goes Jeannie with her new boyfriend!

[-]

GrumpyCatStevens@reddit

I've heard this was inspired by the line spoken at the beginning of "New Rose" by The Damned.

[-]

JaguarNeat8547@reddit

Bassist Graham Maby, who Joe stuck with for nearly every album, is one of the best in the business!

At one of the JJ shows i went to, they did the old announce a band member, they do a quick solo, then leave the stage. Got down to Joe and Graham, and Joe announced himself and left Graham onstage, sitting on his stool, doing an ostinato.

Kept going, and going. Stage hand came out and took the stool from underneath him, he kept going, until they finally turned him off.

Another time Joe got in a struggle trying to pull a camera off some a*hole's neck in the middle of a song. He'd been pissing him off for some time - the flash i guess. Joe realized his vocal was coming up, flipped the dude the bird and got back to his mic just in time like a true professional!

[-]