Joe Jackson

 JOE JACKSON BIO

Joe Jackson was born on August 11 1954 in Burton-on-Trent, England, but grew up in the South Coast naval port city of Portsmouth

At age 16 Joe played his first paying gig, as pianist in a pub next door to a glue factory just outside of Portsmouth.  This was followed by other pub gigs (in which he was often trying to entertain crowds of drunken, bottle-throwing sailors) and  accompanying a bouzouki player in a Greek restaurant.

At age 18 Joe won a scholarship to study Composition, Piano, and Percussion at London's Royal Academy of Music.  

By 1978 Joe was living in London and hawking an album-length demo, with his own band (Graham Maby, Bass; Dave Houghton, Drums; Gary Sanford, Guitar) standing by.  That demo  -  already called Look Sharp  - eventually found its way to American producer David Kershenbaum, who was in London in the capacity of talent scout for A&M Records.  Joe was immediately signed and Look Sharp more professionally re-recorded in August '78.  The Joe Jackson Band finally started to play regular gigs and the album was released in January 1979.

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Joe Jackson's story up to this point is much more fully, fascinatingly, and hilariously recounted in his book A CURE FOR GRAVITY.  From here on, though, it becomes more a matter of public record.  Look Sharp was followed within a year by the very similar I'm The Man, and in 1980 by the darker, more reggae-influenced Beat Crazy. At the end of 1980, drummer Houghton decided to quit, and Joe decided to dissolve the band and try something new.

In 1981 Jackson recorded Jumpin' Jive, a 'musical vacation' paying tribute to Swing and Jump Blues artists such as Louis Jordan and Cab Calloway.  Returning to songwriting, Joe spent a large chunk of 1982 in New York.  The result was Night and Day, a more