Look Sharp! album cover
Look Sharp!

Joe Jackson

1979
A&M Records

When it comes to cheeky balding British power-poppers from the late seventies, Elvis Costello’s aim proved truer over time, but well-dressed fellow pub dweller Joe Jackson was still the man. His debut, recorded at the tender age of 23, shows that he was listening to reggae and punk rock like everyone else in his scene at the time. The sharpest tunes definitely stick around. “Happy Loving Couples” takes clever potshots at the romantically successful, “Sunday Papers” finds a fitting target in the uninformed public, and while “Got the Time” was tackled more successfully later by Jackson himself (on Live 1980/86) and cross-pond thrashers Anthrax, it’s still a clockstopper here. The biggest hit asks the same question as anyone who’s ever watched a reality dating show: “Is She Really Going Out With Him?”

Jeff Treppel

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