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The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn - 5/29/04
 

Different For Girls - Women Artists And Female Fronted Bands offer
gender-bending takes of some of Joe's best tunes in this tribute album.

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JOE JACKSON BAND LIVE  -  'AFTERLIFE'
Released by Ryko on March 16th, 2004

With 104 shows, the tour was one of Joe's longest: the band's 'afterlife' lasted exactly a year from the first warm-up show in Bristol, England, to the last in Brisbane, Australia.  It was also a great success, "especially sweet," says Joe, "because it wasn't ever supposed to happen at all!"  However, the reunion was always intended as a one-off, and this live album is positively the band's last appearance.  Taken from four shows in California , the thirteen tracks were selected to favour songs, or arrangements of songs, which haven't already been released in live versions.

Track Listing:
STEPPIN OUT  -  ONE MORE TIME  -  TAKE IT LIKE A MAN  -  AWKWARD AGE  -  LOOK SHARP!  -  DOWN TO LONDON  -  BEAT CRAZY  -  FOOLS IN LOVE  -  LOVE AT FIRST LIGHT  -  FAIRY DUST  -  SUNDAY PAPERS  -  DON'T WANNA BE LIKE THAT  -  GOT THE TIME

(Trivia: the first CD copies have a mistake in the artwork: in the complete list of shows, the August 13th 2003 show in Baltimore was omitted.  Apologies to all fans in Baltimore ; we didn't forget you!)

Since the end of the tour, Joe has made a handful of solo appearances: reading from his book A CURE FOR GRAVITY at a prestigious German literary festival in Goettingen in October '03; performing on the Jimmy Kimmel TV show in December; and in January '04, a short set for Sirius Satellite Radio at the CES convention in Las Vegas, followed by two solo sets at the Sundance Film Festival. 

In the UK Joe recorded a new song satirizing one of his pet hates, the New York smoking ban (see 'The Smoking Issue', below).  Finally, Joe spent a few days in Nashville working with Ben Folds and William Shatner.  Yes: William Shatner.  Ben Folds is coordinating and producing an album of collaborations between Mr Shatner and various musical artists.  Joe contributed vocals and piano to three tracks, including a version of Pulp's 'Common People' which deserves to be a mega-hit.  More details soon.

Joe is now attempting to take a well-earned break.

Joe performed solo at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan 16 and 17 to a full house.

Last year Joe wrote an ARTICLE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES criticizing Mayor Bloomberg's ban on smoking in all of the city's bars and clubs. It generated an incredible amount of interest, several radio interviews, another ARTICLE IN THE LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH, and now a satirical song about the whole business, "IN 20-0-3", which you can buy or download. 

In response to continued interest, constant questions, interview requests, etc, Joe has now written a comprehensive ESSAY on this issue, which you can read or download.

  Graham Maby has a great-looking new web site. Check it out

Coming 25 years after Joe's debut, "Look Sharp," VOLUME 4 reunites his old band-mates for the first time in 23 years. This album will surely please anyone who was ever a fan of Joe’s older work from the late 70s and early 80s. Available from Restless/Ryko. This Limited edition includes a bonus disc of live material recorded during the warm up gigs.

Reviews
More Details

Volume 4 Song List:
Take It Like a Man
Still Alive
Awkward Age
Chrome
Love at First Light
Fairy Dust
Little Bit Stupid
Blue Flame
Dirty Martini
Thugs Are Us
Bright Gray

Limited Edition CD:
One More Time
Is She Really Going Out With Him
On Your Radio
Got The Time
It's Different For Girls
I'm The Man

They said it would never happen - in fact, Joe said it would never happen!   But: the original Joe Jackson Band - JJ + Graham Maby (bass), Gary Sanford (guitar) and Dave Houghton (drums) has re-united for a new album and tour. In part, this is to celebrate the 25th anniversary, in 2003, of the band's formation and the recording of Look Sharp. However, this is not just an exercise in nostalgia, since the band has recorded a whole album of new songs.

The Joe Jackson Band got together in 1978 and played non-stop until their last gig on December 15th 1980 (in Utrecht, Netherlands). Since then, Graham has worked on and off with Joe but also with Natalie Merchant, They Might be Giants, and many others. Gary has toured and recorded with Joan Armatrading, Aztec Camera and Kirsty McColl, among others, while Dave has been staying out of the spotlight, doing mostly local gigs in the south of England, teaching drums, etc.

The reformed band played seven exclusive warm-up gigs in the UK in September 2002, then recorded eleven new tracks at Ridge Farm Studios, Surrey, England, with Joe producing. (There was also a 12th track, a cover of Todd Rundgren's "Couldn't I Just Tell You", for a Todd tribute record to be released some time next year). The album was mixed at The Magic Shop, New York City. According to Joe, this is the best thing the band has done: "I knew these guys were good, but they've surpassed all my expectations!" He describes the album as "High-energy, fun, and in the spirit of the first couple of albums, but more mature. I'm a better writer now, and a better singer. But I've still got a 32-inch waist".

The new album was released on March 11th 2003 by Restless/Ryko.

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Joe Jackson's SYMPHONY No. 1 won the 2001 Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album. In a more than 20-year recording career, this was Joe's first Grammy, although he'd been nominated four times before (for NIGHT AND DAY, STEPPIN OUT, and film music for MIKE'S MURDER and TUCKER).

Many thanks to all the people who have emailed us asking for JJ sheet music. Your patience can finally be rewarded: music to many of Joe's better-known songs can now be downloaded from this web site. As far as we know, this is the first time an artist's web site. has featured this. The excellent transcriptions have been done by Jackie Worth and checked by Joe himself. We'll be adding more songs over time, so please let us know if there are any particular ones you'd like to see.

Any professional queries or requests should be directed to Joe's management:

Mike Maska
Big Hassle Management
157 Chambers St.
12th floor
New York, NY 10007
Email: maska@bighassle.com

We have been bombarded with questions about Joe Jackson albums which A&M Records have deleted from the catalog. A&M now barely exists, since being swallowed by the new mega-label Universal. The following albums are no longer available:

Beat Crazy
Mike's Murder (Soundtrack) (was never released on CD)
Tucker (Soundtrack)
Will Power
Big World
Live 1980-86
Blaze of Glory
Joe has been trying for years to retrieve the rights to these albums so that at least some of them can be re-released. In the meantime, we can expect Universal to put out more redundant compilations and re-releases of Joe's more successful albums.