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Night And Day |
| Produced by David Kershenbaum and Joe Jackson | |
| Released on June 1982 | |
| UK CHART POSITION #3 . . . US CHART POSITION #4 . . . GOLD RECORD | |
| Find it at GEMM | |
| SP-4906 cover [high resolution photo] |
T empting to see this as another reinvention (I usually do), but it’s more about Joe Jackson taking himself seriously as a composer/musician. Jumpin’ Jive was a reinvention; Night and Day is a refinement. The person who wrote “(Do The) Instant Mash” is the same one singing “T.V. Age.” And Jackson had already introduced his softer side on the second album: “It’s Different for Girls,” “Amateur Hour.” So the difference here isn’t the muse, it’s the music. There’s no guitar on the album and the bass is subdued; the real action occurs between the piano and the percussion. The result is sophisticated pop music, a complex cabernet next to the overcaffeinated soda pop of Look Sharp. In case you missed the sophistication, you’re reminded of it by the cover, the interior gatefold photo, the Duke Ellington quote at the end. Jackson seems to enjoy role-playing as much as writing, but maybe that helps inspire him. And Night and Day is an inspired record: “Breaking Us In Two” and “Steppin’ Out” are two of his best, “A Slow Song,” “Real Men” and “Another World” just a notch below. At the time of its release, Night and Day was almost as much of an anomaly as Jumpin’ Jive. Popular music was becoming increasingly electronic, and here was Joe Jackson producing defiant, handcrafted melodies that our parents would probably like. It wasn’t an instant success. Instead, Night and Day waited patiently for the rest of the world to come around to its way of thinking. It succeeded in winning converts because of the quality of the songs, and for a time it seemed that Joe Jackson led a charmed life. However, with each new twist and turn, Jackson has lost some followers. Today, this artful anachronism isn’t heard as a reaction to anything. Whatever the imaginary battle lines being drawn by Jackson, Night and Day survives not because it is a valiant effort against the crushing forces of complacent pop music, but because great music is timeless.
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| SP-4906 lyric gatefold | SP-4906 back cover |
TRACK LISTING
CREDITS
JOE JACKSON -- piano, Fender Rhodes and Yamaha electric pianos, Hammond organ, Gem organ, Prophet-5 and minimoog synthesizers, alto saxophone, vibes, lead vocals, arrangements, orchestration, mixing, art direction
SUE HADJOPOULOS -- congas, bongos, timbales, orchestra bells, xylophone, miscellaneous percussion, flute and vocals
GRAHAM MABY -- bass, vocals, percussion
LARRY TOLFREE -- drums, timbales, percussion
Grace Millan -- background vocals
Ed Rynesdal -- violins, synthesizer programming
Richard Torres -- bongos, cowbell, clave (4,7)
Jack Waldman -- synthesizer programming
Al Weisman -- background vocals
Michael Ewasko -- engineer
David Kershenbaum -- mixing
Philip Burke -- artwork
George Dubose -- photo
| REGION | RELEASE DATE | LABEL | MEDIA | ID NUMBER | FEATURES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK/NET | June 1982 | A&M | LP/CS | AMLH/CAM-64906 | gatefold cover |
| US/CAN | June 1982 | A&M | LP/CS | SP/CS-4906 | gatefold cover |
| AUSL | 1982 | A&M | LP/CS | L/C-37857 | |
| JPN | 1982 | A&M | LP | AMP-28059 | |
| US | A&M | CD | CD-3334 | ||
| US | Mobile Fidelity | CD | UDCD-539 | ||
| US | July 29, 2003 | A&M | 2CD | DELUXE EDITION |
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