taking sides: joe jackson v. elvis costello

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it HAD to be done!

http://www.mondaypapers.com/pictures/combo.JPG

vs.

ihttp://www.elviscostello.info/pic/05/050323.san_diego/050323.san_diego_01.jpg

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 26 September 2005 00:26 (twenty years ago)

uuuuugh! it was supposed to be a pic of EC w/ a trucker hat!!

instead:

http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Music/9810/06/bacharach/costello.sings.jpg

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 26 September 2005 00:28 (twenty years ago)

Bono?

― gear (gear), Monday, 26 September 2005 00:29 (twenty years ago)

"The Other Side of What I've Been Looking For."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 26 September 2005 00:34 (twenty years ago)

joe

― huell howser (chaki), Monday, 26 September 2005 00:54 (twenty years ago)

Hey, I *like* Joe Jackson, and he's probably made up a little ground over the past 20 years just by keeping quiet. Whereas Elvis Costello...

But since this isn't TS: Joe Jackson v. Elvis Costello 1985-2005

http://media.g4tv.com/images/ttv/graphics/siliconspin/si_godsfoot.2106401.jpb

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Monday, 26 September 2005 01:02 (twenty years ago)

Look Sharp! is near perfect, and he followed that album up the SAME YEAR with another good one. I say Joe!

Pump It Up is an awesome jock jam though, and without it we might not have Andrew W.K. today.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 26 September 2005 01:02 (twenty years ago)

"and he's probably made up a little ground over the past 20 years just by keeping quiet"

aren't you glad you never knew about this one until now:

"An astonishing listening experience, Joe Jackson's 'Heaven and Hell' shatters the boundary between 'popular' and 'classical' music to bring us a unique composition. A series of trenchant interpretations of the Seven Deadly Sins, it draws together classical stars - soprano Dawn Upshaw, violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg - and artists better known in the 'pop' world - Suzanne Vega, Joy Askew, Jane Siberry, and the Crash Test Dummies' Brad Roberts - and vibrantly showcases Jackson's composing, keyboard, and vocal skills."

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 26 September 2005 01:05 (twenty years ago)

he must be channelling frank zappa's ghost or something. i must confess that 10 years ago, i woulda thought that it was a pretty good idea.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 26 September 2005 01:06 (twenty years ago)

aren't you glad you never knew about this one until now

No, no, I remember it. Should have said "mostly" quiet since he's had projects going. I haven't heard Heaven And Hell in its entirety, but it has to be better than North.

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Monday, 26 September 2005 01:10 (twenty years ago)

EC, although it's closer than it's usually made to appear. Costello wrote a lot of B-grade stuff even during his prime years, which are long long past. JJ's swing album was A.) better than any of the swing revival that came 10 years later and B.) better than any of EC's genre experiments (his Burt Bacharach record, his string quartet record, etc). And then of course came "Steppin' Out," unexpected and sublime.

But still, Elvis has a double-dozen outright classics, which is a few more than Joe, and the best of them ("Party Girl," say, or "Watching the Detectives") are in a pop register at least one level above Joe's finest.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 26 September 2005 01:11 (twenty years ago)

also anthrax did a pretty good cover of "got the time." that beats the jocks-jam-friendly "pump it up" anyday.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 26 September 2005 01:13 (twenty years ago)

Elvis Costello -- bad hats, bad marriages, bad albums and all - by a million fucking years.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 26 September 2005 01:33 (twenty years ago)

It's funny, when I finally discovered Joe Jackson, I was like, "Well, shit, this is what I wanted Elvis Costello to be the whole time." The only things Costello's ever done that meant anything to me are "Pump it Up" and those songs on "Flowers in the Dirt," and he doesn't really add too much to the latter. Joe wins.

Doin' the instant mash!

― Doctor Casino, Monday, 26 September 2005 03:05 (twenty years ago)

all this thread's really done is make me worry about Joe's health, based on the pics

― gear (gear), Monday, 26 September 2005 03:07 (twenty years ago)

Joe wins this one, though EC is a worthy opponent obv. Recently saw the lyrics to "Watching the Detectives" written down on paper and realized I could not truly defend the filler that separates the several classic couplets. "It's different for girls" more poignant, rich, and direct than anything EC did ever. And yeah, "Stepping Out."

― Guayaquil (eephus), Monday, 26 September 2005 03:46 (twenty years ago)

Costello, not even a contest

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 26 September 2005 05:54 (twenty years ago)

My original reaction was Costello by a mile .. then I thought maybe I was selling Joe Jackson short .. and I love Joe Jackson sometimes .. But no, I was right, Costello by a mile. I think Joe has had many more low points than Elvis, and fewer high points. Plus he kind of looks like Calista Flockhart these days.

― when something smacks of something (dave225.3), Monday, 26 September 2005 11:50 (twenty years ago)

I'd probably vote for Costello, but Look Sharp is still a goddamn classic.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 26 September 2005 12:19 (twenty years ago)

I grungingly give my vote to Costello.

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 26 September 2005 12:27 (twenty years ago)

grungingly
grudgingly too.

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 26 September 2005 12:27 (twenty years ago)

I picture Ken wearing a ratty stripey sweater and not washing his hair for a month and headbanging as he submits his vote.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 26 September 2005 12:36 (twenty years ago)

I came as I am, Alex.

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 26 September 2005 12:36 (twenty years ago)

Pump It Up is an awesome jock jam though, and without it we might not have Andrew W.K. today

Haha, Scott you so crazy. I never thought of "Pump it Up" as a jock jam before, but I guess it could work as one. Does it ever get play at sporting events, or in gyms? It is a great song anyway, if a bit repetitive. I like Look Sharp pretty well, and if I'd never finally gotten around to hearing This Year's Model this year, I might have given it to Jackson, but since I did: Costello, easily.

― o. nate (onate), Monday, 26 September 2005 13:10 (twenty years ago)

i was convinced i heard Elvis C covering 'It's Different For Girls' once, and i spent ages scouring the earth for mention of it. i eventually gave up - well, i gave up pretty easily, to be honest - but i still think that would be awesome. maybe i just dreamt it.

anyway, i used to like Joe Jackson, right up until the 300-pound lesbian in my office (we only have the one) decided to start belting out 'Stepping Out' all day long. now i wish he, she, that song, and I never existed. the pain has been too much.

but even without this, there's no comparison between their respective back catalogues. Elvis C has just done more good records with more good songs on. and i am aware of the fact that his lyrics are hugely divisive, but i do think he's an immensely talented lyricist.

― Lee F# (fsharp), Monday, 26 September 2005 13:53 (twenty years ago)

A better thread would be:
TS: Elvis Costello v. Joe Jackson v. Billy Joel (lightweight semi-"classical" music projects only)

In this instance, Joe Jackson wins by a mile...

― matt carlson, Monday, 26 September 2005 18:23 (twenty years ago)

A better thread would be:
Taking Sides: Joe Jackson v. Elvis Costello v. Billy Joel (ONLY syrupy lightweight semi-"classical" music projects done in a half-hearted attempt for respectability and the hunt for better cocktail parties)

― matt carlson, Monday, 26 September 2005 18:25 (twenty years ago)

http://www.ananova.com/images/web/75651.jpg

― PappaWheelie B.C., Monday, 26 September 2005 18:34 (twenty years ago)

I *love* Joe Jackson up to & including Big World, but he's a tiny footnote in music history compared to EC.

― carl w (carl w), Wednesday, 28 September 2005 21:11 (twenty years ago)

seven months pass...

I have to vote for Joe for one reason... He is a freakin' musical genious... EC? boring.

― D'Zee, Tuesday, 16 May 2006 16:00 (nineteen years ago)

I was going to write up a side-by-side comparison of EC and Joe's first few albums once, but never found the time. Basically, my opinion's this: both had first and second albums of great, sparse, angry rock; third album = more ornately-produced (Armed Forces vs. Beat Crazy.)

EC being more prolific, he releases a couple more before, in 1981, they both clean the slate with cover albums (Almost Blue vs. Jumpin' Jive) and then follow THOSE up with large stylistic departures (Imperial Bedroom vs. Night and Day.) They muck around with several more patchy records each before completely diving off the artsy-fartsy cliff (Juliet Letters vs. Heaven and Hell) and then... well, I completely lost interest, both in writing the thing and in the careers of both of them.

Saw a recent Joe tour that kicked ass, though!

― Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 17:50 (nineteen years ago)

look sharp! and i'm the man are not only "angry," punky-pop records -- they are also FUN to listen to and jackson is actually FUNNY (not to mention that the song "look sharp!" was on some lyrical bling-bling gangsta shit while master p and jay-z were still running around in their garanimals). the two analogous costello records -- my aim is true and (especially) this year's model -- are also classics, and EC is not devoid of wit. but elvis's almost relentless meanness on those records can get tiresome (especially when those teenaged/early-20s years are gone). i really have to be in a downright pissed-off, angry-at-the-world mood these days to listen to those first 2 costello records all the way through these days. on the other hand, i can pretty much always rock out to "i'm the man" or "got the time" (to pick just 2 examples). so that makes those 2 jackson records more listenable (even if one concedes that my aim is true and this year's girl are stronger records overall).

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 04:47 (nineteen years ago)

more ENJOYABLY listenable, i meant to say!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 04:47 (nineteen years ago)

two years pass...

joe wins.

― they dont know bout us and theyve never heard of drugs (Drugs A. Money), Saturday, 28 February 2009 23:34 (sixteen years ago)

six years pass...

There's an amusing anecdote in Costello's new memoir about surreptitiously recording his own vocal over the backing track of "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" and then wiping it off after mixdown. Wonder if this will ever surface?

― goodoldneon, Thursday, 31 December 2015 22:58 (ten years ago)

turns out Joe Jackson's one great passion besides music is the right to smoke in public places and exposing the lies, half-truths and deceptions of people who don't want to be constantly inhaling secondhand smoke

lol at this dude, I outright love some of his music but wow

http://memberdata.s3.amazonaws.com/jo/joejackson/files/3765647615810.pdf

― tremendous crime wave and killing wave (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Friday, 1 January 2016 02:15 (ten years ago)

Yeah I was like "joe Jackson hands down unless it turns out he reps for some bad stuff" so I guess destroy them both

― lute bro (brimstead), Friday, 1 January 2016 02:25 (ten years ago)

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