Joe Jackson - Arms And Legs (1979)

In a comment this week, GW asked if I'd ever come across the demo of 'Look Sharp' that Joe Jackson hawked around in 1978, and which led to him getting a record deal with A&M Records. Unfortunately I haven't, but to make up for that here's some early work from Jackson, both before and after he hit the big-time. David Ian Jackson was born in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, and grew up near Portsmouth. He learned to play the violin as a child, but soon switched to piano, and began playing piano in bars at the age of 16. In 1974 he joined his first band, Edward Bear, who secured a recording contract with MAM Records the following year, and on being told that there was already a Canadian group using the name, they first changed it to Edwin Bear, and then to Arms and Legs. Under this name they released three singles on MAM in 1976 and 1977, but had already broken up by the time the third one was released. Because his bandmates decided that he resembled a puppet called Joe (either Joe 90 or Joe Piano - sources vary) they started to call him 'Joe', and although he mainly played piano in the band, he did write and sing one of the single b-sides 'She'll Surprise You'. After he left Arms And Legs he took Mark Andrews (guitar) and Gary Maby (bass) with him to form The Joe Jackson Band, while at the same time becoming pianist and musical director for cabaret act Koffee 'n' Kream, who were starting a tour following their success on UK TV talent show 'Opportunity Knocks'. The money that he made from this enabled him to record a demo album in Portsmouth, which led to the deal with A&M Records, who immediately re-recorded the album professionally and issued it as 'Look Sharp' in 1979. The record was an instant success, boosted by the now-classic single 'Is She Really Going Out With Him?', leading to a request to record a session for the John Peel Show, which was broadcast in February 1979, just one month after the album came out. The 'I'm The Man' album and 'It's Different For Girls' single cemented Jackson's reputation as a major talent, and were the start of a long and varied musical career for him, effortlessly switching between genres on subsequent albums. This collection comprises the five songs released by Arms And Legs, the full John Peel session, and three non-album b-sides from early singles. I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed the first four Arms And Legs recordings, which are all well-crafted songs from Mark Andrews. 

Track listing

01 Heat Of The Night (Arms And Legs single 1976)
02 Good Times (b-side of 'Heat Of The Night')
03 Janie (Arms And Legs single 1976)
04 She'll Surprise You (b-side of 'Janie')
05 Is The Anymore Wine (Arms And Legs single 1977)
06 I'm The Man (John Peel session 1979)
07 Got The Time (John Peel session 1979)
08 Fools In Love (John Peel session 1979)
09 One More Time (John Peel session 1979)
10 Don't Ask Me (b-side of 'One More Time' 1979)
11 You Got The Fever (b-side of 'Is She Really Going Out With Him?' 1979)
12 Come On (b-side of 'I'm The Man' 1979)