Product Description Import only compilation by the singer/songwriter who began as a New Wave artist but transformed himself into a multi-talented musical chameleon. This 15 track collection, which covers his first decade as a recording artist, features his biggest hits for A&M including 'Stepping Out', 'Is She Really Going Out with Him', 'Breaking US in Two', 'It's Different for Girls' and many others. Universal. .co.uk At the end of the 1970s, Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello were running neck and neck in the race to see which geeky post-punk songsmith would win out in the public affections. Jackson had just made an impact with the gorgeously bitter "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" from the equally impressive Look Sharp! album when Costello overtook him; yet, if Jackson did get left behind commercially, this excellent overview does much to reveal why. A classically-trained former bandleader, pop was merely one feather in his cap. Hence the wild stylistic swings that Stepping Out... takes, often from song to song: "Jumpin Jive"'s heartwarming nod to Cab Calloway, the tense ska syncopations of "Beat Crazy" and, of course, the Manhattan plink of "Stepping Out". For Jackson, the common theme is the lack of one: "If you look closer you'll see a logical progression. It's just that I'm not churning it out according to some formula". Only Jackson's bank manager raised serious objections. --Peter Paphides
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