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Joe Jackson Rocks Town Hall
It was 1982. I was 12 years old and had my boombox plugged into an outlet on the side of the house blasting my friend’s copy of Joe Jackson’s Night & Day. We were Staten Islanders who romanticized Manhattan, or at least a version of Manhattan that probably only existed in Woody Allen movies and Joe Jackson’s Steppin’ Out video. I still remember marveling at the beautiful simplicity of the Hirschfeld inspired album cover of Night & Day with its stylized skyline and portrait of Joe behind a grand piano.
“This guy’s voice is awful,” I said, and we doubled over laughing because we couldn’t stop listening to it regardless of his unique vocal stylings – which I grew to love. We had no idea who he was or that he was part of a new wave post-punk movement some years earlier. We didn’t even know his hit Is She Really Going Out with Him. We were stupid 12 year olds with too much Billy Joel in our collections. After buying Night & Day, we were hooked.
Joe has always kinda straddled the fence sexually, but Real Men off Night & Day was my first introduction to gay themes. I used to sing that song in my room – like I would any song I loved – but this one had lyrics like “Don’t call me a faggot, not unless you are a friend.” Who knows what my mom was thinking as she listened outside.
Regardless of whether Joe was writing about men or women, I latched onto his genius and never let go as he recorded 20 studio records and 10 live records. If early classic albums like Look Sharp and I’m the Man have something of an Elvis Costello feel, soon Joe was grooving on his own unique concoction of swing, blues and classical. Later records like Blaze of Glory, Laughter & Lust, Volume 4 and his new record Fast Forward are great examples of melding these genres.
Each time I’ve seen him live he’s truly blown the roof off and it was no different at Town Hall this week. First, it’s important to note that Town Hall is my favorite music venue in New York. The sound is excellent. It’s not like Radio City (capacity 6,015) where sometimes you can hear your own breathing during a show. Town Hall is a much smaller place (1,495 capacity) and it’s the perfect spot to hear live music. I always shoot for a seat in the loge and was lucky to watch from there.
Joe came out to tremendous applause. Some of these folks have been fans for the entirety of his 36 year career. He played a few songs solo on piano, opening with a trifecta of classics; It’s Different For Girls, Hometown, and Be My Number Two. Hometown has a certain nostalgic quality that’s palpable if you’re a fan that knows Joe left New York once they banned smoking in bars. He moved to England (where he was born), but they banned smoking in bars there in 2007. Now he lives in Berlin. Classic Joe.
Before the band trickled out, Joe did a few more solo songs, like a fun Professor Longhair styled cover of Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi and Fast Forward, from the new record of the same name. During Is She Really Going Out with Him, the band slowly made their way onstage. The crowd went nuts for longtime bassist Graham Maby, who played with Joe since day one. Drummer Doug Yowell and guitarist Teddy Kumpel fleshed out the quartet. Watching these four virtuoso musicians at work was thrilling.
This was followed by a wonderful guitar heavy arrangement of Real Men and the crowd pleaser You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want). “But I don’t want this to turn into a nostalgia show,” Joe remarked before launching into spry versions of three new songs Poor Thing, Kings of the City and the uncharacteristically optimistic A Little Smile. The new songs are fresh and tight, illuminating a classically trained songwriter who knows how to refract it all through a Pop lens. He’d play three more new songs before the night was through, including the raucous Neon Rain, Ode to Joy and a bright and edgy cover of Television’s See No Evil.
Deep cuts like Another World (possibly my fav Joe Jackson song) and Love at First Light were also highlights. I’ve seem him do Steppin’ Out more than a few times. I love how he dials the song down live… omitting the beautifully cheesy pulsing keyboard altogether and letting it sprawl out without losing any of the original charm.
At the end the crowd went bananas, bringing Joe out for an encore that included Duke Elington’s It Don’t Mean a Thing, the prickly On Your Radio, and his standard closer A Slow Song. Joe, now 61, had given his all. He waved goodbye and left the stage but the crowd wouldn’t budge. They clapped and screamed until the lights came on a few minutes later to a collective sigh.
Always leave them wanting more, Joe.
Almost every year for the past 6 years and on the same day, I’ve posted the same pic of me in the hospital during my temporary and untimely demise in 2015. A few weeks after I was back to “normal”, I asked Eric “Why’d you take the pics?” And he said, “I knew you would want to write about it if you lived.” Eric was right. Eric was often right and Eric always had my best interest at heart. I am going to miss my friend.
You ever meet someone and become friends immediately?! Well this was not the case with Eric. Before he was my manager at Morgan Stanley, I would often see this 6’4″, giant white guy walk up to the only black woman at work, say something then walk away without any hint of human emotion. Naturally I thought he was a jerk until I asked her “Yo, is that dude bothering you?” She laughed and proceeded to tell me he was a great person, which I ultimately got to experience first hand. Little did I know this Italian from Staten Island was more Brooklyn than most Brooklynites.
Eric was not with the shits!! If there were ever someone who lived their life in direct, honest and no uncertain terms, that would be Eric. He would ask me questions at work like “Why are the other consultants making more money than you?” I knew the answer to that question and so did he. Eric then proceeded to increase my salary by 15K. After arguing with all our managers that “You need to hire Alfred!”, they eventually did 1 year prior to the 2015 incident. In the hospital, one of my friends asked me, “What if you didn’t have health insurance when this happened?” I would be in debt for the rest of my life is the obvious answer. I still am in debt for the rest of my life but at least, it is to those who made sure I had a more enjoyable life and for that, I will gladly repay.
My mom loved to tell me the story of how she met Eric. After they told her I was going to be in the ICU for some time, she told the doctor “Well I’m not going anywhere.” She then hears a voice from that back of the room that says “Well I’m not going anywhere either!” That was Eric and in true form, he was at that hospital every single day until I was discharged.
Eric passed away in December 2021 of stage 4 cancer. After feeling faint on his way to my bbq, he went to get checked out and was diagnosed. During the past 5 years, Eric lost his mom, twin brother and dad. I can’t even begin to imagine what that must have felt like but I’m glad that pain he was feeling is no more.
From being my manager to my business partner, writer, book editor, artistic director, and most importantly, my friend, I am going to miss you MC Krispy E a.k.a “Enrique Pollazo!” And although you told me Enrique means Henry in Spanish and not Eric, it was too late!
Sidebar. The day I was discharged, while everyone was deciding what was best for me, no one had remembered that I would need clothes in order to leave the hospital. Eric shows up (unasked) with all the clothes I had on the day I coded, laundered and ready to go. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve friends like this but i need to keep doing it! Sidebar complete.
Rest in Peace Eric. “Be Good.”
I had the distinct pleasure of participating in a panel discussion on writing your first book, presented by the Harlem chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Alongside Jim St. Germain, Author – A Stone of Hope: A Memoir and Dr. Keneshia Nicole Grant, Author – The Great Migration and the Democratic Party: Black Voters and the Realignment of American Politics in the 20th Century. We opined on pain points, benefits and strategies regarding our inaugural voyages into authorship. Feel free to watch for your self and I hope this provides some insight to all those looking to make the same voyage. Enjoy!
