--- the Island Ear ,10 • November 3 - 16, 1997

PROFILE

"I don'tthink I'm cynical or angry about love; or anythinq.for that matter, be-gins joe jackson. I don't thinkl've !7,-:er.peen: I dori't likecynicism:lthink'ifs ~ , 'bit of a cop out. I'm actually pretty positive. I hate tosoundcomy, but life is'full ofrlchness and diversity. Belnqalive on this planet makesme prettyhappy!' Hey...wait a minute ...this is Joe jackson? The white guy? Mister Anti-Celebrity New Wave IS-She-Really-Going-Out-With-HIMAngry Rock,Guy?

"But I am quite often ironic," he continues. "I think people confuse ironywith cynicism. lt'sa very British thing. It's our way of being both funny and, serious at the same time. I think people. confuse irony with cynicism. I thinkAmerican irony is like the Letterman Show...you know ...humor that's notfunny. That's the American version, Part of the American psyche is the unwill-'ingness to integrate the darker aspects of life. It's the National Myth of theendless perfect ability of human beings."

Yep. Yankbashing. It's the same guy. But at the riskof re-igniting the GreatMorrissette/Irony Senate Proceedings of 1996 once more, jackson is justbe-ing...frank. As a boy growing upin the naval town of Portsmouth, England,jackson took up the violin to escape school sports and ruffians. He discoveredBeethoven, switched to piano and "his talent won him a scholarship to studycomposition at the RoyalAcademy of London. Though he"dreamed ofa career'as a serious composer, the post-graduation reality of a life"of playing in theaterpits, cabaret acts, and the Playboy Club disillusioned him. He jumped headfirst into the pop world and A&:MRecords.hit the jackpot by signing him in1978. jackson's irresistiblyhappy melodies and dark "sarcasm" (also known asirony- see above paragraph) struck the" right chords with New Wave audi-ences, jackson earned a place in rock history at the tender age of twenty-fivewith back-to-back hit records (Look Sharp and J'm The Man) in' 1979.

In the following years, constant touring and pressure to duplicate his phe-nomenal early successes put an end to his "artisticfreedom: [ackson quicklyfound himself at odds with his record.label(s) and, as he told THE ISLANDEAR...

"I discovered I needed a bit of fun and a vacation"from my own music," herecalls. "I got so sick of that 'We don't know what to do. We can't get it onthe radio, it's not selling 10 mlllioncopies, it's a failure' mentality. It's a mis-conception to think that if I'm nottJying to blatantly pander to a mass audi-ence, then I must be doing it just f9~rJ,yself.r don't think that any artist is just'doing it for themselves. If they werei,tI'!ey"wouldn'tgo to the trouble ofrecording and releasing it. I'm certainly' not doing that. I'm doing it for any-one and everyone who cares to listeri.!'; ".>

Heaven & Hell, his new CD, is based.on the concept of man's Seven DeadlySins: (gluttony, lust, avarice, sloth;iihger, envy &:pride). The cast of guestperformers grew out of the music. jackson based his invitations on individualvoice, style or ability to personify each character and vice. Violinist NadjaSaferno-Sonnenberg plays the demonic "Prelude." Suzanne Vega and so-prano Dawn Upshaw taunt jackson 'on "Lust." jane Siberry envies, BradRoberts sloths out, and Times Square bucket ~ ••• _player Jared Crawford hammers away with jack-~on on ,"Anger." ,,' ' ," ,,'

"It took me three years to research' and write'Heaven & Hell. "Itwas a very ambitious project forme. [These sins] are intriguing and their tradi-tional order suggested a musical structure to"me," he 'confesses. ,,"I'mnot really into,Ap9calyP-tic Theory. They're basic human impulses; but it~sup to you whether they lead you to Heaven orHell. You know, you don't even have to leaveyour, apartment to see all Seven Deadly" Sins.They're all right there inside you." '''i:'

"I didn't 'sit at the piano with theidea ofmak-ing some kind of pop and Classical [hybrid]. I'don't play by those rules anymore, I always try toavoid the cliches or find a twist on them. It's an,intuitive process. I"don't think you' can create'anything worthwhile out of some-prernedltated,calculated agenda. Night Music, (1994) \",,,3S abreakthrough record in terms of my thinking' be-cause it was the first record I everdidthat wasn'tall three minute pop songs. I was really stakingout new territory. Heaven & Hell just takes that to 'the next level: Now I make no apologies to :~ny-one, and I feel freer than I've felt' in years." "

, JuoY SIPOWICZ -, , '. '1lee Jackson wil/bepJayingat The Supper. ¢Jub,"Manhattan, November "1a - 12. ' -'; .. ',,:"

RicOcasekTroublizing

(COLUMBIA)

Whether you liked 'em or not, RicOcasek &:The Cars were responsi-ble for some damn catchy stuffthroughout the '70s &: '80s ("ByeBye Love," "It's All I Can Do,""Since You're Gone," "Magic").Naturally, anything that veers offthat tried and true path is gonna bemet with a collective sigh of, "why?", particularly since The Cars'brand of proto-pop is sheerly slink-ing it's way back up the charts.TroubJizing does indeed veer, but itdoesn't stagger away from Ocasek'sroots. Doesn't it sound funny refer-ring to someone's polished newwave attack as "roots"? (Speakingof roots, The Cars' Greg Hawkes isenlisted" here to play keyboards.) Inshort, this is a fairly well done pieceof intelligent muzak and Billy Cor-gan's production suits the projectwell, both musically and conceptu-.ally. "After all, The Cars had a lotmore substance than mostthin-tied dukes, and The SmashingPumpkins aren't nearly as boggeddown in their own substance as"some would have you believe: (AndI'll be damned if I'm riot humming"they only come out at night" afterlistening to the likes.of "People WeKnow.")" B

RICH PAWELClYK

Adam SandlerWhat's Your Name?

(WARNER BROTHERS)

Yes; Adam Sandler simultaneouslyannoys and amuses, but What'sYour Name? fortunately finds himleaning towards the latter. Backedby a coterie of seasoned studio mu-sicians, Sandler pairs their expertisewith his gifted knack of mimicry."The Lonesome Kicker" finds 'thecomic doing a dead-on Spring-steen in a song that promises to be-came as identifiable with football as"Basketball jones" is with b-ball.Elsewhere, Sandler pulls double-duty as a wimpy son and hisover-,protective mother on thebubble-gum pop" of "Pickin',Daisies" and is a credible-sound-ing Rasta on the reggae of"Voodoo." Sandler's talents gratewhen he is too over-the-top,particularly on the grating punk of'''Four Years Old" (which finds himlooking at life from a"child's pointof view) and "Bad Boyfriend,"which fails despite David Spade'suncredited participation. Sandlerresurrects "Red Hooded Sweatshirt"'from his SNL days and hilariouslycaps off this surprisingly solidcomedic/music hybrid. B

. DAVE GIL DE 'RUBIO

Joe Ja~kic;~';~'"Fre'e At lost .

Joe Jackson