Beat Crazy
1980 studio album by The Joe Jackson Band
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Beat Crazy is the third album by Joe Jackson, released in October 1980 and credited to the Joe Jackson Band.[4] It was a relative disappointment commercially, peaking outside the Top 40 in both the UK and the United States, with its singles failing to chart.[5] One reason for the reduced sales in the U.S. may have been that the group did not tour to support it there.[5] Nevertheless, the Joe Jackson Band was successful and toured extensively.[5] This would be the last studio album released by the Joe Jackson Band's original line-up until 2003's Volume 4.[6]
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| Beat Crazy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 10 October 1980[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1980 | |||
| Studio | Basing Street, London | |||
| Genre | New wave, punk rock, ska | |||
| Length | 45:40 | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Producer | Joe Jackson | |||
| The Joe Jackson Band chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Robert Christgau | B[3] |
Background
Beat Crazy was intended to be a stylistic departure from Jackson's first two albums. However, as he recalled, the band lacked a clear direction during the recording. Jackson later stated that he felt the record "didn't really work".[7] He explained,
The stereotypical difficult third album, in which we tried to change the formula a bit without quite knowing how. It's darker than the first two and the reggae influence is more pronounced. There's some good stuff on it (I especially like the title track and 'Biology') but it’s not quite the triumphant swan song of this band.[8]
Musically, the album saw the band take in reggae and ska influences as seen on songs such as "In Every Dream Home", "Mad at You", and "Pretty Boys".[2]
Critical reception
Upon its release, Andy Gill of the NME was negative in his review, calling Beat Crazy a "pretty lame apology for an album, and absolutely nowhere as regards thinking dance music". He concluded, "It masquerades as a series of meaningful meta-musical musings on rock 'n' roll and youth culture in general, which comes down to little more than a couple of hip references/dedications, and the sort of vague, purposeless social-realist songwriting we've come to expect from Jackson."[9]
Track listing
All songs written, arranged and produced by Joe Jackson.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Beat Crazy" (lead vocal by Graham Maby) | 4:15 |
| 2. | "One to One" | 3:22 |
| 3. | "In Every Dream Home (A Nightmare)" | 4:31 |
| 4. | "The Evil Eye" | 3:45 |
| 5. | "Mad at You" | 6:03 |
| 6. | "Crime Don't Pay" | 4:24 |
| 7. | "Someone Up There" | 3:47 |
| 8. | "Battleground" | 2:33 |
| 9. | "Biology" | 4:31 |
| 10. | "Pretty Boys" | 3:41 |
| 11. | "Fit" | 4:45 |
Personnel
- Musicians
- Joe Jackson – vocals, keyboards, melodica
- Graham Maby – bass, vocals, lead vocal on "Beat Crazy"
- Gary Sanford – guitars
- David Houghton – drums, vocals
- Production
- Joe Jackson - arrangements, producer
- Norman Mighell - recording engineer
- Nigel Mills - assistant recording engineer
- Willy Smax - artwork
- Anton Corbijn - photography
Charts
| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[10] | 82 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11] | 32 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[12] | 47 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[13] | 42 |
| US Billboard 200[14] | 41 |