Look Sharp!

Jackson first recorded these songs in Portsmouth in the autumn of 1977, then cut them again in London after signing with A&M in August 1978. The sessions at Eden Studios were quick and live: he said in June 1979 that many of the tracks were first takes with no overdubs, and admitted the result now sounded a little thin to him. That leanness is the point for most listeners. Maby's bass carries the melody as often as the piano does, and reggae syncopation runs under several songs, most clearly Sunday Papers.

Is She Really Going Out with Him? was released as a single in October 1978 and climbed only on reissue, reaching thirteen in Britain and twenty-one in America. The album made the top twenty in the United States, Canada and Australia, went gold in the US and platinum in Canada by the end of 1979, and peaked at forty at home. Rolling Stone gave it five stars and compared it favorably with Elvis Costello. Robert Christgau, less taken, noted the fancy chords. Brian Griffin's photograph of Jackson's white shoes on the South Bank was nominated for a Grammy for packaging and appears regularly in lists of the great album covers.