Joe Jackson ‎– Night and Day (1982)

Night and Day is the fourth album of original studio material by English musician/singer Joe Jackson, released on June 25, 1982, on A&M.

Real Men

The music video for Joe Jackson’s “Real Men,” directed by Steve Barron and released in 1982 to promote the lead single from Night and Day, opens on a 1950s primary school playground where three mischievous boys slingshot a girl, only for her to be befriended by a lone boy; the pair then watch a John Wayne film, sparking the boy’s visions of adult masculinity through clips of macho archetypes like soldiers and cowboys. Interwoven are scenes of their teenage greaser counterparts cruising town, pursued by menacing bikers, while the girl attempts to join the bad boys, prompting the young man to dramatically drive his Cadillac off the White Cliffs of Dover in a fatal plunge. Recurrent throughout is Joe Jackson performing intently behind a grand piano in stark, shadowy settings, culminating in daylight shots of a newspaper photographer capturing the crash aftermath as the girlfriend weeps and police arrive, all underscoring the song’s poignant exploration of evolving gender roles and societal pressures on men.

Breaking Us in Two

Directed by Jane Simpson and filmed on location around Oakworth railway station in Yorkshire, England, the 1982 music video for Joe Jackson’s second single “Breaking Us in Two” from Night and Day follows a distressed woman emerging from her Bradford tenement, bundled in an overcoat and clutching suitcases as she trudges to the station to buy a ticket and flee her troubles. As a vintage steam train chugs in, she hesitates and ultimately abandons her escape, retracing her steps to pause outside the home of an older woman—the ticketman’s wife—before reuniting emotionally with her waiting partner in a tender outdoor embrace. Serving as an omniscient observer, Jackson appears somberly as a train passenger gazing out windows and later as a solitary figure playing piano atop a misty hill, his performance threading through the narrative to amplify the ballad’s themes of relational strain, hesitation, and the pull of unresolved love.

Steppin’ Out

The 1982 music video for Joe Jackson’s third UK single “Steppin’ Out” from Night and Day—directed by Steve Barron and shot over one night at New York City’s St. Regis Hotel—begins with sweeping aerial and street shots of the glittering Manhattan skyline at dusk, transitioning to Jackson as a tuxedoed pianist entertaining a ritzy couple in their opulent penthouse suite. Once the couple steps out for the evening, their blonde maid succumbs to a whimsical Cinderella fantasy, trying on the wife’s glamorous gown and envisioning herself waltzing in a lavish ballroom, seamlessly replacing the socialite as Jackson continues playing house pianist in her dream sequence amid pulsing city lights and animated taxi motifs. The reverie shatters when the couple returns prematurely in evident distress, with the husband slumping at the piano to ponder his woes; Jackson, ever the enigmatic presence, departs the scene by leaving a single rose in the entrance shrubbery, evoking urban romance, escapism, and the thrill of nightlife in 1980s New York.

Tracklist:
A1. “Another World” (4:00)
A2. “Chinatown” (4:08)
A3. “T.V. Age” (3:45)
A4. “Target” (3:52)
A5. “Steppin’ Out” (4:34)
B1. “Breaking Us in Two” (4:57)
B2. “Cancer” (6:06)
B3. “Real Men” (4:05)
B4. “A Slow Song” (7:13)

Credits:
Joe Jackson – piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Yamaha electric piano, Hammond organ, Gem organ, Prophet-5 and Minimoog synthesizers, alto saxophone, vibes and lead vocals
Graham Maby – bass, vocals, percussion
Larry Tolfree – drums, timbales, percussion
Sue Hadjopoulos – conga, bongos, timbales, orchestra bells, xylophone, miscellaneous percussion, flute and vocals
Ricardo Torres – bongos, cowbell, claves
Ed Rynesdal – violin
Al Weisman – background vocals
Grace Millan – background vocals

David Kershenbaum – producer and mixing