I’m The Man 180G LP (OUT OF PRINT)

Astonishingly released within months of Jackson’s 1979 debut album Look Sharp!, I’m the Man is another tight and inspired set of power-pop that features some of Jackson’s best and most timeless tunes. Many of the songs here like “On Your Radio,” “Kinda Kute,” and the title track “I’m the Man” fall right in line with the punchy guitar riffs and pounding bass that made Look Sharp! such a driving force. In fact, this was the last album Jackson would make in this new-wave vein for over 20 years. Jackson followed I’m the Man with only one more album featuring the tight ensemble featured here- Graham Maby (bass), Gary Sanford (guitar) and Tony Houghton (drums)- and creatively restless soul that he is didn’t return to this brand of power pop until reuniting that lineup for 2003’s underrated Volume 4. I doubt it was possible to listen to I’m the Man in 1979, and predict the subsequent ska-inspired Beat Crazy or 1982’s ode to jazz, Night and Day. But we do hear the songwriter growing into his powers with “It’s Different for Girls,” one of his strongest and most lyrically perceptive songs, and one with decades of staying power; one of Jackson’s great live set pieces today is a solo piano arrangement of that song that’s as arresting as the original in some ways. Jackson would famously broaden his influences in later albums and his catalog is nothing if not diverse. While Jackson’s greatest commercial success was Night and Day, Look Sharp! and I’m the Man are new-wave classics that improve with every listen!