"Steppin' Out" is a song by English musician Joe Jackson, originally included on his 1982 album '' Night and Day''. The song, inspired by Jackson's time in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, was his highest-charting single in the United States, where it peaked at number 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It reached the same position in Jackson's native UK.

Background

The song is about the anticipation and excitement of a drive out around the town. Released as a single in early August 1982, it became Jackson's biggest hit in the United States, peaking at No. 5 in '' Cashbox'' magazine and No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for four consecutive weeks from December 11, 1982, to January 1, 1983. It also reached No. 4 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stat ...

and No. 7 on ''Billboard''s

Album Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...

. The infectious tune was Jackson's second biggest hit on the UK singles chart, where it reached No. 6 in December 1982. Only " It's Different for Girls", which reached No. 5 in the UK in 1980, did better. During his 2019 tour for the album '' Fool'', Jackson stated he played all the instruments on "Steppin' Out" – with the exception of session drummer Larry Tolfree, who added a real snare drum and cymbal hits. The rest of the song's drum beat was programmed into a 1979

Korg , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instrument An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electr ...

KR-55

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

, the original of which Jackson used on the 2019 tour to play the song.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song, directed by

Steve Barron Steven Barron (born 4 May 1956) is an Irish-British filmmaker and music video director. Among the music videos he has directed are "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, " Burning Up (Madonna song), Burnin Up" by Madonna, "Summer of '69" and "Run t ...

, featured a blonde, attractive hotel maid fantasising that she is a

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

figure. It was filmed over one night in the St. Regis Hotel in

during the summer of 1982. The video used the shorter single version instead of the full album version. According to an interview with ''Time Out'', Jackson made the music video against his wishes. "Rock 'n' roll is degenerating into a big circus, and videos and

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

are very much part of that," he said.

Personnel

* Joe Jackson – lead vocals, piano,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

, drum programming * Larry Tolfree – drums

Accolades

"Steppin' Out" earned two

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nominations in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, for

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...

and

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a male in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The award wen ...

. The song lost to Toto's " Rosanna" and

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...

's " Truly", respectively.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

journalist Chris True praised the song as a "mélange of simple piano hooks, rudimentary electronic treatment and classic vocal pop, with a rhythm track that is quaint in its simplicity and driving enough to invoke images of the big city at night". In 2015, ''

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

'' placed "Steppin' Out" at 153 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1980s." In 2022, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' ranked it 93 on their list "100 Best Songs of 1982". ''Glide Magazine'' ranked it as Jackson's second best song.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Joe Jackson 1982 songs 1982 singles A&M Records singles Joe Jackson (musician) songs Music videos directed by Steve Barron Song recordings produced by David Kershenbaum Songs about New York City Songs written by Joe Jackson (musician) Music videos shot in the United States