Jump to full article: Boston (MA) Herald, 2008-04-06
Author: Christopher John Treacy
Intro: Joe Jackson's 30-year career has been driven by passion and uncompromising whimsy. He's stubbornly navigated his own course without any regard for pop stardom, tackling new wave, swing, jazzy salsa, even classical music. His latest CD, "Rain," which brings him to the Somerville Theatre tomorrow, is yet another curve ball: a guitar-less affair recorded in a trio format.
But Jackson, 53, also has begun applying his unyielding nature to some non-musical causes. Of particular concern to him are what he considers the extremist ideals of anti-tobacco lobbyists. He goes so far as to suggest that the stop-smoking brigade has rallied the public into a state of sheer hysteria to bolster its own controlling agenda. He even wrote op-ed pieces offering his decidedly non-PC point of view in The New York Times [NYT] and the Telegraph of London.
Jackson seems thrilled to deliver his unexpected, unlikely message: Smoking isn't that bad for you. . . .
Jackson covers a lot of ground in 20 pages. These are some key points from his essay, which includes documentation to back up his assertions (however difficult they sometimes are to believe) and a bibliography (of sorts):
Big tobacco, anti-smoking lobbyists and pharmaceutical companies financially perpetuate one another, creating a mutually profitable vicious circle.
The public should greet health-care information with increased skepticism and remember that statistics are not science. . . .
Jackson seems to take delight in dropping one provocative smoke bomb after another, all passionately detonated with a twisted sense of contrarian delight. Even if you disagree with him, his iconoclasm is intriguing, so much so that it might lure you to his concert tomorrow just to see how all this translates to his performance.
If you do go, just remember: No smoking allowed.
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