The Jags were a band that suffered unjustly as a result
of their initial success. Over the course of their four-year existence, these
four, then five fellows from London gave the world two albums and one of the
most fantastic debut singles of the era; however, the very song that brought
them their greatest renown also cast the shadow that stunted the growth of
their career.
Formed in 1978 and signed to Island Records by 1979, Nick
Watkinson, John Alder, Steve Prudence, Alex Baird, Michael Cotton and Patrick
O'Toole saw their very first single, "Back Of My Hand (I've Got Your
Number)," spend 10 weeks on the UK pop charts and peak at number 17. With
its jangly guitars and stop-start verses, the song was a bona-fide hit and
seemed destined for even greater chart heights. Unfortunately, there was this
fellow named Elvis Costello who had been hanging around the charts for a couple
years already and who had become the darling of the music mags and appointed
King of the New Wave by rock critics everywhere. Didn't this upstart band's
record sound suspiciously like Costello? The short answer was, yes, in many
ways, it did. The lyrics certainly weren't at Costello's level of skewering
wordplay (who else's were?!?), but Watkinson had a voice that veered very close
to E.C.'s and a penchant for Costello-esque phrasing. Close your eyes and
listen to Watkinson deliver the final line of the first verse ("you wouldn't
phone those guys who mess around wit' choo") and, damn, that almost could
be E.C. himself!
By the time The Jag's first LP, Evening Standards, hit
the shelves, the unnecessary backlash had begun. The critics were bound and
determined that no one should approach the throne of Costello, and wrote The
Jags off as a poor imitation. Never mind that nothing else on the album sounded
like Costello, but was in fact solid power pop material that by all rights
should have gone over big. Really is a shame, because that first single remains
to this day one of the most enthusiastic and enjoyable records of the time.