Joe Jackson — Breaking Us In Two

JUL 01 1982 · 12:00

Joe Jackson — Breaking Us In Two (1982) Director: Steve Barron Era: MTV Golden Age / New Wave Peak (1982) - British post-punk sophistication meets the nascent American music video industry; filmed on 35mm at a heritage English railway station during MTV's first full year of operation High. This video sits at the intersection of several historically significant currents: the peak of Steve Barron's pre-'Billie Jean' directorial period, the opening phase of MTV's cultural dominance, and Joe Jackson's commercial apex. Filmed on 35mm at a preserved heritage railway location, it is a technically accomplished and culturally specific document of British New Wave's American breakthrough moment. Its confirmed director, verified production location, and well-documented chart and broadcast history make it an exceptionally well-sourced archival asset. Context: Released in August 1982 as the third single from Joe Jackson's landmark guitar-free LP Night and Day, 'Breaking Us in Two' arrived during MTV's first full operational year, when the channel was disproportionately populated by British artists who had already produced promotional clips for European broadcast. Jackson occupied an unusual position: critically associated with post-punk and new wave intellectualism, he was simultaneously achieving mainstream Adult Contemporary success in the US (#8 AC chart) while publicly and vocally skeptical of the music video format he was participating in. The video's choice of Oakworth railway station — a preserved Victorian-era steam railway — grounds the song's themes of romantic dissolution in deeply English imagery, creating a contrast with the cosmopolitan jazz-inflected sound of Night and Day. The production represents a key document of the British music video industry's early maturity under directors like Steve Barron. Director notes: Directed for A&M Records in 1982. The video was filmed on location at Oakworth railway station in England, a working heritage steam railway site in West Yorkshire. The production intercuts Joe Jackson performing at a piano on or near the train with a dramatic narrative strand following a woman departing with luggage and a birdcage. The video entered medium rotation on MTV in early February 1983, coinciding with the single's US chart rise to #18 on the Billboard Hot 100. The choice of a real railway location and naturalistic 35mm photography is consistent with Barron's contemporaneous approach of grounding music videos in cinematic realism rather than studio abstraction.