"Steppin' Out" is a song written by Joe Jackson, originally included on his 1982 album Night and Day.[1]
The song is about the anticipation and excitement of a night out on the town.[2] Released as a single in August 1982, it became Jackson's biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit in the U.S., peaking at number six.[1] It also reached #4 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. The infectious tune was Jackson's second biggest hit on the UK Singles Chart, also reaching number six.[1] Only "It's Different for Girls", which reached number five in the UK in 1980, did better.[3] The music video for the song, directed by Steve Barron, featured a housekeeper pretending she was aCinderella figure. It was filmed over one night in the St. Regis Hotel in New York City during the summer of 1982.[2]
"Steppin' Out" eventually earned Grammy nominations for Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male.[4]
In a retrospective review of the single, Allmusic 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."[5]
The song was most recently covered by AM as part of his collaboration called AM & Shawn Lee for his 2013 album La Musique Numerique. Fantastic Plastic Machine for his 1998 self-titled album. It was also covered by Stanley Jordan on his 2008 album State of Nature[6] and Kurt Elling on his 2011 album The Gate.[7]
In 2002, "Steppin' Out" appeared in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, playing on pop radio station Flash FM.
A loop of the instrumental portion of this song is used as the theme music for the WYES-TV (New Orleans, Louisiana) weekly arts and entertainment program Steppin' Out. CBC Radio Vancouver uses the same loop to introduce entertainment reporter Fred Lee.[8]
The song is heard as background music in the 2009 film L'affaire Farewell. It is used in a scene set in 1981, which predated the actual release of the song.
A snippet from the song appears at the end of a 2011 Target television commercial for Pedigree dog food.