Scott Walker isn't universally known in the U.S. these days. If you were child of the 60s he would be instantly recognizable as "Scott from The Walker Brothers" and were teen idols who emigrated to the UK where Scott has lived ever since. But after the Walker Brothers dissolved, Scott went off on a solo career and his own path as a singer. Rather than go after the blatant commercial material of the time, he became enamored of the music of French composer Jacques Brel, whose brutally descriptive lyrics and fierce originality became Walker's musical trademark.

Tonight's track, a famous one (or completely new if you've never heard of him) comes from Scott 2 which he recorded for the Philips label in the UK in 1968. Jackie is a Brel song, and completely gets under your skin. First because you think it's one of those over-produced, over-blown songs that seem so middle-of-the-road. And then you listen to the lyrics and realize just how knife-edge sharp it is.

Small wonder it hit number 1 in England and Europe and stayed on the charts for 18 weeks.