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The Jam

A Woking trio who turned punk energy and a mod wardrobe into 18 consecutive top 40 singles in Britain between 1977 and 1982.

Origin
Woking, Surrey, England
Years active
1972-1982
Genres
punk rock, new wave, mod revival
Labels
Polydor

Woking

The Jam formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. The early line-up had Paul Weller, drummer Rick Buckler and guitarist Steve Brookes. When Brookes left, Weller persuaded Bruce Foxton, then the second guitarist, to switch to bass, and the trio of Weller, Foxton and Buckler stayed together to the end. Weller had discovered the Who's debut album and become fascinated with mod. He said being a mod gave him "a base and an angle to write from", and the band bought suits and played Motown, Stax and Atlantic covers. Weller's father John managed them throughout.

Chris Parry signed them to Polydor in February 1977. Their first single, In the City, came out on 29 April, and the album In the City followed on 20 May, reaching 20 in Britain. Foxton later said the record was pretty much their live set, finished in ten days. In May 1977 they joined the Clash's White Riot Tour.

All Mod Cons

The third album, All Mod Cons, arrived on 3 November 1978. A 1978 American tour supporting Blue Oyster Cult had gone badly, Polydor wanted a hit, and Weller was struggling to write. Chris Parry rejected the first batch of songs as sub-standard, so the band recorded a new set over the summer at RAK and Eden in London. Foxton later said the rejection made them rethink their approach and raise the bar. Vic Coppersmith-Heaven produced, and from this point the band worked with one producer instead of two.

Down in the Tube Station at Midnight was nearly lost on the way, and went to number 15. The album reached number 6. Charles Shaar Murray of the NME wrote that it was "several light years ahead" of anything they had done before, and the paper ranked it the second best album of 1978.

Setting Sons to Sound Affects

Setting Sons (1979) began as a concept album about three boyhood friends who meet again after a war, an idea that was never fully developed. It reached number 4 and gave the band their first American chart entry, at 137. Its one single, The Eton Rifles, was their first top ten hit. Then came Going Underground in March 1980, which entered the British chart at number one. Foxton said the band were touring America when the record company rang with the news, and they flew home on Concorde to appear on Top of the Pops.

Sound Affects, released on 28 November 1980, is the only Jam album the band co-produced themselves. Weller described it as a cross between Revolver and Off the Wall. Polydor wanted Pretty Green as the first single, but Weller insisted on Start!, which reached number one. The album peaked at two in Britain and 72 in the United States, their best American placing, and it holds That's Entertainment, which Weller said he wrote in ten minutes.

The Gift and after

The Gift came out on 12 March 1982 and went to number one, with brass, soul and Motown touches. Its single Town Called Malice entered the chart at the top and stayed three weeks. The band's last performance was at the Brighton Conference Centre on 11 December 1982, an extra date added to the final tour because of demand.

Weller formed the Style Council with Mick Talbot in 1983. Foxton and Buckler later played Jam songs in From the Jam, which Weller did not join. In May 2010 Weller and Foxton shared a stage again at the Royal Albert Hall for three songs. A 2015 exhibition at Somerset House and a Sky Arts documentary, The Jam: About the Young Idea, revisited the band. Sound On Sound wrote that they made an indelible impression on the next generation of British rock bands, and in a 2002 Virgin Radio listener poll of British acts they came fifth.

Members

Records

Songs

The Style Council, The Who, The Clash, The Kinks

Where to go next

Official

Reference

  • The Jam A history of the band and its members.
  • All Mod Cons Background, tracklist and credits.
  • Sound Affects Artwork, influences, chart performance and tracklist.

Writing and criticism

Interviews

Fan sites and communities

Sources

  1. The Jam, Wikipedia
  2. Classic Tracks: The Jam, The Eton Rifles, Sound On Sound (2007-03)
  3. Bruce Foxton of The Jam's 11 career-defining songs, MusicRadar (2012-09)
  4. How The Jam almost didn't record one of their biggest hits, Radio X (2026-10-13)
  5. The Jam, timeline, The Jam official site
  6. 40 Years On: The Jam's Sound Affects Revisited, The Quietus