Going Underground

Written by Weller and released in March 1980, it was recorded on 16 January 1980 at Townhouse Studios with Vic Coppersmith-Heaven, alongside Dreams of Children. Dreams of Children had been meant as the sole A-side, but a mix-up at the pressing plant turned the single into a double A-side, and DJs chose the more melodic Going Underground. It debuted at number one and spent three weeks at the top, the first of the band's four number ones. The lyric condemns Margaret Thatcher's recently elected government, the voter apathy that let her in, and the military-industrial complex. It was not on any of the six studio albums, though it has appeared on compilations and Setting Sons reissues.

Foxton said the band were touring America when the label called to say the record had gone in at number one. They flew back on Concorde and recorded Top of the Pops. It was the 15th best-selling single in Britain in 1980, and the NME ranked it second among the year's tracks. Dreams of Children opens with a backwards sample of the band's own Thick as Thieves, which the American edit removed.