74. The Jam

 

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This defiantly British mod rock trio became the biggest act domestically in the UK to come out of the late 1970s punk/new wave movement, not least thanks to singer/guitarist/songwriter Paul Weller's social and political commentaries.

 

ALL MUSIC GUIDE BIOGRAPHY

 

Key Studio Album: Sound Affects (1980) (but 1978's All Mod Cons & 1979's Setting Sons run it close)

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Key Compiliation: Snap! (1983)

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Career Defining Song:

Going Underground (1980 UK#1)

Some Other Keys Songs (difficult to restrict it to four tracks):

 

Down In A Tube Station At Midnight (1978 UK#15)

 

That's Entertainment (1981 UK#21 import)

 

Town Called Malice (1982 UK#1)

 

Beat Surrender (1982 UK#1)

 

Were any of you fans of "The Modfather II"'s first band or did you prefer his later work with the Style Council or solo?

Love The Jam

 

Fave songs = Eton Rifles, Going Underground, Beat Surrender but like loads of their stuff

 

 

I seem to remember a Squeeze version of A Town Called Malice, for some reason, but, I digress....I thinmk I may have heard The Jam mentioned somewhere once in the US, but, with my fuzzy memory, I could be mistaken.

 

Since I really haven't heard of any of their stuff, I really can't say whether I like them or not, but, since a lot of the 'punk' bands from the late 70's and early 80's were crying foul with the governments, and screaming for change, I think, if given a decent chance to hear them, I might actually like them.

I was a big fan of them from 1977 to 1982, not so keep on Style Council or his solo stuff, apart from the odd track.

 

Fave Jam tracks are That's entertainment, Going Underground, The Bitterest Pill, Eton Rifles, Town called Malice, In the city, Down in a tubestation at midnight, David Watts, Modern World.

weller must be the greatest plagiarist of our time, but i did like the jam, especially 'all around the world' and 'funeral pyre' which imho is a VERY underrated track.

The Jam - yes, some great tunes that I fondly remember from my childhood

Wellar solo - no, total bloody awful Dad Rock for the most part, and as Rob says, a bit of a plagiarist, probably the prototype Chris Martin in a lot of ways, but at least Wellar wrote some good tunes with The Jam.....

Loved the Jam, think he lost the plot a bit with the some of the Style Council albums, and I may be on my own on here, but I love his solo stuff. Been to see him many times and tbh, I personally think he gets better. When I saw him on the last tour, a few months ago, he was fantastic, gave one of the best shows I've seen him do!

Good choices for the 'key songs' there.

 

Not a massive fan of The Jam - 'Down in the Tube Station' I like a lot but not too fussed about most of the rest and I have to admit pretty much every cover of 'That's Entertainment' I've heard is much better than the original!

 

They're ok - but definitely the best thing Weller's ever been involved with.