Jam: a splendid adventure that ends on December 11, 1982

This is a story that began, like many others in rock music, in the mid-seventies. And like many other rock music it ended in the early 1980s. Ten years, six albums, a lot of success (especially in Britain) and the sudden farewell when everything was going well and many other bands were looked down upon (especially in Britain). It’s the story of three guys – guitar, bass, drums – who answer to the name of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton And Rick Buckler and their band, i Jam.

The band was founded by Paul Weller and blossomed simultaneously with the rise of the punk movement. What he had in common with this was his youth and the desire to sweep away the pompous sounds that characterized that historical period, but not the nihilistic drift that characterized punk. The Jam’s points of reference were quite the Who, the Kinks, the Beatles. They also differed in their look, which was much more refined, and in the themes of the songs which were closer to the daily life of young English people and less to political slogans. It was 1977, London in full swing. Safety pins, tattered clothes and colored crests spread like wildfire in the English capital. Sex Pistols And Clasheach for their part, became models, among young people, of a new style of life and of understanding things. It was May 1977 and the Jam hit the shops with their first album “In the City”. The reception was quite good – in Great Britain it reached the twentieth position in the sales chart -, without wasting precious time, immediately afterwards, they released the single “All Around the World”which is not included in any album, but rose in the charts to thirteenth place. The youthful urgency was great, in November 1977, the trio released their second album “This is the Modern World”which, it’s sad to say, didn’t live up to its debut.

However, success, the real one, was only postponed for a year. In November 1978, it came out “All Mod Cons”. The songs on the album maintain the immediacy of their debut – both in content and length, as punk teaches, two minutes are more than enough to get straight to the point – but they take on a greater awareness. Paul Weller he is invested with the uncomfortable role of spokesperson for a generation. The band has a really hard core of fans who love them unconditionally and who recognize themselves in them. The three reciprocate by taking particular care of them. They meet them without sparing themselves after the concert, stopping to talk and sign autographs. Or they let them in to enjoy the soundcheck before their live shows. Weller, Foxton and Buckler differed from their audience in just one detail: they were the ones who went on stage and picked up the instruments. For the rest they were the same as the boys who took their seats in the audience. At that time Paul Weller he was 20, Bruce and Rick only three years older.

In 1979 the punk movement still had a lot of its energy though Sex Pistols And Clashwhich we could define as the landmarks of the genre, were no longer at the center of the ring. THE Sex Pistols they collected the death of Sid Vicious and went to close their experience, while i Clash they inserted into their music veins of that reggae that they breathed while frequenting the Jamaican community of Brixton in London and were preparing to conquer the world with the album “London Calling” (read the review here). THE Jam they direct their sounds towards soul and publish “Setting Sons”. They reiterate their presence in the noble positions of the charts reaching fourth position. The manifesto song of the album is “Eton Rifles” and the band also appears, albeit far behind, in the US sales charts. In the United States the group, despite the enormous success achieved in Great Britain, never managed to have a large following. They are too English and their themes too English. A story that will be repeated, with due proportions, just under twenty years later even with the Oasis.

1980 opens in style for the band originally from Woking. Theirs “Going Underground” conquers the number one position in the British singles chart and also manages to do the same “Start!”. The fifth album of their career, “Sound Affects”published in November of that year, was rewarded in terms of sales, but lacked the strength and strength necessary to be labeled as unforgettable. The compositional vein is of a minor tone and the sounds move towards pop. Although pop art, in fact the most immediate and direct reference of the album are the beloved ones Beatles.

In March 1982 i Jam they publish “The Gift”. It’s the album where it’s included “Town Called Malice”their best-known song. The album, for the first time, led them to savor the taste of first position in the album sales charts. The album is profoundly different from all the others and surprises fans, especially those of the first hour. Paul Weller he shocks his bandmates even more by telling them that he would leave the group because he felt he had now given everything and wanted to delve into other sounds, especially soul and r’n’b. The one that is still nicknamed today ‘Modfather’ he abandoned Bruce and Rick to give life, together with the keyboard player Mick Talbotto a project called Style Council leaving behind, at just 24 years old, a splendid adventure to start another. Bruce and Rick felt the pinch. The band went on a farewell tour which closed on December 11, 1982 al Brighton Center in Brighton. Since then the three have never played on stage together again. The Jam reunion is one of rock’s chimeras. Paul Weller he has always said he was completely against and adamant in this regard, out of respect for the history of the band which magnificently represented a musical period that was as lively and fruitful as ever. With Buckler’s death on February 17 at the age of 69 the final word has been definitively written on the history of Jam.

Setlist of the Jam’s last concert:

Start!
It’s Too Bad
Beat Surrender
Away From the Numbers
Ghosts
In the Crowd
Boy About Town
Get Yourself Together (Small Faces cover)
All Mod Cons
To Be Someone (Didn’t We Have a Nice Time)
Smithers-Jones
Tales From the Riverbank
Move On Up (cover by Curtis Mayfield)
Circus
Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
Encore:
David Watts (Kinks cover)
Mr. Clean
Going Underground
In the City
Town Called Malice
Encore 2:
The Butterfly Collector
Pretty Green
The Gift