The Jam

The Jam
The Jam
	The Jam performing live in Newcastle upon Tyne during their Trans-global Unity tour, 1982
Background information
Origin	Woking, Surrey, England
Genres	Mod revival; new wave; punk rock; power pop;
Years active	1972–1982
Labels	Polydor
Spinoffs	The Style Council; Time UK; Sharp; The Gift; From the Jam;
Past members	Paul Weller; Bruce Foxton; Rick Buckler;
Website	thejamofficial.com

The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1982, including four number one hits. As of 2007, "That's Entertainment" and "Just Who Is the 5 O'Clock Hero?" remain the best-selling import singles of all time in the UK.^[10] They released one live album and six studio albums, the last of which, The Gift, reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. When the group disbanded in 1982, their first 15 singles were re-released and all placed within the top 100.^[11]

The band drew upon a variety of stylistic influences over the course of their career, including 1970s punk and new wave and 1960s beat music, soul and rhythm and blues. The trio were known for their melodic pop songs, their distinctly English flavour and their mod image. The band launched the career of Paul Weller, who went on to form the Style Council and later started a solo career. Weller wrote and sang most of the Jam's original compositions and played lead guitar, using a Rickenbacker 330. Bruce Foxton provided backing vocals and prominent basslines, which were the foundation of many of the band's songs, including the hits "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight", "The Eton Rifles", "Going Underground" and "Town Called Malice."

^ "The Jam Information Pages – by Kevin Lock". Thejam.org.uk. 11 April 2007. Archived from the original on 16 August 2013.
^ Sweeting, Adam (25 April 2002). "That was the modern world". The Guardian. The Jam were British New Wave at its most quintessential and successful.
^ Simonelli, David (2013). Working Class Heroes: Rock Music and British Society in the 1960s and 1970s. Lexington Books. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-7391-7051-9. New wave, in contrast, was the sophisticated alternative to punk, a professional version of punk with which adolescents of all social persuasions could identify. It took punk challenges to middle-class politics, gender and sexuality, and made them seem glamorous in a way that punks never intended them to be. Though bands like The Jam positively seethed with political intent, they were far less controversial than their punk predecessors, and thus easier on the consciences of professional music critics.
^ Theo Cateforis (7 June 2011). Are We Not New Wave?: Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s. University of Michigan Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-0472034703. Throughout 1977 the new wave label continued to appear as a point of differentiation, distinguishing more melodic, pop-oriented groups like the Jam and the Stranglers from punk's increasingly politicized and violent realm.
^ Harris, John (2 February 2006). "The Jam? They were a way of life". The Shortlisted. If all this has long been ignored, at least part of the explanation lies in the Jam's anomalous place within punk rock, and the fact that music writers have usually ranked them below the short-lived Sex Pistols and the absurdly over-romanticised Clash (who, during the time they were together, never had a top 10 UK hit).
^ "Were The Jam the best punk band?". Wales Online. 16 February 2006. Unlike some punk bands whose short-lived appeal lay more in their outrageous dress and behaviour, The Jam produced songs with lyrics that actually meant something, and were tuneful too.
^ Pingitore, Silvia (26 April 2020). "The Jam's Legacy is Alive: Interview with Bruce Foxton & Russell Hastings". The Shortlisted. Once upon a time, there was a legendary English punk and mod revival band called the Jam...
^ "From the Jam, Back With Fury 26 Years Later". The Washington Post. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
^ Doug Hoekstra. "Shelley & The Jam". Canopicjar.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009.
^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 277. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1] "The Jam Information Pages – by Kevin Lock". Thejam.org.uk. 11 April 2007. Archived from the original on 16 August 2013.

[2] Sweeting, Adam (25 April 2002). "That was the modern world". The Guardian. The Jam were British New Wave at its most quintessential and successful.

[3] Simonelli, David (2013). Working Class Heroes: Rock Music and British Society in the 1960s and 1970s. Lexington Books. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-7391-7051-9. New wave, in contrast, was the sophisticated alternative to punk, a professional version of punk with which adolescents of all social persuasions could identify. It took punk challenges to middle-class politics, gender and sexuality, and made them seem glamorous in a way that punks never intended them to be. Though bands like The Jam positively seethed with political intent, they were far less controversial than their punk predecessors, and thus easier on the consciences of professional music critics.

[4] Theo Cateforis (7 June 2011). Are We Not New Wave?: Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s. University of Michigan Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-0472034703. Throughout 1977 the new wave label continued to appear as a point of differentiation, distinguishing more melodic, pop-oriented groups like the Jam and the Stranglers from punk's increasingly politicized and violent realm.

[5] Harris, John (2 February 2006). "The Jam? They were a way of life". The Shortlisted. If all this has long been ignored, at least part of the explanation lies in the Jam's anomalous place within punk rock, and the fact that music writers have usually ranked them below the short-lived Sex Pistols and the absurdly over-romanticised Clash (who, during the time they were together, never had a top 10 UK hit).

[6] "Were The Jam the best punk band?". Wales Online. 16 February 2006. Unlike some punk bands whose short-lived appeal lay more in their outrageous dress and behaviour, The Jam produced songs with lyrics that actually meant something, and were tuneful too.

[7] Pingitore, Silvia (26 April 2020). "The Jam's Legacy is Alive: Interview with Bruce Foxton & Russell Hastings". The Shortlisted. Once upon a time, there was a legendary English punk and mod revival band called the Jam...

[8] "From the Jam, Back With Fury 26 Years Later". The Washington Post. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2010.

[9] Doug Hoekstra. "Shelley & The Jam". Canopicjar.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009.

[British_Hit_Singles_&_Albums-10] Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 277. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

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