Any Fans of The Jam?

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 5:45 am

It's an acknowldeged classic of the era over here. I, like many of my vintage, totally adore it. I was nearly in tears when it came on a comp tape in the car the other day by surprise... and I nearly crashed the car with excitement! Pete Perrett declined into heroin-induced squalor. He's still out there, living in a dump, and probably funding his habit with the dwindling royalties. I never heard the LP, just that one song.

ReadyToHearTheWorst · Post by **ReadyToHearTheWorst** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 7:52 am

Otis Westinghouse wrote:... recall a version of Sweet, Soul Music from somewhere ages ago in my teens ... Pop-Art Poem not on the box set, so VERY OBSCURE in my book

Only 2 years late to the party, but Sweet Soul Music (and Back in My Arms Again) was on the B side to In the City (I think).

Have you seen The Jam - Extras ? Most of it is on the box set, but you can pick it up cheap these days.

Mike Boom · Post by **Mike Boom** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 10:12 am

"Space travels in my blood
there ain't nothing I can do about it ..."

I always loved that line.

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 2:45 pm

Ready wrote:

Only 2 years late to the party, but Sweet Soul Music (and Back in My Arms Again) was on the B side to In the City (I think).

I'm pretty sure that was the b side to This is the Modern World. Great tracks - I'm not sure that they're available on cd - at least as they appeared on the b-side of that single. There's a version of Sweet Soul Music on the Jam at the BBC - but for some reason it's not on the box set or the Extras disc. (I think) - VG might know for sure.

LittleFoole · Post by **LittleFoole** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 5:44 pm

Mike Boom wrote:"Space travels in my blood
there ain't nothing I can do about it ..."
.

"...long journeys wear me out, but, I know I can't live without it, oh no..."

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:23 am

Boy With A Problem wrote:Ready wrote:

Only 2 years late to the party, but Sweet Soul Music (and Back in My Arms Again) was on the B side to In the City (I think).
I'm pretty sure that was the b side to This is the Modern World. Great tracks - I'm not sure that they're available on cd - at least as they appeared on the b-side of that single. There's a version of Sweet Soul Music on the Jam at the BBC - but for some reason it's not on the box set or the Extras disc. (I think) - VG might know for sure.

Back In My Arms Again, Sweet Soul Music and part of Bricks and Mortar (all live) was indeed the B-Side to This is the Modern World. They are not available on CD.

The version on At The BBC is also live but was a few years later and had horns.

All great stuff!

wardo68 · Post by **wardo68** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:30 am

verbal gymnastics wrote:
Boy With A Problem wrote:Back In My Arms Again, Sweet Soul Music and part of Bricks and Mortar (all live) was indeed the B-Side to This is the Modern World.

There was a compilation a few years back called "The Jam - Master Series" that included this medley. I don't know if it's still in print. The medley is also included in the first Jam singles box set.

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 6:33 am

I drove the 15 miles over to Woking last night and saw Rick Buckler's Jam tribute band The Gift - http://www.the-gift.info/

It would have been a much better experience for me if I had been drinking as heavily as the other audience members. I would have/could have but the web site said they weren't coming on until 10:30 - and I never would have caught a train back - hence I was sober for the whole thing.

The whole thing was exactly what you would expect - faithful renditions of Jam songs (though only Modern World from the first two LPs), creepy Paul Weller lookalike -I wished they would have done sounds from the Street - (I Know I Come From Bognor/And You Say I'm a Fraud), a certain sadness about the whole affair.

Lowpoint - A butchering of Enlgish Rose

Highpoint - An unexpected Little Boy Soliders

As creepy as the singer looked with the same haircut that Weller sports now, he was mostly spot on with the vocals and his guitar playing.

Again - I'm not convinced I wouldn't have really enjoyed this if I'd had 3 or 4 pints.

Can you think of anyone else that has done something like this? - Put together a tribute band of their former band? I think Entwistle took out a band that did Who covers and there's always Creedence Clearwater Revisited.

King Hoarse · Post by **King Hoarse** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 7:29 am

The Real Quo with Alan Lancaster was something like that I guess. Andy Scott's Sweet comes close too.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 6:55 am

Thanks for the correction wardo.

It's pretty sad when Rick Buckler's career has come to this. BWAP - did you actually enjoy it?

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 1:55 pm

Bruce Foxton joins Rick Buckler and another guy this past weekend for a tribute band that contains 2/3s of the orignal members -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=276Ip2oo2_0

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 6:25 pm

Original style drumkit and all. It must be depressing for them.

crash8_durham · Post by **crash8_durham** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 9:10 pm

I was cleaning out a drawer over the weekend and ran across and old All Mod Cons button. It is now safely on my guitar strap

cosmos · Post by **cosmos** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:21 am

LOVE The Jam and all things Weller! Wish The Jam was more famous in the States.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:09 am

What do you reckon to this then?

http://www.noblepr.co.uk/Press_Releases ... he_jam.htm

invisible Pole · Post by **invisible Pole** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 11:51 am

Sad, isn't it ?
Though I suppose lots of fans will not resist going to see them on the tour.

I understand they will be playing as "From the Jam: Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler" ?

ReadyToHearTheWorst · Post by **ReadyToHearTheWorst** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 6:16 pm

Word is that Weller has returned to old Jam songs specifically to undermine this alliance of his old chums.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 6:39 pm

Well he should play more of them then! Oh God. Second date is Cambridge. I don't want to go, it will depress me. I may not be able to help it...

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:39 am

ReadyToHearTheWorst wrote:Word is that Weller has returned to old Jam songs specifically to undermine this alliance of his old chums.

Where did you get that from?

We're going to see The Jamm again next week. They are a very good tribute band.

My mates want to go to see the Bruce/Rick thing out of curiosity. I daresay I'll go too.

I am a bit saddened by this. Paul was the front man and wrote 99% of the songs and whilst Bruce and Rick were a great rhythm section, The Jam name was more to do with Paul than anyone else.

These reformations do not work without the original lead singer in my view. I lost interest with The Stranglers, The Clash and Sex Pistols when the lead singers left.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:44 pm

My Jam/Weller loving chum is up for it. I have mixed feelings! Will they play all the Foxton classics? Smithers-Jones was the only good one, wasn't it?

ReadyToHearTheWorst · Post by **ReadyToHearTheWorst** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 7:02 pm

verbal gymnastics wrote:
ReadyToHearTheWorst wrote:Word is that Weller has returned to old Jam songs specifically to undermine this alliance of his old chums.
Where did you get that from?

A Weller loving chum of mine, who's word on the subject is usually unimpeachable. He also relates a quote, where a journalist mentioned Rick Buckler's Jam tribute band - apparently Weller replied "Now you know why I have nothing to do with that f@cker!".
However, good anecdotes though these are, I can't find an online source for them, so let's just say "allegedly".

invisible Pole · Post by **invisible Pole** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 2:08 am

Alexis Petridis on the reformed Jam.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/ ... erfre.html

Reformed Jam: now Weller-free!
Weller's principles haven't stopped the other members of The Jam reforming. But is New Jam a good plan?

by Alexis Petridis

A year or so back, Paul Weller explained the circumstances under which he would consider reforming The Jam. "Me and my children would have to be destitute and starving in the gutter," he said. Even if said scenario came about, he added, people shouldn't get their hopes up. "I'd go and get a job working on a van or the builders," he added.

He has said the barrier wasn't personal enmity between himself and his former bandmates (although, by all accounts, there's plenty of that - largely revolving around those two old staples, songwriting credits and royalties), but principles: "I'm against all bands reforming. I think it's really sad. I think you do these things and you create these statements and music at a certain time and they sum up how you feel at the time and that's where they end."

And that appeared to be the end of that. You were more likely to have Paul Weller turn up at your house and re-point your walls, than see The Jam live again. Then came the news yesterday that Rick Buckler and Bruce Foxton have decided to resurrect the name without Paul Weller's involvement.

Should you wish, you can see The Jam, with new vocalist Russell Hastings, performing in May. The venues they're playing are some way off Wembley - their appearance at The High Rocks, Tunbridge Wells, represents something of a departure for a venue best-known for its Wednesday afternoon tea dance ("ballroom dancing with Peter Harvey, tea and cake, Â£6"). Nevertheless, it's clearly a step up for Rick Buckler, who last year was to be found drumming in a Jam tribute act called The Gift (from whence Russell Hastings has also sprung): "you could say that Paul Weller is a tribute band because he plays The Jam's songs live," he suggested at the time.

That seems a bit of a hopeful argument, but perhaps the kind of high-minded principles that Weller espouses are a luxury that a multi-millionaire rock star can afford, but his less successful former cohorts can't.

You could argue that - ahem - this is the modern world, and that The Jam touring without Paul Weller fits with the current vogue for musical nostalgia, in which trifling matters like the absence or death of a key member aren't allowed to get in the way of making some cash or, apparently, audience enjoyment: after all, plenty of people are willing to go and see Queen live without Freddie Mercury, so why not The Jam without Weller.

Then again, twenty-five years ago, anyone who publicly suggested that The Jam had anything in common with Queen would have swiftly been kicked to the floor by several pairs of bowling shoes. After all, die hard fans will tell you that what made The Jam special was the fact that were about more than just the music. They were about fashion and politics and, yup, our old friend principles which, with the best will in the world, isn't something that anyone's going to claim of Queen.

So, Jam fans, over to you. Is this an appalling desecration of a vitally important band's legacy, or just a couple of jobbing musicians trying to earn an honest wage? Will you be dusting down your two-tone Jam shoes and Lonsdale sweatshirt and heading to The High Rocks Tunbridge Wells ("with beautiful gardens and a terrace for eating outside, you can sit and enjoy the lovely views, the tranquillity of the countryside and watch the steam trains")?

If you do, do you think the gush of nostalgia will overwhelm the fact that Weller isn't there?

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 7:02 pm

Well it's two thirds of the original band, so as near to recreating Fort Regent, St. Helier, Jersey, November 1980, or something like that, as it's ever going to be.

Has anyone seen The Gift? If so is Russell Hastings passable? I guess the worst thing is he could actually just copy Weller in terms of appearance and voice, which of course is what a tribute band does, which is distinct from 'the original band with a different singer'.

Maybe New Order should go on tour with the guy who plays Curtis in Control and have done with it.

Talking of tribute acts, to judge by the photo on that link, Alexis P is modelling himself on Mr Bean these days.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 8:54 am

ReadyToHearTheWorst wrote:However, good anecdotes though these are, I can't find an online source for them, so let's just say "allegedly".

invisible Pole wrote:Alexis Petridis on the reformed Jam.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/ ... erfre.html

Reformed Jam: now Weller-free!
A year or so back, Paul Weller explained the circumstances under which he would consider reforming The Jam. "Me and my children would have to be destitute and starving in the gutter," he said. Even if said scenario came about, he added, people shouldn't get their hopes up. "I'd go and get a job working on a van or the builders," he added.

One of my favourite stories is that Paul went to work for his dad on the building sites in the early days of The Jam and was, shall we say, not the best worker.

His dad said words to the effect of "Look at that useless c***. If he couldn't play the guitar there'd be no f***ing hope for him".

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 8:57 am

Oh yeah - I've booked to see From The Jam at Tonbridge Wells. Two of my mates have decided that "It's got to be done"...