"If we get through for two minutes only, it will be aaaaaa... POLL!" - The Jam - Singles (1977-1982)

Brilliant singles act, but I gotta go with "Town Called Malice," which made me a fan in the first place.

Impossible to choose.

15-way-tie for first.

Leaning towards "Eton Rifles".

Come on, fellas, perk up a little!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs8wCP9OGcs

I find it interesting that the only two releases they had in 1981 - 'Funeral Pyre' and 'Absolute Beginners' - are so different from each other. 'Funeral Pyre' is like the sound of Sound Affects taken as far as they could possibly take it, arguably the most "post-punk" the band ever got. With 'Absolute Beginners', you're straight into The Jam's final period - although I'd argue strongly that the B-side ('Tales From the Riverbank') is far, far superior and should have been the A-side.

(x-post)

Ha, I've never seen that interview before! They clearly couldn't be arsed to go through the whole routine of promoting themselves in America. Contrast this with footage of U2 being interviewed in the US in the early '80s, and Bono is trying his very best to get somewhere in America from the off.

Well, after opening for Blue Oyster Cult on an earlier tour, and then playing at an indoor amusement park in suburban Chicago, I can see why they might be a bit cantankerous (of course, Bono would be all, "LOOK AT THIS AMUSEMENT PARK! I LOVE IT! IT LOOKS LIKE AMERICA!")

But Polydor really tried to push the Jam in the US that year -- they were also on Fridays (SNL knockoff featuring Rich Hall and Larry David, among others) and American Bandstand.

of course, Bono would be all, "LOOK AT THIS AMUSEMENT PARK! I LOVE IT! IT LOOKS LIKE AMERICA!"

^ LOL!

Oh, hey, tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the release of "In The City."

Oh shit, so it is! That track still does it for me, even though I've heard it thousands of times its power doesn't seem to diminish, which is quite something.

If it's import-only singles, I believe that's the only US appearance of Going Underground/The Dreams of Children. (Other than Dig The New Breed!, which I can't recall if that's import-only).

two lovers missing the tranquility of solitude

Nah, this is a list of their UK singles, but I included 'That's Entertainment' and 'Just Who is the 5 o'Clock' hero, because they both charted in the UK even though they weren't issued in the UK as singles. 'That's Entertainment' was a German import, I think (on Metronome) and 'Just Who is the 5 o'Clock' was a Dutch import.

(x-post)

*'Just Who is the 5 o'Clock Hero?', rather.

Wow, this is truly impossible to answer, because so many are indispensable, musically. I went with Strange Town, mostly because I was in a band that used to cover it. But the Jam made near nary a misstep in their entire singles catalog.

Was going to vote "Strange Town", but had to go with "Tube Station", hey come on, we're on ILM!

Pretty hard not to go with the flow, as Going Underground is one of the greatest singles ever, but Strange Town is a personal favourite

The structure of 'Strange Town' is so weird, the track begins with a piece of music that you don't hear again until the coda, and there's two different middle parts ("I've finished with clubs where the music's loud" and the descending guitar bit) ...

one of the best middle 8s, and structurally brilliant

I'm tempted to vote for it myself, although I dunno yet. As a non-album single it was probably their finest package: 'Strange Town' on the A-side with 'The Butterfly Collector' on the flip.

as much as I love many of the later singles, I'm pretty tempted to go with their first, In The City. A perfect 2:23.

The Modern World, even though nobody mentioned it yet.

Impossible to choose.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 28 April 2017 18:15 (yesterday) Permalink

15-way-tie for first.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 28 April 2017 18:16 (yesterday) Permalink

co-sign. loved all these at the time and since they've aged as well or better than any contemporaries. though w/gun to head will vote going underground...or start...town called malice...eton rifles....

Growing up in America, listening to Casey Kasem's Top 40 countdown every weekend, hearing "That's Entertainment" at age 17 blew my mind. "Wait, there's songs with substance, about things that matter to me?"

So, that one for starting it all.

I still adore the complete "Snap!" compilation more than any single album of theirs.

can't really listen to the Jam any more but I still really like That's Entertainment

Growing up in America, listening to Casey Kasem's Top 40 countdown every weekend, hearing "That's Entertainment" at age 17 blew my mind.

Wait, what? Really? What was the context? The only chart hit Weller had here was "My Ever Changing Moods" (#29).

(Although I do remember Casey occasionally doing non-chart stuff on that show -- the first time I heard Bob Marley was when Casey did some sort of tribute and played "Get Up, Stand Up.")

Precious is amazing, but i mean Town Called Malice is straight up genius.

It still amazes me that there are folks out there that still want The Jam to re-form. I mean, granted, they were an excellent band, but it's far too late for them to do anything like that, IMO. I mean, there's obviously tension between Buckler and Foxton/Weller, but even if they patched things up I don't see how it would be a good idea. The problem wouldn't really be with Foxton or Buckler either, more than Weller's voice and musical style have changed so much since 1982 that he wouldn't be able to do the songs justice anymore. I heard him doing an acoustic version of 'Just Who is the 5 o'Clock Hero?' on the radio recently and it was just fucking awful - he couldn't sing it! Also, he has a tendency to slow down Jam songs when he plays 'em live these days because he just can't keep up.

Went for "Strange Town", its their Paperback Writer.

interesting to see the results of this as i don't know all of these songs. usually there's an unexpected wild card lesser-known song that shows up high in the results. any Jam experts care to speculate what that might be?

My guess is that "News Of The World" will get zero votes. Not to shit on Bruce Foxton -- at least two of the Jam's greatest moments are his ("Smithers-Jones," and the bass sting at 1:57 in "When You're Young") -- but this is a minor b-side at best. No idea how/why it ended up as a single.

It was a single because, circa This is the Modern World up to the beginning of him writing properly for All Mod Cons, Weller had either temporarily lost interest in the band as he'd started a new relationship or had writers block. In the UK, more people might know 'News of the World' than they think as it's been the theme tune to Mock the Week for years. I personally like the song a lot.

('The Modern World' is probably the weakest thing here, IMO.)

I really hope someone throws 'When You're Young', 'The Dreams of Children', 'Funeral Pyre', 'Absolute Beginners' or 'Just Who is the 5 o'Clock Hero?' a vote, because they're all great. 'The Bitterest Pill' and 'Beat Surrender', too.

Funeral Pyre's got my vote.

('The Modern World' is probably the weakest thing here, IMO.)

Yeah, that was one I could never get on board with -- the single or the album (although the US album at least had "All Around The World").

Beat Surrender was a massive disappointment as a swansong, dull verses and a by-numbers chorus, and I don't rate 5 O Clock Hero much either. News of the World has a killer intro, even if the song doesn't quite do it. That was released after Weller ditched their would-be third album and Weller went off to rewrite, the new songs becoming All Mod Cons. I think the dark horse with a surprisingly high vote may be Bitterest Pill, their romantic pop moment.

This is the Modern World is definitely my least favourite Jam album, but it could have been so much better if they hadn't rushed it or put themselves under pressure to deliver two albums in the same year. In the City was released in May 1977, and then This is the Modern World in November 1977, which is just nuts.

Even with that in mind though, I think there's a lot of keepers on the record: 'Standards', 'Life Through a Window', 'In the Street Today', 'Here Comes The Weekend', 'Tonight at Noon' ... I also quite enjoy their version of 'In the Midnight Hour'

x-post:

Really? 'Just Who is the 5 o'Clock Hero?' is one of my personal highlights of The Gift, although it's not my absolute favourite track on there... that award would go to 'Running on the Spot', with no hesitation or doubt.

I like 'Beat Surrender' a lot, but I would have preferred it if they'd recorded 'A Solid Bond In Your Heart' like they were originally going to. There's a demo on the box set of The Jam doing 'A Solid Bond In Your Heart' with the middle 8 that would eventually end up in 'Beat Surrender' ... it's the same version as the one on Extras, except that section was edited out for the Extras release. Of course, when The Style Council eventually recorded it, Weller had to write a new middle section.

I always liked "Beat Surrender," but I didn't hear it until four years after it was released, so there was no FINAL JAM SINGLE EVER baggage.

"Shopping," though, is really underrated, and it's where Rick and Bruce proved they could hang with Weller's new direction.

Yeah, I agree with you on both points there... I think 'Shopping' is very underrated and possibly gets overlooked because The Jam hadn't really attempted anything like that before, and with it being on the B-side of the final Jam single it kinda sticks out like a sore thumb in their discography. It does, though, prove that Foxton and Buckler could have indeed done a great job with the stuff Weller ended up going on to do with The Style Council. I couldn't imagine them being too into some of the stuff on Cafe Bleu and definitely not The Cost of Loving or Confessions of a Pop Group (although most of their audience weren't into those records either, as much as I think Confessions of a Pop Group is underrated) but it's not hard to imagine Foxton and Buckler getting stuck into 'Speak like a Child', 'Party Chambers', 'Headstart for Happiness', 'A Solid Bond in Your Heart', 'My Ever Changing Moods', 'You're the Best Thing', 'Shout to the Top!', 'Walls Come Tumbling Down', 'Come to Milton Keynes', 'A Man of Great Promise', 'Down in the Seine', 'Internationalists' etc. If they were capable of doing something like 'Precious' and 'Shopping', I can't see why they couldn't have done 'Long Hot Summer' ...

Well, I think Weller acknowledged that the Jam ended too early, but then again I can imagine doing those songs w/B&R would have been harder work.

With the albums, someone had a theory that every other album is great.

So, "In the city" yes, "Modern World" no, "All mod coins" yes, "Setting Sons" no, "Sound Affects" yes, "The Gift" no.

Kinda works for me - those between albums all had great tracks, but they also have some real clunkers like 'Don't tell them yr sane" or "little boy soldiers" or .. Various either over-ambitious or muddled, or often just trying too hard.

Wait, what? Really? What was the context? The only chart hit Weller had here was "My Ever Changing Moods" (#29).

Sorry, I wasn't clear: I heard "That's Entertainment" on a local college station! Casey may have steered my love of everything new wave but nothing left of the dial.

'Little Boy Soldiers' is great, although live versions of it are pretty hit and miss. Setting Sons may have been improved by having some of the non-album tracks of the period on it, but even with the strings version of 'Smithers-Jones' and 'Heat Wave' on it, it's still a 10/10 album for me. In fact, I prefer the way The Jam do 'Heat Wave' to the way The Who do it. Only track I would drop from The Gift would be 'The Planner's Dream Goes Wrong', which I've never really liked.

it's the same version as the one on Extras, except that section was edited out for the Extras release.

Jesus, Turrican... that's an obscure bit of trivia! I always assumed they were two different demos, what a strange choice for "Extras".

Wow. Booming post, Dr. X.

I had to go back and read the lyrics because I always found Weller's accent to be a bit thick to my midwestern ears (it was years before I deciphered the line "'Jesus saves' painted by an atheist nutter"). But you nailed it, Dr. X, and it struck me that that level of pop craftsmanship (for lack of a better term) hasn't been heard in his work in several decades.

Other brilliant parts of "Strange Town": the layered feedback in the intro, and Rick's 16th-notes near the end when Paul's singing "straaange town" in falsetto.

Yes! It's just so dense and lovely. Just dug into the extras on the CD boxset again, and found the origin of the Strange Town Middle 8 in a demo, World's Apart, with some different lyrics and context. There was talk of another recycled M8 upthread, I think. Much better on the same CD is a bouncy-pop lost gem, Walking in Heaven's Sunshine

Going Underground

How come they never got back together? Was it just Paul Weller being stubborn?

Excellent post, Dr X O'Skeleton - thanks for that!

Rick's 16th-notes near the end when Paul's singing "straaange town" in falsetto.

^ Which, let's not forget, is the only time that particular bit of music features in the song, and it's not part of the middle 8 or anything - it's like a small bridge to the coda.

How come they never got back together? Was it just Paul Weller being stubborn?

― kornrulez6969, Sunday, April 30, 2017 5:44 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Basically, yes. The reason why The Jam split up in the first place was because Weller wanted the band to "count for something", the thinking being that rather than let the band fade away into irrelevance, he decided to split the band up while they were in their prime and at their commercial height so that they'd always be remembered for being "on top" ... I think part of it was that Weller was a huge fan of the '60s work of The Who and The Kinks and he hated what both bands had turned into, and maybe he felt that the Small Faces had the right idea in splitting up after Ogden's and leaving their fans wanting more. He's also said that he didn't feel that Rick and Bruce would be up for going in some of the directions he wanted to go in with The Style Council etc.

I don't think there would have been any perfect time to re-form The Jam in all honesty. You could have said 1994-1995 would have been the best time to do it, but by then Weller's solo career had taken off. Stanley Road sold over a million copies - he didn't really need to reform The Jam. If they re-formed now it would be absolutely terrible - and there's still tensions between Buckler and the rest of the band.

I think part of it was that Weller was a huge fan of the '60s work of The Who and The Kinks and he hated what both bands had turned into

The Jam's final concert took place six days before (what was assumed to be at the time, and remained so for about three years) the Who's final show.

and maybe he felt that the Small Faces had the right idea in splitting up after /Ogden's/ and leaving their fans wanting more.

Ah, but the Small Faces did the reunion thing! They put out two universally panned records in the late '70s, Playmates and '78 In The Shade. I've heard neither, and I assume listening to them would be a very depressing experience.

Of course they did, and there's no way that Weller was going to make that mistake!

The Small Faces reunion albums are, well look up 'curates egg' on wiki.

There ate some excellent tracks like "Stand by me, I'll stand by you", but there are awful tracks like .. well, one of them is like 'Lazy Sunday' but much worse.

One of them is/was on Spotify.

There's footage of Small Faces playing on Whistle Test during the late '70s era and Marriott is clearly high as a kite.

I remember that at the time, yes.

i listened to snap enough between 83 and 86 to fully internalize most of these songs, but i've not listened to them too often in the past 25 years. hearing the sentimentality of "when youre young," but now very much in the light of my own kids just peeking at some of the zones described in the song, had me almost tearing up while out running today. that was a really weird and surprising change.

so many great singles but "start!" was my start and it sounds as perfect to me today as it did the day i first heard it.

Cafe Bleu is a great album and while I'm sure Weller could have done it with Foxton and Buckler, would it have been any better because of it? I doubt it.

When You're Young is so often overlooked because of the other great singles from that time, but it carries such a charge, musically and lyrically. Similar arrangement tricks to Strange Town, with the layered feedback and descending guitar figures, so easy to fall in love with....

It's hard to imagine tracks like 'A Gospel' existing if Cafe Bleu had been a Jam album.

'Thick as Thieves' is as OTM as 'When You're Young' lyrically, IMO.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

There are several votes I could justify here, these songs are _meaningful_ to me in ways I think no band will match for me, even though I never really felt the Jam were my _favorite_ at any time. Just the damn songs-- so good. Going Underground wins here, though Thick as Thieves might nip it, if it were present. I was astonished how strongly Absolute Beginners (damn, Foxton) and When You're Young finished with me, I don't remember those being particularly big for me those decades ago.

1979:

But you find out life isn't like that
It's so hard to comprehend why you set up your dreams to have them smashed in the end
But you don't mind you've got time on your side
And they're never gonna make you stand in line
You're just waiting for the right time

2005:

Fly little bird when you fly
Fly little bird when you fly
Fly little bird when you fly
Fly little bird when you fly
Fly little bird when you fly

What happened to him? I was listening to Saturday's Kids this morning, and was struck by how accurately he caught working class life in the late 70s, beyond the kitchen sink clichés, by reporting what people actually said:
Saturday's kids play on one armed bandits
they never win but that's not the point, is it?
Dip in silver paper when their pints go flat
How about that? Far out man.

I don't know. I think he was still capable of a great lyric up to Wild Wood or possibly Stanley Road... I think he either got lazy or ran out of new things to write about after that. I think 'All The Pictures On The Wall' is a great lyric, for example.

Also, if anyone were ever curious as to what The Jam would have sounded like if they hadn't split, look no further than 'There's No Drinking After You're Dead' from Weller's Heliocentric, which is probably the closest he ever got to sounding like The Jam after they split.

Toss up between Start! and Funeral Pyre for me. Not a single, but Sound Affects was the second record I ever bought (aged 7) and my favourite song was Scrape Away, but I wouldn't have had a clue what it was about.

Toss up between Start! and Funeral Pyre for me. Not a single, but Sound Affects was the second record I ever bought (aged 7) and my favourite song was Scrape Away, but I wouldn't have had a clue what it was about.

Scrape Away has one of my favourite lines (albeit spoken), "You say power is all, it's power you need"

'Scrape Away' is great, IMO... one of those tracks that proved that Weller wasn't all '60s influences. 'Scrape Away' was very contemporary. 'Funeral Pyre' too.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Fucking hell!

Ha, "Town Called Malice" is one of my least-favorite Jam singles. I don't hate it as a song, but it always struck me as too much of a pastiche, and pastiche wasn't what made the Jam great.

Went with "The Bitterest Pill."

'Going Underground' still retains its power for me, probably because when I listen to The Jam, I usually tend to go for the studio albums rather than any compilations, so I'm far more burnt out on 'Town Called Malice' and 'That's Entertainment' ... I didn't vote for any of those.

I can't remember what I voted for, think it was 'Strange Town' ... I'm not arsed about 'Precious' not getting a vote, and I expected a poor showing for 'News of the World' as much as I like it. Can't believe 'When You're Young' didn't get a vote, though.

Surprised at Funeral Pyre, I do think it's amazing, though I'm wondering if I've ever heard the proper version? Snap says it's special edit.

In a way I thought when you're young is too on the nose, but it still seems more legit than town called malice, which is goopy, if fun imo. I should've noted ilx ruined down in a tube station for me perfectly and forever.

Snap'sversion is a less murky mix.

'When yr young', lost out but would have done OK on 2nd preference?

I should have stuck to my first thought of voting for "Precious"

I should've noted ilx ruined down in a tube station for me perfectly and forever.

ha, ilx did the same with Eton Rifles for me -- though I dunno about ruined, to be honest, just that it was one of the first "phrases you inexplicably start singing to the melody of something else" posts, and now so many phrases that have the same cadence as "The Eton Rifles," I sing to the tune of "Eton Rifles" and there are so damn many!

"Eating Trifles" et al

I should've noted ilx ruined down in a tube station for me perfectly and forever.

Collateral Damage: "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight" by The Jam - What Does It Mean?

Ha, "Town Called Malice" is one of my least-favorite Jam singles. I don't hate it as a song, but it always struck me as too much of a pastiche, and pastiche wasn't what made the Jam great.

Never liked it much either. Neither did Mark E. Smith...

In his notes accompanying the 2005 expanded version of Room To Live Daryl Easlea writes: "The intro to 'Solicitor [In Studio]'...showed again Smith's dalliance with topicality, as the title was a swipe at the UK's then-no.1 single, 'A Town Called Malice' by The Jam." [Note: this wasn't actually the case, as the number one single at the time was The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Tight Fit; The Jam's had been the previous chart topper]. Indeed, the riff which goes with the song on its second recorded performance (details opposite) veers from an imitation of The Jam's track to something resembling 'I'm Into CB'. The lyrics include the line: "I look for suits." On its first gig rendition, there was no accompanying riff, and somewhat different lyrics: "Got to get out of that city called Crappy/Now I don't like Maggie/All the money I made out of mods has made me feel guilty/A town called Crappy"

From the review on this website of the following gig: 1 April 1982 Nightmoves, Glasgow: "Second and last (?) version of "Town called Crappy" although on this version I think Mark says "Cranky" or "Crikey".... Mark laughs and says to the crowd "you don't even recognise our impersonations."

Hahaha.

It was the closest they ever got to a US hit, though -- #31 on Billboard's "Mainstream Rock" chart, whatever the hell that is/was.

Ah right, now I understand why it won this poll.

Also Billy Elliot, which wasn't a massive box-office success in the US, but it's safe to say it was the first/only time most of the film's American audience ever heard the Jam.

Also it's their best song.

I forgot to vote.

haha, no problem at all with Town Called Malice as #1.
I always found those Style Council albums a snoozefest, should I revisit?

Our Favourite Shop is a good album from start to finish, and Confessions of a Pop Group is a personal favourite of mine as the first half of the record was Weller (at that point) outside of his comfort zone and producing some really beautiful music.

On the whole, though, The Style Council were more about individual moments rather than the LP's, which is why the box set is so essential if you're a Weller fan, and the best way to approach The Style Council rather than any of their LP's.

Also it's their best song.

― dorsalstop, Friday, May 5, 2017 1:50 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

If it's the only one you've heard, sure.

The Mark E Smith jibe I remember was: "I understand you, I live in a town called m.. m.. marquis cha cha!"
Solitary vote for Absolute Beginners. I always thought it was a big dip in quality - especially after the post-punk attack of Funeral Pyre - then I played it again this week and remembered the guitar, funk that growls! plus the bass and the horns carrying the tune. That sound got tired quickly on the last album, but its perfectly balanced on that single.

lol last week while revisiting Absolute Beginners with a bass-playing friend, I wrote: "Holy shit Bruce Foxton's bass in that song is- not what I remembered. And that guitar is a fucking blast. As pop craftsmanship issue, that could be...their best song? I've probly not listened to it since 1986, so I still know it _by heart_, but as parts and arrangements, almost not at all."

That town was called m..m..m..Manchester.