Goodness me. The Jam. My favourite band of all time with a five-year song catalogue of stunning quality. Or is it?
Devoted Jam fans will know and love pretty much the whole caboodle. The songs. The lyrics. The style. The attitude. The feeling of specialness about the band and of being part of something more than just the music. In those five beautiful years between 1977 and 1982 we savoured every note. We adored every lyric. We gawped wide-eyed at every bit of video footage the three TV channels would allow. We read every music press article. We bought the posters. We wore the badges. We listened to the chart rundown. All in the hope of getting one more piece of Jam information to feed the addiction. Heady days indeed.
It would’ve seemed heretical then to even contemplate there being a bad Jam song. It was a song by The Jam so it was inherently good. What could possibly be wrong with it? But here we are nearly forty years after that darkest time of all – December 1982 when our heroes called it a day. Honestly, I’m still not absolutely sure I’m over it.
In order to help me get over it I decided to re-examine each song. Forty years should be long enough to gain a more balanced perspective? Which was the worst Jam song? The best? The Top Ten? The best song on each album? The best single? The best B-side? All of these questions can only be answered by analysing each one and comparing it to the others.
It is of course not possible to be completely objective so this inevitably is a list of Jam songs in the order I like them. The only departure from that creed is the Number 1 where I have been forced to concede that my personal favourite isn’t perhaps their best one. And I do not claim to be definitive or correct! If your Top Ten is different to mine then I am never going to say you’re wrong. We just all have our favourites, I guess.
I am not a musician. I cannot comment on musical techniques or the niceties of how songs are constructed. My views on every song are simply my responses as a fan.
I should say too that I have liked every single song on this list at one time or another (even No. 94!). Those near the bottom are simply the ones I’ve liked for the least long.
In terms of coverage, I am only listing studio songs released at the time the band were together. No live tracks are listed nor any ‘lost’ tracks released post-1982. This is itself a shame as it means the wonderful ‘No-one in the World’ misses out. I think I’ve listed all those recordings but no doubt I’ll be informed if I’ve missed any out!
I hope you enjoy the memories as much as I did.
No. 94 – Don’t Tell Them You’re Sane, (This is the Modern World, 1977) Yep. This is my choice as the worst Jam song of all time. As a portrayal of a mentally ill person the song is lyrically insensitive and clumsily constructed. The melody is instantly forgettable and much of the album’s poor reputation is because of this song. Its only redeeming feature is that it is sympathetic to the boy at the centre of the song. One can only assume Bruce Foxton had seen ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ and decided to commit his personal response to music. He did similarly at the outset of his solo career with 1983’s ‘Freak’ based on ‘The Elephant Man’. That was probably a more successful attempt. No. It was definitely a better attempt.
No. 93 – Takin’ My Love, (In the City, 1977) I just never got this one. I almost struggle to write anything about it. Musically and lyrically dull. It doubled up as a B-side to the first Jam single ‘In the City’ but it is probably kindest to say it probably worked better as a live performance.
No. 92 – Batman Theme, (In the City, 1977) Modern ways of obtaining music are based on streams and downloads and many have mourned the passing of the vinyl album. I share some of that but it is too easy to forget that albums always had filler tracks and this is definitely a filler track. I have no doubt that in the early 1977 London mosh pits this was a pogoing 90-second joy but as a studio track it simply leaves one wondering why.
No. 91 – Slow Down, (In the City, 1977) The other cover version on the first album and although definitely better than ‘Batman Theme’ it feels an odd choice. There are many cover versions included on this list but my overall view of Jam cover versions is that they have a mixed success rate. Slow Down had also been covered by The Beatles and it is certainly a song that lends itself to a ‘punking up’. The boys dutifully delivered but it is more of an interesting interpretation than it is a faithful representation of the band’s oeuvre.
No. 90 – Scrape Away, (Sound Affects, 1980) Too long. Too involved. A pseudo-intellectual mish-mash that I always felt was trying to tell me something really important – but I could never figure out what it was. After hearing it the first time I thought Paul Weller probably needed a little lie down. I struggled with the opening lines ‘Your twisted cynicism makes me feel sick/Your open disgust for idealistic naïve’ although in truth, at the time I probably swore to my friends it was the most insightful statement ever committed to a modern recording. Right now in 2021 I’m thinking that if I were ever lucky enough to meet Paul, I’d probably make my first question about those opening lines. The second question would be ‘Why?’.
No. 89 – Circus, (The Gift, 1982) I feel a little guilty about having ‘Circus’ so low as it is not a bad instrumental at all and feels hard on writer Bruce Foxton to have it positioned here – but I return to my point about filler tracks. Instrumentals on albums always feel a bit like filler tracks so on principle, Circus lives here.
No. 88 – Innocent Man, (B-side, 1978) A Foxton track with a similar theme of injustice not too different to ‘Don’t Tell Them You’re Sane’. This time the song’s subject is the victim of a miscarriage of justice facing the death penalty. As one of two B-side tracks to the ‘News of the World’ single this just about cuts the mustard. But only just.
No. 87 – War, (B-side, 1982) A cover version it is, but Edwin Starr it is not. Weller’s vocal drowned out by an over brassy background doesn’t really do justice to this iconic track. Not a disaster by any means but there are far better cover versions to come.
No. 86 – Trans Global Express, (The Gift, 1982) The tour to promote ‘The Gift’ album was given the title ‘Trans Global Unity Express’ which appeared to show the band’s (or Weller’s?) regard for this song. It always felt to me a track replete with meaning rather than quality. An almost spoken vocal by Weller was subsumed by an overly embellished backing track that probably felt innovative at the time. I didn’t dislike it but it was not one of the album’s stronger tracks. Ultimately this was a rallying call to the people of the world to rise up and hold their leaders to account. The message was inspirational even if the song was not.
No. 85 – The Night, (B-side, 1978) A jaunty little Foxton number about a weekend away to ‘pull the birds’. Classic B-side material. Not quite good enough for an album but too good to discard. Decent effort Bruce.
No. 84 – Time for Truth, (In the City, 1977) Political commentary and a screamed four-letter word lend some punk credibility to this attack on James Callaghan, the UK Prime Minister of the time. A lament for the great status of the country declining from empire to ‘manure’. There is even a shout out to Liddle Towers who died in 1976 following a spell in police custody. It is tempting to dismiss this now as naïve band-wagoning but Paul Weller was 19. Songs like this were important and I don’t give a damn if Weller wasn’t qualified to sing about it. It meant enough to me that he cared to do so.
No 83 – The Bitterest Pill (I ever had to swallow), (Single, 1982) I can hear the cries of ‘ARE YOU KIDDING?’ as this song is rated the band’s worst single but bear with me. I do like it. I had a period of absolutely loving it! The truth is though that this was the product of a band in the final stages of breaking up. Whilst pleasantly sounding enough, it doesn’t really bear comparison with any of the other Jam singles. I know how popular ‘The Bitterest Pill’ is with Jam fans but I just can’t bring myself to say there is another single l like any less. A tad too much saccharine I reckon, even if it was meant to be mildly ironic!
No. 82 – Set the House Ablaze, (Sound Affects, 1980) This song appeared on The Jam’s 1982 live album ‘Dig the New Breed’ and that version is infinitely superior to this studio original. A fabulous hard-hitting guitar intro from Weller gets the song off to a great start but it then loses its way a little. There is a long-spoken section three-quarters of the way through and annoyingly, only the first few lines were included in the sleeve notes. If anyone knows the remainder, I’d love to know.
No. 81 – See-Saw, (B-side, 1979) I think I’m right in saying this was the only Weller-penned track sung by Foxton. In fairness, it is pretty good in a pleasant-sounding Kinks-like way but falls firmly into that B-side category.
No. 80 – London Traffic, (This is the Modern World, 1977) Foxton is a visionary! Decades before the congestion charge came in here is our Bruce telling the authorities to ‘leave the city free from traffic’ and to ‘take the traffic elsewhere’. He was right of course and even if this track isn’t a Jam classic, it works pretty well for the ‘Modern World’ album.
No. 79 – News of the World, (Single, 1978) This song fell into that period between the poorly received ‘Modern World’ album and the greatness that was to come with ‘All Mod Cons’ and as such sits between those two stools. Looking back at the band’s trajectory ‘News of the World’ looks like a point where they were about to take a wrong turn. The song is a decent one from Foxton and endures today as the theme to a popular news-based UK satirical TV show (Mock the Week).
No. 78 – Precious, (Single, 1982) A double A-side with ‘Town Called Malice’ this song told us more about what was to come with Weller’s Style Council than any other Jam track. It was certainly different to any Jam song we’d heard before as they wandered almost into funk. A thumping repeated bass line from Foxton and some heavy studio echo on the Weller guitar provided an interesting counterpoint to the more standard ‘Malice’. For me though, interesting was the best it really got.
No. 77 – All Mod Cons, (All Mod Cons, 1978) Great song to open the album of the same name. Punchy and aggressive and only sits so low on this list because of its brevity. 1 minute 20 seconds of delight.
No. 76 – In the Street, Today (This is the Modern World, 1977) Probably the ‘Modern World’ album’s closest blood relation to the songs on their first album ‘In the City’. Fast and choppy. Angry and foul mouthed. The song paints an urban picture of death and violence with idiot leaders unable to do anything about it. It’s a song of frustration and a lack of hope for younger people. Tracks like this that may not have been the most musically accomplished but they did strike a chord with their target audience. Poignant too as the lyrics came from poet Dave Waller, a personal friend of Weller who died tragically young.
No. 75 – Tonight at Noon, (This is the Modern World, 1977) One of The Jam’s most romantic songs includes the protagonist bringing his girl ‘night flowers coloured like your eyes’. A simple song with a pleasant melody and a minor favourite for us old romantics.
No. 74 – The Combine, (This is the Modern World, 1977) I always considered this a precursor to ‘In the Crowd’ on All Mod Cons. This is because the song’s refrain is actually ‘in the crowd’ so I don’t really deserve any points for masterful insight. The ‘out-tro’ is historically brilliant. ‘Sunday papers and the dailies/Ena Sharples/Page 3 girls/News at ten/War in Rhodesia/Far away in a distant land’. A series of contemporary images and phenomena forming cornerstones of the culture at the time.
No. 73 – Music for the Last Couple, (Sound Affects, 1980) Yes it’s a filler track. Yes it’s a (largely) instrumental track. And yes! I’m contradicting myself. But I don’t care. I’m not really sure I can explain why but I’ve always really liked this one. It’s upbeat with tiny but gorgeous bass surges from Foxton throughout and the only lyric describes an urge to ‘get away’. Quirky. Enjoyable.
No. 72 – Stoned Out of My Mind, (B-side, 1982) A Chi-Lites cover and not too bad to be fair. My criteria for cover versions is fairly straightforward. They either have to pay respectful homage to the original or they have to do something innovative to make a song even better. ‘Stoned’ falls into the former category and made a listenable addition to the band’s final EP.
No. 71 – Bricks and Mortar, (In the City, 1977) Much beloved by Jam fans today for the out-of-touch town planner making horrific decisions on urban environments while living a life of luxury in his house that cost ‘forty grand’. Laughable today of course as that amount would probably get you a parking spot in Watford. Town planning is a theme returned to directly by Weller five years later in ‘The Planner’s Dream Goes Wrong’ but in truth The Jam’s entire body of work is replete with urban imagery. This effort from the first album is a howl of teenage frustration at the crap-holes many had to live in.
No. 70 – Standards, (This is the Modern World, 1977) A song more upbeat than its subject matter. There is a reference to Winston Smith the central character in George Orwell’s dystopian novel ‘1984’ and the whole song carries with it that Orwellian influence. Interesting but average.
No. 69 – Billy Hunt, (All Mod Cons, 1978) One of the strongest themes running through ‘All Mod Cons’ is escapism. We see this emerge in ‘English Rose’, ‘In the Crowd’, ‘Fly’ and ‘To Be Someone’ to name but a few. ‘Billy Hunt’ is a Walter Mitty-esque tale of someone in a job they hate being bullied by Bob the foreman. (Bob the Foreman was a thing WAY before his builder son!). This guy dreams of being physically stronger and no-one standing in his way. There are lots of fictional references to iconic male figures of strength such as Clark Kent/Superman, King Kong, James Bond and even Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man. I seem to remember reading somewhere that at some point this track was considered for a single. I’m not sure it is single material but it is a great track and well worthy of inclusion on the classic album.
No.68 – Beat Surrender, (Single, 1982) The Jam’s swansong. The last single. This one is more of a ‘moment’ than a classic Jam song. By this time we all knew officially the band were splitting up and this is a plea for us to keep going – despite the world-deflating news. Seize that young determination/Show the fakers you ain’t fooling/You will see me come running/To the sound of your strumming/Fill my heart with joy and gladness..
And there you have something for which The Jam have received little credit over the years – hope. There is hope in many Jam songs just as much as there is sometimes anger and pessimism. There is hope in ‘The Gift’. There is hope in ‘All Around the World’ and there is even hope in ‘The Great Depression’! Hope is here in ‘Beat Surrender’. Not by any stretch one of the band’s best singles but as their final single, one of their most significant.
No. 67 – Burning Sky, (Setting Sons, 1979) Characterised in letter form on the album sleeve notes, this is a catch-up missive from one old friend to another after a long time apart. Times have moved on. The fun they had as youngsters has been replaced by a tedious but profitable work life. It’s time to be serious about life. In many ways this is one of The Jam’s darker songs and clearly written to suit the original purpose of ‘Setting Sons’ as a concept album. It’s a good song even if it isn’t the strongest on the album.
No. 66 – I’ve Changed My Address, (In the City, 1977) Through the prism of the 21st century this song could hardly be more off-message. The avoidance of commitment to a relationship. The running away when things get serious. The hiding when she starts looking for you. A feckless wastrel sneering at his gullible girlfriend. All pretty immature…but….
Putting contemporary mores to one side this is a pretty good song. It’s upbeat, fast and catchy and carries the listener along for its short uncomplicated (if uncomfortable!) journey.
No. 65 – Pity Poor Alfie / Fever, (B-side, 1982) Accompanying ‘The Bitterest Pill’ this B-side in my view outshone the A-side. I focus mainly on ‘Pity Poor Alfie’ rather than the average Peggy Lee cover because it’s a great song. I’ll be completely honest, I haven’t got a clue what ‘Alfie’ is about but I do remember that in our local it was played on the juke box far more than its A-side.
No. 64 – Pretty Green, (Sound Affects, 1980) The opening track on the album and an iconic catchy Foxton bass intro. This is the song which also inspired Liam Gallagher’s clothing range. It’s a decent, if safe and unspectacular affair which hasn’t paled with age.
No. 63 – Mr. Clean, (All Mod Cons, 1978) Jam songs are characterful and often we see characters make more than one appearance. Although the songs are written by two different band members, ‘Mr. Clean’ is the junior manager to his senior counterpart ‘Smithers-Jones’ who pops up on the next album. Here we see Weller explore one of his favourite themes of the English class system. The commuting Mr. Clean is side-glanced suspiciously by Weller who hates him (and his wife!). Please don’t forget me or any of my kind/’Cos I’ll make you think again when I stick your face in the grind. This is pretty hateful stuff and a contributor to the popular narrative at the time of Weller being the archetypal angry young man.
No. 62 – London Girl, (This is the Modern World, 1977) A gritty portrayal of a young girl lured by London’s streets of gold only to unsurprisingly find a life of beggary and sleaze. Putting aside the despairing subject material, the song is one of the few bright spots on the ‘Modern World’ album. It’s also a relatively rare occurrence of a Jam song with an actual catchy chorus. A simple one maybe but a chorus nonetheless.
No. 61 – I Need You (For Someone), (This is the Modern World, 1977) I’ve always thought there were two songs where The Jam sounded really like The Beatles. This is the first of those. Another album high spot where high spots are pretty rare.
No. 60 – Aunties and Uncles, (B-side, 1978) This is a silly song with a frankly bewildering theme and some grammatically shocking lyrics. ‘My comfort is coming from the knowledge of knowing..’
But I like it. I really like it. It’s a bit of cheeky-chappy nonsense family-based stuff, again reminiscent of well-known Weller influencers The Small Faces and The Kinks. It’s a catchy tune and a piece of light-hearted frivolity rarely heard from the band.
No. 59 – Non-Stop Dancing, (In the City, 1977) I always thought this was a tribute to the soul scene of the mid-seventies and it’s difficult not to like a song which name checks James Brown. The song is full of youth and all-night dancefloor revelry. There is also a strong sense of belonging. Like-minded people coming together to have fun. Remember that? I really like ‘Non-Stop Dancing’ because it is about joy.
No. 58 – Disguises, (B-side, 1981) Up pops another cover version. This time it’s a song originally performed by The Who. Weller’s staccato echoing chords are chopped and repeated heavily throughout the track which makes this a really innovative tribute.
No. 57 – Shopping, (B-side, 1982) One of The Jam’s most surreal and unusual songs. This is almost a trip into 60s psychedelia and that is not in any way a criticism. In lots of ways I considered this song more successful than its A-side ‘Beat Surrender’. It’s different. It’s haunting. And I loved it!
No. 56 – Dreams of Children, (Single, 1980) I’ve labelled this a single which is technically correct. It formed a double A-side with ‘Going Underground’ but some printing mix-up meant it came out as a B-side. It was widely reported at the time that the band preferred ‘Dreams’ to the phenomenally successful reverse side. I never saw that. ‘Dreams of Children’ is an excellent track with some really different backwards guitar work threaded between the varied vocal sections. It provides a beautiful counterpoint to ‘Underground’ but better? Nah.
No. 55 – Move On Up, (B-side, 1982) Brilliant cover version of the Curtis Mayfield classic. This time the brass section is proportioned superbly to the rest of the song and even though Mr. Weller can’t quite match the original Mayfield vocal it doesn’t really matter. The whole effort is a triumph.
No. 54 – Carnaby Street, (B-side, 1977) One of Bruce Foxton’s best songs and I reckon one of The Jam’s best B-sides. It’s very London 1977 which means it is full of punk sentiment. It calls for the end of old pre-punk fashions. ‘Who wants cafgans and all that?/We don’t need them now’ sings Foxton and for goodness’ sake, who could argue with that? I remember the cover of the single actually had a picture of the band walking down Carnaby Street in distinctly non-punk mod gear. On a serious point, it was true to the whole punk movement in wanting to sweep away the hippy nonsense of the sixties and early seventies.
No. 53 – So Sad About Us, (B-side, 1978) Another Who cover and released as a tribute to Keith Moon who had tragically passed away a month earlier. The single’s cover carried his image. The song is a respectful homage to the original.
No. 52 – The Place I Love, (All Mod Cons, 1978) Escapism again on ‘All Mod Cons’. Escapism and defiance. I’m making a stand against the world! sings Weller and this flag planting drew hordes of the disenchanted to the band. The tune oddly runs counter to its subject with a gorgeous memorable hook and a repeated section not unlike the Batman Theme.
No. 51 – Smithers-Jones, (Setting Sons, 1979) We first encountered this song as a band version on the B-side of ‘When You’re Young’ but in its album incarnation it got a full orchestral string arrangement. This is without a doubt Foxton’s best song. It takes Mr. Clean’s story in All Mod Cons away from his work success and pretty young girls to his inhuman discarding by the firm who cares nothing for his efforts. It’s a tale familiar to many and the concise narrative is one of the band’s most enduring stories.
No. 50 – The Gift, (The Gift, 1982) Title track from the album and given the honour of being the last ever song performed live by the band in Brighton, December 1982. It is a song of hope. A song of togetherness. A song about moving forward. A song about living a good life. In short, a kind of manifesto summing up the way true Jam fans felt about the world and felt about being positive to other people. I don’t think it is one the album’s best songs but it is a great song and a fitting choice for those final live moments. Goodness.. it still makes me sad.
No. 49 – Fly, (All Mod Cons, 1978) I love this one. Romantic and intimate. Our old friend escapism surfaces on the album again. ‘Let’s disappear love, let’s fly away/To the demi -monde, into the twilight zone’. This song also reminds us that the whole slow and quiet switching quickly to fast and loud was not invented by Nirvana or Radiohead!
No. 48 – Life from a Window, (This is the Modern World, 1977) I wrote about this song in a previous blog piece and I hope you’ll excuse me for repeating – but it pretty much sums up how I feel about ‘Life from a Window’.
I can’t love anyone who doesn’t like this song. It’s whimsical and almost an impressionist painting more than a song.
Looking from a hill top/Watching from a lighthouse/Just dreaming/Up here I can see the world
Life from a Window surges and calms like waves breaking on the shore. Rick Buckler’s drumming particularly shines as each verse and chorus is preceded by a quickening rhythm section before the Weller vocals kick in with a much calmer and smoother tone than the title track or Standards. Like much of The Jam’s work there is a working-class Englishness running through the song – a contrast between the superficial rurality of the seaside as Weller imagines himself at the top of a lighthouse, to urban London where his viewing station shifts suddenly to the Post Office Tower. Great song.
No. 47 – It’s Too Bad, (All Mod Cons, 1978) The most Beatles-like of all The Jam’s songs. It’s a good old fashioned pop song about love and the heartache of breaking up. I think this is one of most successful examples of Weller/Foxton vocal harmonies. Great Foxton bass line too.
No. 46 – Saturday’s Kids, (Setting Sons, 1979) A series of working-class images in procession over a sharp guitar intro make this in my view a precursor to ‘That’s Entertainment’. The boys spend Saturday drinking beer and waiting for football results. The girls have Saturday jobs, wear cheap perfume and drink Babycham. In truth this is all a little hackneyed but The Jam pull it off without being patronising.
The track feels a little outside of the rest of the album with a much more traditional Jam sound.
No. 45 – In the Midnight Hour, (This is the Modern World, 1977) Well this is a corker. Never mentioned much in the conversations about Jam cover versions but I reckon this is one of their best. The Wilson Pickett original is given a hard hitting injection of heavy guitar and a good old speeding up. It has real energy and as the final track on the album it provides a high voltage conclusion to the fairly low key preceding tracks.
No. 44 – Absolute Beginners, (Single, 1981) Weller often drew from literature throughout the lifetime of The Jam and this time he plumps for the teen classic written by Colin MacInnes. Musically this isn’t one of the band’s classic numbers but it is bouncy enough with a fresh sounding brass section. The accompanying video is probably best forgotten as the boys sprinted around the streets of Shepherd’s Bush manfully looking into the camera whilst trying desperately not to look as if they were out of breath. Which they clearly were.
No. 43 – Here Comes the Weekend, (This is the Modern World, 1977) This was my go-to Friday night song during my teenage years as I left the dreary week behind and got ready for the weekend’s shining revelries. I wanted life to be just like it was in the song. I get ready early. I pick up a girl and go and have some fun. The hopes of those Friday nights were always dashed of course – but it didn’t matter. There was always next Friday. This song is special.
No. 42 – Sounds from the Street, (In the City, 1977) Imagine if the Beach Boys had grown up in urban London rather than the Californian coast. The melodies are still there but instead of jumping on a surfboard to ride the swell they hang around on street corners listening to bands practising over the noise of crawling traffic. They would be singing ‘Sounds from the Street’. This one is one the album’s great songs and Weller even name checks his home town of Woking. In my bedroom I used to sing along but replace it with ‘Willenhall’. It never sounded the same but it made me feel the same as Weller I’m sure…
No. 41 – Just Who is the 5 O’clock Hero?, (The Gift, 1982) The drudgery of work. Another favourite Weller theme and this track surfaced as a single on import. It sold so well it actually made the top ten but this says more about the massive status of The Jam at the time than it does about the song. That isn’t to say the song is a bad one! It absolutely isn’t! There is some strong imagery around the passage of suburban life. ‘From this window I’ve seen the whole world pass/From dawn to dusk I’ve heard the last laugh laughed/I’ve seen enough tears to wash away this street/I’ve seen wedding bells chime and a funeral march/When as one life finishes the other one starts’.
No. 40 – Tales from the Riverbank, (B-side, 1981) A slowly building, rolling bass line fades in. A slightly sinister electric guitar plucks at your senses and you know you’re in for a slightly different Jam song. This is another B-side I favour over the A-side (Absolute Beginners). It has a lovely dream-like quality. It mourns the loss of childhood innocence, the loss of long summer days full of pastel fields and softly flowing streams. It celebrates having a head full of nothing but fun and adventure. Above all the song asks us to hold on to hope now those days have passed.
No. 39 – The Planner’s Dream Goes Wrong, (The Gift, 1982) What’s going on? Steel drums. A calypso beat. Babies screaming. Interrupted coitus. Clothes stolen from the washing line. Town planning comes under the Weller microscope again just like it did back in 1977 with ‘Bricks and Mortar. This time the nightmarish urban British images are overlayed onto a Caribbean musical backdrop which really shouldn’t work at all – but it really does.
No. 38 – The Great Depression, (B-side, 1982) The Great Depression really came out of nowhere. It didn’t feature on any album but it was a Weller original and another song of hope despite the title. It’s a good song. Another plea for togetherness at a time when The Jam were falling apart.
No. 37 – The Modern World, (This is the Modern World, 1977) The album’s title track. The album’s only single. The album’s best song. Modern World remained a staple of The Jam’s live set right up until their final years. Modern World is full of energy and attitude and Weller almost spits out his contempt for those who’ve wronged him in the past. School teachers, music journalists…you know the list.
No. 36 – Art School, (In the City, 1977) I remember buying an ‘In the City’ book of music so I could attempt to play some of the tracks myself on an old battered acoustic. There was a foreword from Weller where he called for punk to be a new start for more than just music. A breath of fresh air was needed for poetry, for film and for art in general. Art School is that foreword made flesh. Fast. Angry. Forceful. A brilliant high-energy first track to get the album underway.
No. 35 – Girl on the Phone, (Setting Sons, 1979) Another opening track! This time it gets Setting Sons underway. The tale unfolds of a stalker like experience where a girl recounts very personal details regarding her target. Where he buys his socks. His weight. The dimensions of his man-parts. Pretty creepy all-in-all but as the first song on my personal favourite Jam album it retains a special place in my heart.
No. 34 – Start!, (Sound Affects, 1980) The second Jam single to go to No.1. A shameless theft of a Beatles bass line but given a unique Jam twist. A trifle short for my liking but iconic in its own way with a brilliant video where Weller looks cooler than cool thing in a cool place at a cool time.
No. 33 – Heat Wave, (Setting Sons, 1979) This is the Modern World ended with a cover of a soul classic (In the Midnight Hour) and the band repeat the feat on Setting Sons. It’s almost as if the rest of the album was over-serious and a little light relief was provided as an antidote. I think that demeans the track a little as this is an entertaining version of the old Martha Reeves standard.
No. 32 – Monday, (Sound Affects, 1980) Whether like me you were at school in 1980, or you were working, the chances are you didn’t really like Mondays. This was a sentiment exploited by The Boomtown Rats a year earlier. That was of course unless there was someone you looked forward to seeing on Monday because there was no chance of you meeting them over the weekend. They were at your school or your workplace. That certainly struck a chord with me at the time and is the reason this short poppy offering has always been a favourite.
No. 31 – Thick as Thieves, (Setting Sons, 1979) Much of Setting Sons is about getting older – or perhaps more accurately – how life’s priorities change as you grow older. Thick as Thieves as about that passage of time. It’s a song about lost friendship and growing apart. As a librarian I still wince at the part where the youngsters steal from libraries but it was that roguish existence which bound the friends together. The song mourns those lost times and laments growing up ‘in a flash of time’ and watching ‘ideals helplessly unwind’.
No. 30 – To Be Someone (Didn’t we have a nice time), (All Mod Cons, 1978) The rise and fall of a rock star. The song starts off as a dream of fame and descends into hopeless ignominy. Money, girls, a No. 1 record set the glamorous scene before drugs come along and the idol becomes a washed-out bum lamenting the lack of reporters at his door – and there isn’t even a bodyguard to keep him safe. It doesn’t really feel autobiographical as The Jam courted little off-stage controversy. There were no drug busts – and only one minor court case! (The case was dismissed). In truth we don’t really know if the song was based on anyone but it’s hard not to think that the death of Keith Moon in 1978 provided influence.
No. 29 – In the City, (In the City, 1977) Here it is. The song that started it all off. The first single and the title track of the first album. Even now it still sounds fresh. The Sex Pistols famously nicked Weller’s opening guitar riff to use on their own ‘Holidays in the Sun’. Who can blame them? It’s a belter. The song itself is full of youth. It celebrates being young and being defiant. In all honesty I cannot hand on heart say it is one of the best Jam singles but it is certainly up there as one of the most important. Even perhaps the most symbolic. It has so many elements that in particular the early Jam were about. Urban-ness. Youth. Energy. Don’t take any crap from anyone.
No. 28 – Carnation, (The Gift, 1982) We all look at ourselves in the mirror and wonder what we have become. When we look are we just looking at the image in front of us? Or is that image just a front for the insecurities beneath. ‘Carnation’ explores this and likens our hidden greed, fear and hate to the crushing of innocent and beautiful petals on a flower. The melody is gorgeous and in terms of telling a metaphoric tale, I’d have this as one of Weller’s finest lyrical efforts.
No. 27 – In the Crowd, (All Mod Cons, 1978) A great song and popular staple of the Jam’s live set throughout much of their post-1978 existence. There is a touch of Dali-esque surrealism as Weller sings about ‘cans of baked beans on toast’. We also pick up on another Weller theme which is picked up here. The oxymoronic loneliness of being in a crowd. We have it in this song. We had it in ‘The Combine’ from ‘Modern World’ and we get it later again with ‘Strange Town’. What do we read into this? Was it about Weller always feeling slightly apart from others? We know The Jam were always seen differently from other punk bands. They wore the suits. They gave interviews about voting Tory. They tuned up their instruments. They sang about creation when other punks were screaming “DESTROY!” They even had a backlash from The Clash.
I always enjoyed the live version more as I thought the album version went on a little too long. The only part of the extended ending I really liked was the return of Weller singing ‘Away from the Numbers’ part way through. But more of THAT song later…
No. 26 – But I’m Different Now, (Sound Affects, 1980) Unashamed pop song with the traditional themes of bad boy turning good boy and promising bad boy won’t ever come back. It’s a great song but do you believe him girls?
No. 25 – Private Hell, (Setting Sons, 1979) Henry David Thoreau once noted that most of us ‘lead lives of quiet desperation’. This is a quote I often think of when listening to Private Hell. Written (unusually for Weller) with a woman as the central subject, the song describes her living miserably in a role she never wanted for herself. Her husband is revolting and mostly absent. Her children have flown the nest and rarely get in touch. She is alone. She cannot even bear her own reflection. It’s a fairly bleak portrayal of a lonely existence. Unlike other Jam characters, this one is not hamstrung due to environment or poverty, but through choices she has made. In absolute fairness the song does not ask for pity, but for understanding. Ultimately this is a song about the often silent struggle of those suffering with their mental health.
No. 24 – Wasteland, (Setting Sons, 1979) Almost certainly there will be Jam fans wondering how Wasteland can be ranked above Private Hell and Thick as Thieves all from the Setting Sons album. I hear you. I really do. I even accept that those other songs are probably superior to Wasteland – but I just prefer Wasteland over those two. I think it is an underrated gem. A great melody. Amazing imagery of useless waste. Rubber tyres/discarded bric-a-brac/dirty linen/holey coca-cola tins/punctured footballs/ragged dolls/rusting bicycles the list goes on. I have no idea whether the instrument used in the intro is a recorder like the ones we had at school but it’s damned effective. Always loved this one.
No. 23 – Running on the Spot, (The Gift, 1982) The song where Weller got angry with his own generation. Or was it simply despair? 1981 had seen a series of street riots across England. Brixton in London. Toxteth in Liverpool. Handsworth in Birmingham. Moss Side in Manchester. At their root these riots were due to tensions between black communities and the police. Whatever you believed the riots were justified or not, it was clear the central issue was one of injustice and The Jam were certainly against that and so were us fans. Most of us though deplored the violence and it felt like Weller believed more was possible by more constructive approaches. Running on the Spot is about frustration with confrontation. I was hoping we’d made real progress/But it seems we have lost the power/Though we keep piling up the building blocks/The structure never seems to get any higher/Only young but easily shocked/You get all violent when the boat gets rocked.
Guess what though? This is an amazing song.
No. 22 – Liza Radley, (B-side, 1980) The Jam’s version of Eleanor Rigby. This one very nearly makes it as the best ever B-side. I certainly preferred it over the A-side ‘Start!’. Our old friend loneliness pops up again and the titular subject could even be a younger version of the poor woman in Private Hell. I was sooo in love with Liza Radley. She was a loner. She was super intelligent. She was aloof. She was omniscient. She could see the ‘quiet desperation’ of the lives she saw being led by the people in her town observed from her bedroom window. She crept across the lawn at midnight. The rest of the town sneer at her for being different but of course, she is the one watching their stupid lives meandering nowhere. Liza Radley – take me when you go.
No. 21 – Little Boy Soldiers, (Setting Sons, 1979) A tale of governments using their citizens to fight wars in foreign lands for no good reason. The song starts with Weller’s voice alone like a spectre singing across the mist of an ancient battlefield. A military beat from Rick Buckler’s snare drum starts the section where the horrors of war begin. It’s a superbly well-constructed song that constantly surprises.
For my money, Little Boy Soldiers has the most shocking end to any Jam song. They send you home in a pine overcoat/With a letter to your Mum/Saying ‘find enclosed one son’, one medal and a note to say he won.
No. 20 – Dream Time, (Sound Affects, 1980) If you were really clever you could spin the vinyl in reverse and hear an extract from ‘Thick as Thieves’ at the start of this track. A weird and haunting beginning before thumping into what is an excellent album track. Once again we see the appearance of a supermarket! It seems to be a staple image in The Jam’s canon. There’s one in Private Hell, one in In the Crowd, and a few more references scattered about I’m sure. There are two memorable lines in Dream Time which regularly get quoted in various fan forums. Not surprising. This is a great song and much neglected. I saw the lights and the pretty girls/And I thought to myself what a pretty world…along with Boy, it’s a tough tough world/But you gotta be tough with it.
No. 19 – I Got By in Time, (In the City, 1977) How can this short early track make the Top 20 I hear you ask? I think I just have to plead guilty and say this is simply a personal favourite. I love it. Ostensibly a straightforward love song about getting over a relationship but scratch only a little way under the surface and this is another tale of lost friendship. It’s fast. It’s punk. I never tire of hearing it.
No. 18 – Boy About Town, (Sound Affects, 1980) Maybe we have to consider that Sound Affects was probably the album most populated with genuine pop songs? That is not a criticism at all. Boy About Town is a strong enough track to have been a single. A happy-go-lucky guy wanders around marvelling at the world around him and loving life in general. What’s not to like?
No. 17 – Happy Together, (The Gift, 1982) Another criminally neglected track. The opener on the album begins with a spoken ‘For those of you watching in black & white, this one is in Technicolor’ picking up the overall theme elsewhere on the record of hope and moving forward positively. Foxton’s backing vocals are a joy. The best of his backing vocals anywhere else in The Jam’s body of work.
No. 16 – Man in the Corner Shop, (Sound Affects, 1980) Another track on the album that was probably strong enough to be a single. This is a naked exploration of the English class system and the message is fairly uncomplicated. The visitor to the corner shop is sick of working at the factory and jealous of the shop owner because he is his own boss. The shop owner is jealous of the factory boss because his shop is actually not doing that well. And on Sunday they all go to church and pray together because God created all men equal. A wonderfully catchy set of ‘Na na na na’s’ complete the deal and this can be rightly called a Jam classic.
No. 15 – ‘A’ Bomb in Wardour Street, (All Mod Cons, 1978) Perhaps the most graphically violent Jam song about an horrific evening at a London night club. It surfaced to as a double A-side with David Watts and literally pulls no punches. The image of the protagonist’s girlfriend being pinned to a door by a bunch of blokes always upset me and even today I find that a difficult listen. Subject matter aside though, this is an impactful song and the album’s closest moment to the band’s punk roots. I wonder if Mr. Weller can still scream out loud each letter of ‘apocalypse’?
No. 14 – All Around the World, (Single, 1977) At a time when punk was in full flush and its lyrics spoke of anarchy, destruction and revolution, The Jam set a different tone. This was a fairly brave thing to do at the time because record companies were not really looking for that. This brilliant single with a catchy chorus spoke of inflating creation and a new direction. ‘What’s the point in saying ‘Destroy’?’ sang Weller. He was right of course. He actually was quite often don’t you think?
No. 13 – David Watts, (All Mod Cons, 1978) A cover version that sits this high because it is uncontestably better than the original Kinks version. A double-handed vocal between Weller and Foxton works superbly well and unsurprisingly it was a hit single. It also has the dubious honour of being sung loudly at your humble correspondent endlessly during my late seventies school days. I didn’t care. I was a massive Jam fan then and a massive Jam fan now. Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa….
No. 12 – Ghosts, (The Gift, 1982) Beautiful. Simply beautiful. Slow and introspective. Perhaps the most philosophical product of The Jam’s entire career. It is tempting to be sucked into the belief that this song is a dirge about broken dreams and failed lives but that view to me always seemed facile. This is another song about hope. About making the best of yourself. About prevailing against the odds. All done with simplest of musical arrangements. A slow sliding bass from Foxton. A steady snare from Buckler and a straightforward slow guitar riff from Weller. Near perfection for me.
No. 11 – Funeral Pyre, (Single, 1981) Not generally heralded as a classic Jam single but goodness me, this one is an extremely powerful track. The only Jam song where the whole band are credited with the non-lyrical aspects of the song and musically it does sound like the product of a (forgive the pun) jam session. It is certainly Rick Buckler’s finest moment of the whole Jam discography. The drumming is sharp, varied and incessant. Foxton’s bass line has an almost sinister aspect to match Weller’s sinister lyrics. We have book burning. We have rejoicing at turmoil. Maniacal bulging-eyed faces ritually staring into a huge communal fire. The accompanying video shot in night-time mode amongst woodland had a similar Wicker Man-like feel. Funeral Pyre is one of those songs probably loved more by Jam fans than music writers. A less obvious single for inclusion in the Top 20 maybe, but I’m really not going to apologise.
No. 10 – English Rose, (All Mod Cons, 1978) Not even credited on the sleeve we have to thank whoever was responsible for this song’s inclusion on All Mod Cons. We just have Mr. Weller and an gently plucked acoustic guitar with a haunting ship’s fog horn effect as the sole intro. What follows that intro is around three minutes of perhaps Weller’s most personal songs. It’s a song about isolation and we’re never really sure whether it’s about being away from someone back home in England, or about England itself but my own view is that it is probably a bit of both. In recent times English Rose has been used by one of England’s tourist companies to promote visiting the country. The song is romantic and loving but does not veer from the album’s themes of loneliness and escapism. I don’t feel guilty at all at proclaiming English Rose a masterpiece.
No. 9 – The Butterfly Collector, (B-side, 1979) “You’ve got a B-side at No.9!” I hear you cry incredulously. I think every Jam fan knows The Butterfly Collector is no ordinary B-side. It is The Jam’s very best B-side. In fact, I have this one as a Jam classic. It feels wrong to call it just a B-side. I’ve seen numerous quotes from different sources stating definitively who this cutting and lyrically vicious song is about. The music journalist Julie Burchill appears to be a popular choice. An anonymous transvestite is another theory. What is certain is that this is the most vindictive Jam track of all with some of the most insulting language. There’s tarts and whores but you’re much more/You surely must know the appeal between your legs has worn off. Pretty nasty stuff which might make you wonder why a kind bloke like me would put it in the Top Ten? Because it is an amazing song. It survives into the live sets and collaborations of Weller today. He and Noel Gallagher have a memorable performance available on YouTube.
No. 8 – When You’re Young, (Single, 1979) A bouncy celebration of youth that does not shirk youth’s frustrations. ‘Life is timeless days are long when you’re young’ is juxtaposed with ‘Then you find out life isn’t like that/It’s so hard to understand why the world is your oyster but you future’s a clam’. This is the second single after the ones from All Mod Cons and we are starting to see the maturation of the band as they lift their collective heads above the other post-punk/New Wave acts and start to produce chart singles of extremely high craftsmanship.
No. 7 – Away from the Numbers, (In the City, 1977) Conclusive proof that The Jam produced top quality music from their first album to their last. Away from the Numbers is the standout track on In the City and would be a standout track on any album. By anybody. It’s another song about escaping from the humdrum and I believe is a special song for all Jam fans. It was never a single and it was recorded long before The Jam became mega. In that way it means it’s a song you can only find if you really look for it. And what a song! Another rare Jam song with a chorus and it remained a crowd favourite for live gigs throughout their career.
No. 6 – That’s Entertainment, (Sound Affects, 1980) That’s Entertainment is more of a painting, or a series of paintings than a song. A graphic procession of life scenes from the urban working classes of Britain. We see the police car and hear its screaming siren. A pneumatic drill hammers at the pavement and the streets smell of petrol. There are slashed bus seats. Young bands are practising and dreaming of stardom. Sundays are slow. Wednesdays are boring. These are truisms we all recognise and it would be pretty easy to stage a silent performance of That’s Entertainment in a gallery via the medium of photography or a specially commissioned project in the style of Roy Lichtenstein. The cover of Sound Affects contains many of the images from That’s Entertainment too. And the song itself? You don’t need me to tell you. Pure unadulterated excellence. Uncomplicated in structure and an unforgettable melody. Virtually no drums in the album version and that one remains the version I prefer over the ‘full band’ version which surfaced in the retrospective Greatest Hits album ‘Snap!’. That’s Entertainment also featured in the charts as an imported single which meant we got a video too. The video is sparse and features a slightly embarrassed Rick Buckler hitting a single snare drum with a single strike a very small number of times. Don’t worry Rick. You were part of a legend.
No. 5 – The Eton Rifles, (Setting Sons, 1979) The single which reached No.3 in the charts and marked the moment the band entered the threshold of superstardom. Reportedly sparked by a news story about pupils at Eton College mocking a ‘Right to Work’ march through Slough, the song is replete with class references – especially in relation to conflict. The privileged ruling classes knowing nothing of the struggles and sacrifices experienced by the majority. The message may have been a familiar one but the song rose way above the ordinary. The Eton Rifles was probably the single where the general music-loving population sat up and really noticed The Jam. Sure, they all remembered David Watts and lots of them would’ve known about the quality of All Mod Cons but this song saw the ban planted loudly and firmly in the national consciousness. They were about to become UK rock royalty. Probably not a label even wanted by the band..
For some reason there was never an official video to The Eton Rifles. What a wasted opportunity! With the song’s subject material I think the video could have been amazing.
No. 4 – Town Called Malice, (The Gift, 1982) For many non-Jam fans Town Called Malice is probably the song most associated with the band. A thumping Motown beat with an iconic Foxton bass line elevate this song to the status of genuine classic. Weller closes live gigs with it even today. I suspect he does so because he is immensely proud of it and everybody loves it and everybody associates with him. It’s a song about a country suffering from Thatcherism. The story is one of desolation, heartache and suffering. We see prescient images of economic decline – disused milk floats ‘dying’ in a dairy yard. Making decisions about sacrificing personal comfort to clothe the kids. The lost laughter of children in the playground. It’s all pretty bleak stuff and all the more impactful for being sung over a lively upbeat tune.
Looking back at the early 1980s there were other songs criticising Thatcher and her policies. We had songs like ‘Ghost Town’ by The Specials and ‘Stand Down Margaret’ by The Beat. This reflected a genuine anger amongst younger people at a uniquely divisive Prime Minister. I’ve also often heard the question asked about where the protest is today in popular music? I don’t know enough about today’s music scene to comment authoritatively but I don’t hear the anger I used to hear. I’ve often wondered if back then bands like The Jam, The Specials etc. originated from the working classes and government policies affected them deeply. I wonder if today’s mainly middle class bands don’t get angry because government policies simply don’t hurt them or their families as much? Who knows..
I guess that is a different topic for a different day and nothing will ever convince Town Called Malice isn’t a classic of its own or any other time.
No. 3 – Strange Town, (Single, 1979) Weller the outsider. The loneliness there can be in a crowd. All familiar Jam themes and all popping up in this song about being ‘lost’ in London. I’m just going to have to accept that not all Jam fans would have Strange Town this high but it really has to be. The song just keeps on going and keeps on oozing quality. There seem to be songs within songs and the intro is probably up there with my favourite intros of all time. By any band. It’s loud and frantic and makes you want to leap around the room. The out-tro is equally good where Weller implores the listener to ‘Break it up’ and we have to assume he means those aspects of the London experience which promote isolation of the individual. Between those two points of the song there are verses of such high quality they are amongst the finest of that late punk/early New Wave period. They are also amongst the finest in The Jam’s entire catalogue.
No. 2 – Going Underground, (Single, 1980) Here it is. My favourite Jam track of all time. There is the whole thing about the ‘three minute pop song’ and Going Underground comes in at exactly three minutes. Perfect timing and a perfect single. This is the single which came straight after ‘The Eton Rifles’ and it went straight into the UK charts at No.1. That hadn’t happened since the early seventies. It announced The Jam as the biggest band in the country bar none. Their superstar status was confirmed only three years after their first album and wasn’t seriously challenged by any other UK band right up until their demise in 1982. I was lucky to have one of those weird music centre things in my bedroom which had an alarm system which would fire up the turntable as the alarm call. I had my Going Underground single as that alarm call for around six months. I simply couldn’t get enough of it even if my parents felt very differently. I still get a thrill when I hear it today. Musically it is like thumping a punchbag repeatedly. The punch bag representing all of society’s injustices. The UK was suffering an economic recession and this song provides a commentary. I’m sure the nuclear thing is an obvious emblem providing the song’s title but I always felt it was more about getting away from society in general. Even as I write this I can feel the hairs going up on the back of my neck remembering the excitement of the time. The band I had loved for years producing my favourite song of all time and becoming the band everyone was now talking about. Wow. Just wow.
No. 1 – Down in the Tube Station at Midnight, (All Mod Cons, 1978) ‘Tube Station’ simply has to be No.1 because I just cannot find a fault with it. If I cannot find a fault with it then it has to be No.1 though if this list were an honest list of favourites it would switch with Going Underground. The song is about an attack on a man in a London tube station by a bunch of drunken right-wing thugs. Hardly standard fare even for 1978. But to define the song with that simple stark summary doesn’t even begin to describe the songs complexity and disturbing narrative. The short sharp images of the tube station leave you almost able to smell the stale piss. The lyrics are to all intents and purposes a screenplay. The guy is in the tube station taking in the sights and sounds. He’s going home to his wife. He becomes aware of a group of thugs who move towards him, threaten him and then finally beat him up and steal his money and his house keys. The final line of ‘they took the keys and she’ll think it’s me’ is full of foreboding and one of the most disturbing ever written by Weller. It is a difficult listen even today.
There was a point where a Radio 1 DJ (Tony Blackburn I think?) lamented the way punks always sang about violence. What a numpty. The song is clearly anti-violence and is a despairing call on behalf of the unprotected.
So ‘Tube Station’ is my choice as No.1. The Jam’s very best song and I’m comfortable with that ranking. It is piece of musical perfection and in my view cannot be improved. You can get Rembrandt to do the single’s cover art if you want. You can ask Dostoyevsky to write the sleeve notes. Get Paganini to add a strings section. None of that could improve it. ‘Down in the Tube Station at Midnight’ is an Emperor amongst even the very best examples of all-time British song writing. Bruce Foxton, please take a bow for yet another iconic bass line. Rick Buckler take a bow for that drum sequence before the final despairing verse. Paul Weller, take a bow for writing this song and indeed for writing five years’ worth of outstanding material for The Jam. The best band in the fucking world.
There you have it. From ‘Don’t Tell Them You’re Sane’ to ‘Down in the Tube Station at Midnight’. The entire catalogue analysed. And all those questions posed at the start? Here is a summary according to my rankings. I repeat – these are my thoughts only. Part of the beauty of the band is the astonishing amount of high-quality material they served up for us. It is inevitable us Jam fans will have different favourites. Here are a few basic stats. Let the arguments begin!
| Category | Song | Rank (out of 94) |
| Best single from an album | Down in the Tube Station at Midnight | 1 |
| Best single not from an album | Going Underground | 2 |
| Lowest ranked single | The Bitterest Pill (I ever had to swallow) | 83 |
| Best B-side | The Butterfly Collector | 9 |
| In the City (1977) | ||
| Highest ranked song | Away from the Numbers | 7 |
| Lowest ranked song | Takin’ My Love | 93 |
| This is the Modern World (1977) | ||
| Highest ranked song | (This is) The Modern World | 37 |
| Lowest ranked song | Don’t Tell Them You’re Sane | 94 |
| All Mod Cons (1978) | ||
| Highest ranked song | Down in the Tube Station at Midnight | 1 |
| Lowest ranked song | All Mod Cons | 77 |
| Setting Sons (1979) | ||
| Highest ranked song | The Eton Rifles | 5 |
| Lowest ranked song | Burning Sky | 67 |
| Sound Affects (1980) | ||
| Highest ranked song | That’s Entertainment | 6 |
| Lowest ranked song | Scrape Away | 90 |
| The Gift (1982) | ||
| Highest ranked song | Town Called Malice | 4 |
| Lowest ranked song | Circus | 89 |
Longer Thoughts 