BCB 100 - The Jam
- geoffcowgill
- exceptionally nondescript
- Posts: 3380
- Joined: 23 Oct 2003, 23:43
BCB 100 - The Jam
Before buying a Best Of several years ago, I think I'd probably only ever heard "Town Called Malice" before. At any rate, that was the only song of theirs I'd registered hearing. Of course I'd heard "Start!" when it was called "Taxman," but I guess that doesn't count. And now I don't have more than that Best Of and the Modern World/All Mod Cons twofer, so I shouldn't really comment on their albums maybe. I wouldn't be surprised if All Mod Cons were to remain the favorite even after hearing all of their records. Despite a few useless tracks, it seems to do the whole Jam thing to perfection in a number of places. Yes, I do quite like the sound of the band much of the time, though, and I think Bruce Foxton is to take a lot of the credit for that. "To Be Someone", "Down In The Tube Station" or "Absolute Beginners" (love those irrepressible horns) are probably my favorites.
Heck, I'll go ahead and commit.
Favorite Album - All Mod Cons
Favorite Song - "To Be Someone (Didn't We Have A Nice Time)"
Heck, I'll go ahead and commit.
Favorite Album - All Mod Cons
Favorite Song - "To Be Someone (Didn't We Have A Nice Time)"
- Tom Violence
- Superchod
- Posts: 5405
- Joined: 11 May 2006, 21:51
- Location: Darlington, NE England
Fantastic band, one of the very best. All 6 albums (maybe not 'Modern World, not so keen on that one) are fantastic. And all the non album singles and b-sides. Very high quality and quantity of material put out in a short space of time.
Album: All Mod Cons
Song: Wasteland or Saturday's Kids
Album: All Mod Cons
Song: Wasteland or Saturday's Kids
I'm the sort who gets out of a bath with a dirty face
- Clippernolan
- Maya's Prop
- Posts: 12289
- Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 18:55
- Location: The mangy BC hills
- Contact:
Album: All Mod Cons
Track: In The Crowd
I listened to In The Crowd when it came out and thought "this is brilliant, it's all dissolving into psych. I'll watch this lot with interest...". I expected some sort of psychedelic 'second coming'.
But didn't Weller, the awkward sod, go the route of insipid fifth rate soul instead? Which really pissed me off at the time. Put me off him for years.
Track: In The Crowd
I listened to In The Crowd when it came out and thought "this is brilliant, it's all dissolving into psych. I'll watch this lot with interest...". I expected some sort of psychedelic 'second coming'.
But didn't Weller, the awkward sod, go the route of insipid fifth rate soul instead? Which really pissed me off at the time. Put me off him for years.
- geoffcowgill
- exceptionally nondescript
- Posts: 3380
- Joined: 23 Oct 2003, 23:43
- Matt Wilson
- Psychedelic Cowpunk
- Posts: 28935
- Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 20:18
- Location: Edge of a continent
- toomanyhatz
- Power-mad king of the WCC
- Posts: 26667
- Joined: 07 Apr 2005, 00:01
- Location: Just east of where Charlie Parker went to do some relaxin'
Boy, I sure loved them when they were around- Bixhenry and I were fans pretty early on- but maybe Weller's erratic career since has taken a little of the luster off. Nonetheless, before the limp soul took over, they sure were one hell of a rock and roll band. And that rythm section had a lot to do with it, whatever Weller may think.
Album - Setting Sons
Song - Dreams of Children. It and Going Underground- another great song- is their best single by a large margin.
Album - Setting Sons
Song - Dreams of Children. It and Going Underground- another great song- is their best single by a large margin.
sloopjohnc wrote:Aslan has some good credenitals - got his BA from Santa Clara, a Jesuit school and his Masters from Harvard and PhD from Santa Barbara, a surfing school.
1959 1963 1965 1966 1974 1977 1978 1981 1988 2017!
- Tom Violence
- Superchod
- Posts: 5405
- Joined: 11 May 2006, 21:51
- Location: Darlington, NE England
- German Dave
- Utter Cad
- Posts: 50643
- Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 21:22
- Location: 16 Beasley Street
Johnny Fartpants wrote:Song: Private Hell
i much prefer the dig the new breed! version.
as for their best album, i'd instinctively have said all mod cons were it not for the fact that i played it a couple of weeks ago and found it strangely unsatisfying. maybe i just wasn't in the mood. setting sons is a great - if flawed - record and the gift is hugely underrated.
as of right now i'll go for:
album: the gift
song: town called malice
kewl klive wrote:A deluxe Sandinista! was pulled when only one outtake could be found.
- German Dave
- Utter Cad
- Posts: 50643
- Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 21:22
- Location: 16 Beasley Street
- Snarfyguy
- Dominated by the Obscure
- Posts: 52501
- Joined: 21 Jul 2003, 19:04
- Location: New York
- German Dave
- Utter Cad
- Posts: 50643
- Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 21:22
- Location: 16 Beasley Street
Snarfyguy wrote:Album: All Mod Cons
Song: Strange Town
Oddly, I have Setting Sons and Sound Affects at home but I've never played them. Maybe because they have such awful titles...
they are bad puns - rest assured, the music is much better than the humour in the titles. you really should play them, chris.
kewl klive wrote:A deluxe Sandinista! was pulled when only one outtake could be found.
- toomanyhatz
- Power-mad king of the WCC
- Posts: 26667
- Joined: 07 Apr 2005, 00:01
- Location: Just east of where Charlie Parker went to do some relaxin'
The Giraffe wrote:toomanyhatz wrote:Song - Dreams of Children. It and Going Underground- another great song- is their best single by a large margin.
that's just silly.
Why?
sloopjohnc wrote:Aslan has some good credenitals - got his BA from Santa Clara, a Jesuit school and his Masters from Harvard and PhD from Santa Barbara, a surfing school.
1959 1963 1965 1966 1974 1977 1978 1981 1988 2017!
- The Prof
- Composing a revolutionary symphony
- Posts: 44968
- Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 18:32
- Location: A Metropolis of Discontent
Pretty Boy Floyd wrote:8/10 In the City
6/10 Modern World
10/10 All Mod Cons
10/10 Setting Sons
10/10 Sound Affects
8/10 The Gift
Is my scores on the doors. Everything after needless to say does not fair quite as well.
I think The Gift is a bit of an underrated album. 9/10
Album - All Mod Cons
Song - Strange Town
Though When You're Young is the archetypal Jam song. Full of the joys of young life with a warning that you'll have the stuffing kicked out of you by the time you're older
-
- Posts: 20031
- Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 20:22
One of the biggest dissappointments in my musical life was listening to that first Style Council ep after The Jam split up. The Jam was easily my favorite band of that era. Their energy was hair raising. So imagine my shock when I heard Long Hot Summer. I think I read a review before I bought it but I bought it anyway because Weller had not really disappointed me up to then. I have never bought another thing by him sinice then.
Favorite album - Sound Effects
Favorite song - tough call but Going Underground or In the City.
Favorite album - Sound Effects
Favorite song - tough call but Going Underground or In the City.
- Jon K
- Posts: 4728
- Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 21:09
- Location: Liverpool England
- Contact:
- PENK
- Midnight to Six Man
- Posts: 34146
- Joined: 07 Aug 2004, 20:12
- Location: Stockholm
I've never really liked the Jam, which is weird, because I just realised I actually like all the songs I've heard, eg the singles. My favourite one of which is That's Entertainment.
I should probably give them a proper listen at some point.
I should probably give them a proper listen at some point.
Copehead wrote:I have met Gruff Rhys - although he claimed he wasn't and that he couldn't speak Welsh, as I spoke to him in Welsh, but it was him lying bastard.
- German Dave
- Utter Cad
- Posts: 50643
- Joined: 16 Jul 2003, 21:22
- Location: 16 Beasley Street
toomanyhatz wrote:The Giraffe wrote:toomanyhatz wrote:Song - Dreams of Children. It and Going Underground- another great song- is their best single by a large margin.
that's just silly.
Why?
obviously, it's all subjective in the end but i'd say they've done a lot of great singles, many of which are as good as or better than those two, especially "dreams of children".
i remember i once did a critique of "town called malice", for example, on here or mojo (can't remember which). it's long lost but i'll attempt it again right now:
Better stop dreaming of the quiet life -
cos it's the one we'll never know
And quit running for that runaway bus -
cos those rosey days are few
this ordinary existence can really get you down but that's what you're stuck with. accept it, this is real - this is what you have to deal with.
And - stop apologising for the things you've never done,
Cos time is short and life is cruel -
but it's up to us to change
This town called malice.
but then again, yeah, it might seem somehow futile and life-sapping but that doesn't mean we should just give up - buried by our own mundane existence. maybe we do have some control over our own destiny.
Rows and rows of disused milk floats
stand dying in the dairy yard
And a hundred lonely housewives clutch empty milk
bottles to their hearts
lost dreams of old loves and a time when everything seemed possible - a time when the future was exciting, exotic even, maybe. a time when you had hopes for something better than what you ended up with. something better than this.
Hanging out their old love letters on the line to dry
It's enough to make you stop believing when tears come
fast and furious
In a town called malice.
remember when you felt attractive? when you were a catch? when your heart raced and you blushed when your friends mentioned his name?
when did that end?
Struggle after struggle - year after year
The atmosphere's a fine blend of ice -
I'm almost stone cold dead
In a town called malice.
but all of that was another life, wasn't it? you were stupid to even think it could possibly happen, really.
A whole street's belief in Sunday's roast beef
gets dashed against the Co-op
To either cut down on beer or the kids new gear
It's a big decision in a town called malice.
this england you were born in isn't the england it claims to be. "land of the free?" do me a favour. you're stuck here with that guy who's always in the pub - that guy you married, the one who said he loved you - while you worry yourself sick about doing the best for your kids.
The ghost of a steam train - echoes down my track
It's at the moment bound for nowhere -
just going round and round
i used to have plans, dreams, whatever. i used to be optimistic. what happened?
Playground kids and creaking swings -
lost laughter in the breeze
[this is the most poetic couplet he ever wrote] but there is still romance and hope and possibility in the world - it's just not in me anymore. it's in the innocence of my children - in their smiles and their security and their expectation. i've let myself down but i won't let them down.
I could go on for hours and I probably will -
but I'd sooner put some joy back
In this town called malice.
no matter what, i'll keep fighting. maybe it'll be worth it in the end.
======================
fuck, it's one of the greatest songs ever written, that song.
kewl klive wrote:A deluxe Sandinista! was pulled when only one outtake could be found.