The Very Best Of The Jam

The Very Best Of The Jam - The Jam

Year Released: 1997

Label: Polydor

Year Bought: 1999

Kicking off with 'In The City' – which still sounds just as urgent as it did in 1977 – this collection brings together all of the The Jam's A-sides before Paul Weller broke up the band in 1982.

I remember buying this CD in 1999 with money I had earned from my paper round, and I played it constantly. I knew every lyric, every bass fill from Bruce Foxton, every machine gun snare roll from Rick Buckler.

I was pretty into 70s punk as a teenager, but The Jam appealed more than most as they seemed to look beyond the nihilism.

"What's the point in saying destroy, I want a new life for everywhere," sings Weller on 'All Around The World'.

The Jam's early singles are pretty good, but all feel a bit derivative of 'In The City'. It's not until you get to 'Down In The Tube Station At Midnight' that you realise this is a band – and a songwriter – that can deliver something truly special.

The three singles released in 1979 – 'Strange Town', 'When You're Young' and 'Eton Rifles' – are all brilliant, and contain some of my favourite lyrics.

"Tears of rage roll down your face / But still you say 'it's fun'" and "It's so hard to understand, why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam" from 'When You're Young' meant so much to me when I was younger.

Many of these songs were single-only releases, and didn't appear on albums, including the group's first number 1 – 'Going Underground' – and their last two releases: 'The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow)' and 'Beat Surrender'. As I've said before, in the days before streaming collections like this could be the only way to hear these songs.

Listening to Weller's songwriting journey is a treat. The Northern Soul inspired 'Town Called Malice', the no-frills of 'That's Entertainment', the pseudo-funk of 'Precious' – these are all Weller trying on different hats to see which one fits best. It would, of course, be a constant theme for the Changingman.

The Jam really were fantastic. This singles collection should be on the national curriculum. What a catalyst they turned out to be.

10/10

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