All The Records I've Ever Owned

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'. I t'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...

Year Released: 1978 Label: Polydor Year Bought: Unsure When I first started learning to play the guitar, my school mate Daniel took me under his wing and made me some cassettes with songs I had to know. Daniel could already play the guitar, was good at football, and had a cool haircut. Therefore, I trusted his judgement.* One cassette was filled with early Beatles stuff, and the other was songs by The Jam. Both blew my tiny mind.  While I loved the melodies and musicianship of the Beatles, the Jam spoke to the angry young man persona I had fallen into as a teenager. All Mod Cons, the Jam's third album in two years, is the moment Paul Weller really finds consistency with his songwriting. The standout track is album closer, 'Down In The Tube Station At Midnight', which even nearly 40 years since its release sounds contemporary, with the protagonist being beaten up by men who "smell like pubs, and Wormwood Scrubs, and too many right-wing meetings". There's gems a...