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The Jam

Formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey, The Jam kept the tradition of three-minute, hook-driven British guitar pop alive providing a blueprint for generations of bands to come. Active during the late 1970s and early 1980s, the powerhouse three piece comprised of singer, guitarist Paul Weller and drummer Rick Buckler and later bassist Bruce Foxton.

The Jam had 18 consecutive UK Top 40 singles from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1982, including four number 1 hits.

While they shared the “angry young men” outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore neatly tailored suits rather than ripped clothes, and they incorporated a number of mainstream 1960s rock influences rather than rejecting them, placing The Jam at the forefront of the mod revival movement.

They released six studio albums and one live album. When the group split up, their first 15 singles were re-released and all placed within the top 100 on the UK charts. The band drew upon a variety of stylistic influences over the course of their career, including 1960s beat music, soul, rhythm and blues and psychedelic rock, as well as 1970s punk and new wave. The trio was known for its melodic pop songs, its distinctly English flavour and its mod image.

Neil Cossar, This Day in Music Books