The Jam

Formed in Woking, Surrey, The Jam brought together Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler around a sound that blended mod revival, punk rock, new wave and power pop, with a clear inheritance from 1960s beat music, soul and rhythm and blues. Active from 1972 to 1982, the trio began by covering Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Motown before developing a more personal, taut and melodic songwriting style, driven by Weller’s lyrics and Foxton’s prominent bass lines. The Jam first made their mark on the British punk scene of 1977, notably in the wake of the White Riot Tour, and soon expanded their vocabulary with more narrative songs and a distinctly English focus on social observation. Their studio discography includes In the City (1977), This Is the Modern World (1977), All Mod Cons (1978), Setting Sons (1979), Sound Affects (1980) and The Gift (1982). Across these albums The Jam moved from a blunt, frontal energy to more sophisticated writing, incorporating greater soul and pop accents without abandoning their original nerviness. After The Jam split in 1982, Paul Weller formed The Style Council, while Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler pursued other projects related to the band’s legacy.