Recently, it’s been a good time to be a fan of
The Jam,
what with two major London exhibitions about the band and the
publication of Rick Buckler’s
"That's Entertainment: My Life In The Jam", surprisingly the very first official autobiography
from any ex-member since "The Jam, Our Story" which was co-written by
Rick, Bruce and Alex Ogg. The superb exhibition at Somerset House,
"The Jam: About the Young Idea", curated by Tory Turk, Russell Reader, DJ and long-time fan Gary Crowley, music memorabilia collector Den Davis and Paul Weller’s
sister Nicky (who used to run The Jam’s fan-club),
has just had its stay extended to September 27th. I must say that this
has to be the most impressive exhibition of any band’s memorabilia I
have ever seen, and I doubt even the most difficult-to-please die-hard
Jam fan will leave here disappointed. After all,
it is the first time that such a comprehensive collection of personal
items from all three members of the band, have been displayed together. The Jam are one of very few bands that, despite
achieving huge commercial success, still managed to retain their
artistic integrity and popularity amongst their impressively devoted
hard-core fan base. Eighteen Top 40 Hits and four U.K.
Number 1 Singles and yet they were, and are to this very day, still
cool; how many bands can claim such a similar legacy?
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| Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2015 |
In part this was
probably down to Paul Weller's sudden and surprising decision to split
the band at the height of their success. They
have remained frozen in time at what might well have been their peak.
We’ll never know if they could have gone on to scale even greater
heights. The next album might have flopped; the band may have imploded
or just slowly fizzled out in a disappointing run
of lacklustre gigs and releases. Either way
Paul Weller wasn’t willing
to risk tarnishing the legacy of this great band and in calling it a day
in a rather abrupt, and some might say callous way, he did at least
ensure that their awesome reputation remained
intact. To be honest, I was hoping to discover more about
Weller’s sudden and unexpected decision and its effect on his loyal and
long-serving band-mates in Rick Buckler's new Omnibus Press
autobiography
"That's Entertainment".
Unfortunately,
anyone expecting an answer is going to be disappointed. It's well
documented that the decision probably came as much as a shock to Bruce
and Rick as it did to the band's fans. Rick cannot shed
much light on Paul's real motives apart from those
already published at the time. OK he might have wanted a clean slate,
to get away from the confines of a band but to end it with such
finality; to cut out Rick and Bruce from his life personally, as well as
musically, still seems harsh and unnecessary. After
all, in The Jam, Weller was respected and acknowledged as the main
song-writer, often lauded as one of England’s finest, and Rick and Bruce
were, on the surface at least, the perfect
band-mates. They were musically competent loyal and long-time
school friends with their own individual styles and input that enabled
the band to grow and progress yet never threatened to encroach on or
restrict Weller’s role as the main man. I am a big believer in chemistry
amongst bands and it's always a shame when
court cases about song-writing and publishing raise their ugly heads. I
mean Rick and Bruce were without a doubt integral to The Jam's sound,
who's to say they would have made it without them? Adrian Thrills wrote
in the sleeve notes to "The Jam at The BBC"
about this when he visited the band in the studio while they were
recording "Going Underground", that the "process was very much a group
effort with Rick and Bruce shaping the song's texture as much as Paul".
Plus with Paul taking a more rhythmic approach
to guitar, rather like one of his influences Wilko Johnson, The Jam's
sound was often built around Bruce's excellent bass lines and Rick's
economical but effective military style quick-fire drumming.
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| Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2015 |
Are you
trying to tell me Rick and Bruce’s contributions
to "Funeral Pyre" weren’t a worthy input into the song's success?
Bruce's melodic backing vocals and stage presence were also a vital
ingredient - so it is always a pity to have things split down to whose
contribution was more important. At no point in the
book does Rick let on that there were any serious personal issues
between the three of them. In fact the lingering feeling after finishing
the book is that Rick seems to be hedging his bets. It’s almost as
though deep down he is hoping for that reunion, if
not a full-on Jam one then at the very least a personal acknowledgement
from his old school friend. The book is at it’s best when Rick drops
his guard, particularly in a somewhat moving section where he explains
the aftermath of the band’s split, the shock
of suddenly being unemployed and the sad and hurtful snubs he received
from Weller. At one point during a gig on their farewell tour he finds
himself looking at his set-list and realising that it will be the last
time he will play these great songs.
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| Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2015 |
However,
there's no mention at all of the court case to recoup unpaid royalties
nor is there any criticism of John Weller for his handling of the band’s
business accounts, something that was cited in the court case. There’s
also nothing about the rumours that he left
From The Jam because Bruce and Paul made up and he was still left in the
cold. He doesn’t want to dish any dirt, an admirable trait I suppose.
It could be construed as refreshing that he wants to keep his counsel
but I guess deep down we all like the odd bit
of salacious Rock 'n' Roll gossip and back-biting now and then, but you
won't get that here. You kind of want Rick to be spitting in anger at
Weller’s treatment of him, at the fact that despite those four Number 1
singles he ends up working as a drum roadie
and restoring furniture to make a living but Rick has apparently drawn a
line under it all. Rick comes over as I had always imagined him, a
decent down to earth bloke who you could have a pint with, someone who
has a real love and pride of the Jam's legacy
and the importance it had on the band's fans. “That’s Entertainment”
might not offer much in the way of on-the-road excess but it is
certainly a must-read for any Jam fan, particularly for the insight on
the band’s early years. It has been co-written by
Ian Snowball who was also involved in the Medway Punk book
"The Kids Are All Square" and both him and Rick have been touring the U.K. giving
talks and Q&A sessions at various venues so please check out their
Facebook page for news on future appearances near you.
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| Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2015 |
Anyway, back to the Somerset House exhibition and
on arrival, you are greeted by large colourful screen-prints featuring
some well known slogans from lyrics such as "And What You Give Is What
You Get!" and "To Be Someone Must Be a Wonderful
Thing" and then there is a wall covered in gig fly-posters. You then
enter a dark room which has a full stage set up as if ready for a
performance, with Rick’s white Premier drum-kit with his large custom
tom-toms, full back-line with a bass and guitar resting
on stands. In fact there is a way the exhibition could have been better
- Paul, Rick and Bruce could be there on the stage to greet you with a
song or two! No such luck, instead there is a large video wall on a
backdrop behind the drums showing a live performance
of the band in their prime. Then you move into the main exhibition and
you are confronted by a bewildering display of material donated from the
band and their families very own personal archives spread over 6 or 7
different rooms each concentrating on a particular
period in the band’s history.
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| Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2015 |
So we get some very personal displays from the early and mid 70’s such as the ten year
old Paul Weller's school reports, where he
only manages to score a C in Music, exercise books covered with
slogans, logos, doodles of bands and cartoons of "Paul the Mod". Then the early years of the band forming at Sheerwater County Secondary School in Woking including amusing pics of the four piece Jam with guitarist Steve Brookes, their
long centre-parted hair, flares and kipper ties and
set lists of the time showing a huge catalogue of popular cover
versions such as "Proud Mary", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Be Bob A Lula"
and "Long Tall Sally". There’s a nice section dedicated to Paul’s late
father John who managed the band right to the time
they disbanded and a family Dansette with a selection of 7” vinyl
singles from their record collection. The exhibition then moves on to
the period where Paul gets influenced by the burgeoning London Punk
scene and they ditch the flares and tighten up, throwing
out many cover versions and introducing original Weller songs
into the set.
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| Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2015 |
Deciding on a smart black and white look at odds with the
rest of the Punk fashion they streamline everything – from the drainpipe
trousers to slimming down to a three-piece
line-up. So we have a tiled wall spray-painted with the logo, actual
“Burtons” suits and bowling shoes and outtake photos of the debut album
cover. There are early press cuttings including a yellowed and frayed
NME interview from 1977 where a contrary Paul
claims they are going to vote Conservative in the next election. Paul's
Rickenbacker with a sticker of The Boys, Bruce's black Fender Precision
and Rickenbacker basses. The Roy Lichtenstein "Whaam!" Rickenbacker
guitar and one with the Punkishly nihilistic
"I Am Nobody" crudely scratched into the sunburst body. There are stage
outfits, jumpers with Mod targets and boating blazers all familiar from
various promo videos and TV appearances.
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| Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2015 |
One piece that stood out was a
copy of The Eton College Chronicle magazine
where Paul is interviewed by a well informed Eton pupil about the lyrics of "Eton Rifles" and Paul appears
worried in case they are all angry about the song at the College. "No”, says
the interviewer “they are buying the single in droves!" and he goes on
to praise Paul’s lyrics, despite the singer
admitting he’d never even visited Eton, apparently he did capture the daily routine of the college pretty well as the interviewer admitted that "Beer, Tea, Slough, Rugby and
rain stopping play are all part of life at Eton College". There are album and single sleeves displayed in chronological order as well as a selection of backstage tour laminates and button badges. All around the exhibition rooms, every spare bit of space is covered in gig posters and photographs, there really isn't anything you can think of that isn't included. As I mentioned at the start, the exhibition has been extended to September 27th due to public demand, and I would certainly recommend making the effort to go along.
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| Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2015 |
I also popped along to the always excellent
Snap Gallery in the rather posh and ornate surroundings of Piccadilly Arcade
as they were hosting
"Golden Faces: Photographs of The Jam 1977-80" by
Martyn Goddard, alongside "The Kinks, Photographs
and Artefacts" exhibition at the same time. Unfortunately this
exhibition has now ended but a selection of Goddard's photographs also
appear in the Somerset House summer 2015 exhibition
"The Jam: About The Young Idea", and in his new book "Growing Up…With The
Jam" which you can buy at Somerset House.
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| Some of Martyn Goddard's prints at Snap Gallery |
Here's a bit of
blurb: Martyn Goddard’s images played a key part in
defining The Jam’s image on record sleeves. He shot the cover for their
first album, "In the City", and continued to work with
them creating images that would appear on the sleeves of many of their
singles: "All Around The World", "The Modern World", "News of the
World", "David Watts", "Down In The Tube At Midnight", and "Strange
Town". His final project with the band was to shoot
the images that would appear on the cover of their fifth studio album,
"Sound Affects", in 1980. In addition to his sleeve assignments, Goddard
photographed the band in the studio for press and promotion purposes.
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| Photo copyright Retro Man Blog 2015 |
For tickets and information on the exhibition visit the Somerset House web-site
here. To buy copies of Rick's autobiography and other merchandise please check out
Strangetown.net. For more photographs of both exhibitions please head on over to the Retro Man Blog
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