The Jam Split
The 30th of October 1982 AD
They were the band that managed to link the best of British – and American – pop music from the Sixties, Seventies and even the Fifties in an apparently simple trio of guitar, drums and bass. One Jam concert, sometimes just one song could recall the Englishness of The Kinks, the tuneful hooks of The Beatles , the soul of Al Green and the energy of The Sex Pistols . Since In the City charted in May 1977, quickly followed by All Around the World, the band had recorded hit after hit, including the #1s Going Underground, Start and Town Called Malice.
Then Woking ’s finest announced on October 30 via a message to the NME that they were splitting, though a truer phrase could be that guitarist and main songwriter Paul Weller was disbanding the group, perhaps tired of the limitations its format placed upon him.
The split somehow seemed to mark the end of the punk era (though The Clash continued for another few years) to which The Jam had never actually belonged - their musicianship and smart Mod suits marking them as separate from it.
Weller went on to form Style Council, ending that second collaboration in 1989, and has since worked solo to great artistic effect, ensuring his place on the top tier of British rock musicians through the decades.
Links: http://www.mpag.co.uk/jam.htm Jam Unseen
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