Bruce Foxton and the Story of the Jam

Bruce Foxton is preparing to head Down Under, from wintery and cold England, to bring his From the Jam band for an Australasian tour.

New Zealand will be the opening match, at the Auckland Powerstation on 6 March 2024. They were here in 2019. A worldwide contagion of fear intervened the following year.

The Jam were one of the premier British bands of the latter Seventies, part of the mini–Big Bang of Punk.

Beatlemania to Anarchy in the UK was only twelve years but in that time the world of popular music reached critical mass and detonated with creativity and threatened what music professor Ian MacDonald claimed as a Revolution in the Head. Which is a critical analysis of all the Beatles songs and their backgrounds.

The top British Punk trio were Clash, Jam, Sex Pistols.

The Jam came together in an evolving fashion from as early as 1972. Paul Weller was originally playing bass and Foxton was on lead or rhythm guitar.

Some of the famous revolutionary musicians of the Sixties became bloated and arrogant. Entitled behaviour proliferated. Awash with drugs and sex on tap. Keeping audiences waiting for eventual shambolic intoxicated performances. The story goes that Punk was a roots affirmation against all this.

The real movie is far messier and more nuanced than that.

Weller’s discovery of the first Who album led to a shift in artistic focus for the fledgling group. A guitarist left, Foxton shifted to bass and the power trio was in place with Rick Buckler drums and Weller lead vocals and guitar.

The Jam’s debut album In the City may not have been a big seller, but it gained critical attention. All the way to America with Overlord music critic Robert Christgau praising it. Despite this they never made any big success in America.

Third album All Mod Cons signalled an overt shift to the personal politics and stories of social conscience reflective of other influences like the Kinks.

Through it all is the solid bass lines which essentially carry this Power Pop group and supply its signature propulsive energy.

What is the influence of the bass-playing of James Jamerson?

Foxton does not recognise the name. He was the youngest of three brothers growing up in Surrey, England.

The older ones brought in the music. It was all Motown, the Four Tops, and the rest. One was an original Mod, the other had a scooter he crashed one time.

The first box-set history of Motown singles was described as the history of James Jamerson’s bass playing.

A similar claim could be made for the Jam’s oeuvre and their bass player.

Foxton says, people ask me about my style. But really, I just plug it in and play! Of course he does, but there is a fierce work ethic there which is part of the secret which is no secret.

Us committed fans were mad for the music but we never got to see them live. They stopped in 1982, on the crest of the wave.

Paul was not keen on travelling. He didn’t read the job description properly on being in a Rock’n’roll band. A successful one. They may have got to Japan in their time.

Stopping the Jam show was a hard road for Foxton. The obvious impression in hindsight was that it was much too premature.

It was written into the Sex Pistols script from the beginning. The Great Rock’n’Roll Swindle. The Clash carried on to Rock the Casbah, but essentially their great period was not any longer than the Jam’s.

There were solo projects tried, and in trying to find a niche amongst the music industry a certain soul energy was being drained ineffectively.

The definition of success is someone who has failed many times. The key is how you pick yourself up.

Foxton is a good drinking buddy with Jake Burns, leader of Stiff Little Fingers. The informal call came. What are you up to? Ali McMordie (bass player) wants a break.

Just like that salvation came for Foxton, and he was with them 1990 to 2006. Double the tenure for the Jam.

Stiff Little Fingers at the Auckland Powerstation on 27 February 2020 was one of the first shows I wrote about. McMordie was playing that night.

This was on the cusp of the lockdown, less than a month away.

A terrible time as Foxton recalls. He expresses an interesting observation that I also felt but could not articulate.

It was like an invisible presence that you were at war against. There was no battle lines or enemy presence. It was only fear in an amorphous sense. Artists and performers were all hit as one and left in a limbo world.

One English musician who has recently toured here, relates a story of the finance minister’s response to artists who were in trouble with no way to bring in income. Well, they can always retrain and get other jobs. The Arts being seen as expendable.

The minister relented with the relief funding. The banjo player wrote a song about it, off a Winston Churchill quote where his sentiments were the exact opposite. That is what we are fighting for.

Recovery was slower on the continent than here. It feels back to normal, Foxton surmises. No one has any fear despite the continual scare messages from the mainstream media.

From the Jam formed in 2006, with Rick Buckler the original drummer. They called themselves The Gift, taken from the last Jam album proper.

Foxton joined soon after, and with that came the definitive name. Buckler has since left the project.

The band we will see is Foxton of course, along with Russell Hastings lead vocals and guitar, and Mike Randon drums.

Hastings has been described by critics as taking inspiration from Paul Weller but not imitating him. This is not a tribute band, and I am sure there would be some about.

The drum chair is interesting. At times Mike Brzezicki has taken it. The great drummer behind Big Country.

Foxton formed a small project with Brzezicki and Bruce Watson (guitarist with Big Country) called Casbah Club, sometime within the last 15 years. I was intrigued about the music they made (Big Country is also an obsession of mine) but sadly, no recorded material exists.

Big Jam session about to begin!

From the Jam are playing the Powerstation on 6 March 2024.

Rev. Orange Peel