When I
speak to Bruce Foxton, original lead bassist for The Jam, he has just enjoyed a
few week’s off to celebrate the festive season.
As he
begins to list the studio recordings, tours and appearances he and the rest of
the band have coming up it is clear to see that From The Jam are not some kind
of knock off - they’re the real deal.
“Just going over all the things we’ve got
coming up is a bit of a worry actually,” he says.
“I hadn’t
given them much thought but we’ve got loads to do before we fly off to tour
Australia and Abu Dhabi in March.
“It’s like spinning a load of plates, it’s
nuts.”
If The Jam
led the era of new wave music across Britain in the late 1970s and early ‘80s,
From The Jam, is doing a good job of continuing the early success of the band
that became the soundtrack for a generation.
“The songs
we play and wrote have stood the test of times and the people that come to our
gigs are from such a big cross section.
“The
younger ones bring a new, fresh enthusiasm but it’s great to see Jam fans all
that little bit older.
“We keep
selling out shows so the demand is obviously there, if it wasn’t I wouldn’t be
doing it.”
During his
time in The Jam, Bruce performed lead vocals on several tracks, most notably
the singles, ‘David Watts’ and ‘News of the World’ - which was his own
composition.
He also
penned a number of other tracks and reworked with strings for the Setting Sons
LP.
“I
contributed to these tracks and I still like playing them,” he said.
“I can’t
see the point in trying to deny your past, we’re not a covers band and I’m
fortunate in that we’ve got a huge back catalogue to choose from and that
there’s not one track in there where I think ‘oh not this one,’ I love the set
and love giving them another run.
After The
Jam split in ’82, Bruce pursued a solo career and collaborated with other
musicians until he got the call from Stiff Little Fingers’ Jake Burns to join
the band. He played bass with them for fifteen years, recording four albums,
but left in 2006.
It has
been over seven years now since Bruce and original drummer for The Jam, Rick
Buckler got together to form From The Jam.
“We gave
it some serious thought,” said Bruce.
“We wanted
to do the songs justice and when we started performing them again during
rehearsals it gave us a real buzz – it just felt right.”
Guitarist
Russell Hastings, who has been working with Bruce since 2006 and who co-wrote
his last album, made up the trio. He is also the only frontman to work with
both Bruce and Buckler since Paul Weller.
“Russell
has been totally accepted by the fans,” said Bruce.
“He’s
proved himself and it just works.”
Although
Rick left in 2009, the group carried on with replacement drummer, Smiley, whose
work with everyone from Joe Strummer to Robbie Williams has made him one of the
most sought after drummers on the planet.
“We’ve
been writing new material in the studio together for some time now and we’re
slowly starting to introduce these tracks into our shows but ultimately people
want to hear the songs The Jam were known for.
“We’d get
lynched if we didn’t play Town Called Malice or Going Underground, people want
to hear those songs live again and it’s great that over 35 years on since they
were first released they’re still popular.
“The tag
line for the show is: ‘The public gets what the public wants’ and that sums it
up really, we’ll give ‘em what they want to hear.”
From The
Jam will be appearing at the Victoria Hall, Hanley on January 25. Tickets can
be purchased from the box office on 0844 871 7649.
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