‘In The City’: The story of The Jam’s suburbanite dream
Despite what nostalgia merchants might tell you, the 1970s was a pretty grim time in the United Kingdom. Characterised by union strikes, rising unemployment, and rolling blackouts, one of the only avenues of excitement for Britain’s youth during that time was music and culture. Particularly with the advent of punk rock, budding young artists channelled their disenfranchisement into a defiantly DIY style of music that subverted expectations and allowed young groups like The Jam to get a foothold in the music world.
Although they first established themselves within punk clubs like The Roxy, Paul Weller and The Jam actually predated the age of safety pins and hepatitis, first getting together as teenagers in 1972. Another way that Weller and Co differed from their punk contemporaries was in image. While bands like The Sex Pistols or The Clash were bedecked in bondage trousers and ripped T-shirts, The Jam were staunchly modernist in their look, favouring 1960s-style suits and sharp haircuts.
These differences reflected The Jam’s unique sound and origin story. Unlike many groups of the punk age, the trio was not born from an inner-city squat or a group of art school students; they hailed from the typical suburban town of Woking in Surrey. Weller took much more songwriting inspiration from the likes of The Kinks or The Beatles than the abrasive distortion emanating from the speakers at a Sex Pistols gig. Nevertheless, the band’s debut single felt right at home within the rebellious landscape of punk rock.
Released in the spring of 1977, at the height of punk’s relevance, ‘In The City’ introduced audiences across the nation to the songwriting talents of Paul Weller. As opposed to the band’s more mature, soul-inspired tracks, which would arrive only a few years later, the debut single featured the kind of guitar-heavy aggression and adrenaline-fueled delivery that was synonymous with the punk rock scene. In terms of its lyrical content, however, the song was firmly rooted in the suburban upbringing of Weller and The Jam.
“It was the sound of young Woking, if not London,” Weller once told Q, calling the single “A song about trying to break out of suburbia.” For all the differences between The Jam and the blossoming punk scene, the emergence of these revolutionary groups in London still provided hope to the Woking-born songwriter. “As far as we were concerned, the city was where it was all happening; the clubs, the gigs, the music, the music,” he shared.
Continuing, the Modfather recalled, “I was probably 18, so it was a young man’s song, a suburbanite dreaming of the delights of London and the excitement of the city.” The Jam soon eclipsed the fledgling punk scene once they realised that their Burton suits and adoration of The Beatles put them at odds with the patrons of The Roxy Club. However, Weller never forgot the incredible opportunities that the punk explosion gave him.
“It was an exciting time to be alive,” he said. “London was coming out of its post-hippy days and there was a new generation taking over.” Explaining the role of ‘In The City’ in that new generation, Weller shared, “The song captured that wide-eyed innocence of coming out of a very small community and entering a wider world, seeing all the bands, meeting people, going to the clubs, and the freedom that it held.”
Not only did ‘In The City’ earn The Jam notoriety within the punk scene, it also gave them their first taste of mainstream success, reaching number 40 in the UK singles charts. In the months and years that followed, Weller and the gang continued that success with a streak of 18 consecutive top 40 singles, which finished with their farewell single ‘Beat Surrender’, which spent two weeks at number one in 1982.
,
