 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
The Jam were certainly one of the very best bands
to come out of the entire U.K.
punk/New Wave explosion--perhaps better than the
Clash and the Sex Pistols combined.
It's often been argued that they were much too British to make it in
America, and, for once,
such an argument might actually be correct.
Starting out as a full-on punk unit (with '60s
British mod affectations), the power
trio--fronted by Paul Weller, and also featuring Bruce Foxton and Rick
Buckler--
continued to evolve throughout their all-too brief career. And by the
third LP,
Weller's romantic pessimism about England (and the world) merged with a
newfound melodic sense,
creating songs nearly as good as the ones his idols,
Ray Davies and Pete Townshend, were serving a decade before.
The band never did crack the U.S. market, however (they were superstars
in the U.K. and Japan),
and after a latter flirtation with a more white R&B-ish/soul revue
(complete with horns during their final tour),
Weller disbanded the Jam to form Style Council, and then to pursue an
acclaimed (at least in England) solo career.
The uninitiated may want to start their Jam quest with Compact Snap!
(though the CD has been shortened from the vinyl version) and Extras,
both excellent compilations.
many years ago i was born. then i grew up. as my friends know, i
neverreally had a place to belong. during high school i discovered
hardcore andpunk rock. the music was fun. (this story takes a bit....)
then i met thisskinhead named jamie. we went to shows, and had a grand
time. he taughtme about skins, and their origins. i learned alot. by my
junior year, iwas considered a "skinhead." this went on for some time,
as imoved away from hardcore and into ska and oi. then came the rise
into thepeople who are a cut above. with my growing fondness for brit
pop, i startedlistening to the Who, Small Faces, the Jam, booker T
& the MGs, andother more "mod" musics. the culture was always
inside me, butwithin the past two years, it has come more to the
surface. now, i considermyself a mod. yes i have a parka. i like the
way it looks, and it's warm.having always been a sharp dresser, the
transition was gradual, and easy.to me mod is that forward looking
mentality embodied in everything the modsdo. i'm always looking to
coorespond with people
How does Morrissey write his lyrics ?
He keeps a notepad on which he writes phrases for future reference. In
the days of The Smiths, the group would hand him a ready-made song,
which he would take away, and come back a few days later with full
lyrics and a full vocal.
Aren't the songs Asian Rut ,The National Front Disco and Bengali In
Platforms racist ?
Ah, the old "is Morrissey a racist?" discussion. This conversation has
been beaten to death numerous times on Smiths lists and (surprise) a
conclusion was never come to. Many feel he is speaking from the
character's (who may be racist) point of view. Others think these are
Morrissey's own true feelings and that he "proved it" by wrapping
himself in the Union Jack flag while in concert in '92, an event thrown
into sharp contrast by the recent Britpop "explosion" which saw many
British artists wearing and identifying with "fascist emblems" such as
this, with nary a whisper from the press. At the heat of the racist
debate, the frankly despicable former NME editor Steve Sutherland
wondered if Morrissey's alleged racism "might be a gay thing". Which
goes to show the level of discussion of the topic at that point.
Another spin has been added to this argument recently as Morrissey
issued a press release concerning the album Maladjusted with the
pseudonym Stoney Hando. Hando is the name of the lead skinhead
character in the 1992 Australian film "Romper Stomper".
