THE JAM
The Complete Jam On Film (Universal, 2xDVD)
In my book the coolest moment in The Jam's on camera history was their 1978 appearance on
Top Of The Pops performing 'News Of The World'. This alas is not in this collection, although the official video featuring a gum chewing cocksure Weller of said title is. How 'complete' therefore this set actually is must be open to question. What is on the two shiny discs however are some very exciting moments. All the A sides from the pure punk energy of 1977's'In The City' to the uncomfortable and badly dated attempt at video story telling in 1982's 'The Bitterest Pill' for starters. It is though the live material that
really gets the adrenaline pumping. There are the guest appearances on long-gone (and lamented) regional TV shows such as
So It Goes, Revolver and Something Else as well as from The Marc (Bolan) Show and
Old Grey Whistle Test. Live footage from Newcastle City Hall and Swedish and Dutch pop shows and from their later period, their full (?) set from
The Tube in 1982 sparkle. Even through the uncomfortable live interview for Swedish television between songs by a hapless compere: "What is your next song about?" she ventures; "Scampi and Chips" quips an unimpressed Weller. He is equally as unforthcoming about his future post-Jam plans to a hesitant Murial Grey in the dressing room immediately before The Jam's
Tube set in '82. There's a short (but unremarkable) documentary and multi-angle scrapbook to boot. Overall there is not really a duff musical moment on these DVDs which is a tribute to the longevity and still vital relevance of The Jam's work. What also stands out (not being a Jam obsessive myself, although I still have the souvenir of my £1.00 advance purchase ticket stub from a Brighton Top Rank 1977 show!) was how vital Bruce Foxton's bass playing was to the Jam sound. Coming from the 'The Jam are a punk band not a mod band' generation, I can now quite see in retrospect how glaring the '60s references were all the time. For eighteen year-olds in
1977-78 however they were often too subtle for many ears and were just equated with the loud guitar sounds of other favoured young noisemeisters of the era . The class of and confidence in their material allowed these three young men to totally 'own' even large stages where you might expect such a frugal line-up to be dwarfed. From the 1977 sweat shower of London's Vortex club to the session man horn backed soul stylings of their 1982
Tube set, The Jam never (to me anyway) ever sounded like they had lost the plot. These DVDs are a fabulous romp through the Jam's career and development and should be in everyone's collection
Paul Martin
THE TOMORROW PEOPLE
The Slaves Of Jedikiah
The Medusa Strain
The Vanishing Earth
The Blue And The Green (Revelation, DVD)
Brits (and I believe, Canadians) of a certain age will remember hiding behind the sofa when
Doctor Who came on in the evenings and having the ghoulies returning from school
in the late afternoon to watch ITV's teen-version
The Tomorrow People. I'm just old enough to remember Dudley Sutton's electronica spiced theme, having shivers run down my spine, and turning over the channel to watch the far less nerve-inducing
Blue Peter on BBC1. After all, the opening credits and theme were perhaps the scariest thing about the whole show!!! But what a tune!
The shows in themselves were lo-fi beyond belief; the floating-in-the-ether lava lamp, psychedelic light segments are a joy to behold, the acting is of the Children Film Foundation middle-classed voiced twerp variety, and of course, features one exemplary put-on working-class accent!! The stories, although at times simple, are engaging Sci-Fi, and with the DVDs' commentaries from cast and crew, comical.
Classic '70s kids TV of the prog rock era! And... I'm not at all scared anymore!
Jon 'Mojo' Mills
