Mojo - The Music Magazine

This month's MOJO salutes 30 years since The Gift ended The Jam's run of essential long-players and mainman Paul Weller, to a chorus of wailing and gnashing Modboy teeth, called an end to the group. In our cover story, MOJO's John Harris tells the tale in forensic detail, as Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler revisit that tumultuous time, while Weller's musical progression through funk and jazz into The Style Council's opening salvo is unpicked and Buckler's bonkers retirement present from Polydor is revealed. "Sometimes you've got to be pretentious to go forward," says Weller. And as our audio-visual rundown of his ever-changing moods, 1981-83, tends to suggest, you can't say he didn't try.

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1. The Jam - Absolute Beginners (1981)

The Jam's soulward slant starts here. The beginning of the end and yet, has Paul Weller ever looked cooler? A reminder, too, of the power of former Saturday morning TV staple, Multicoloured Swap Shop.

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2. The Jam - A Town Called Malice (1982)

Remember this? Top Of The Pops unveils new Jam single - too brilliant to herald anything other than a new imperial phase for the group. And yet, that woman at 1.31...

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3. The Jam - Just Who Is The 5 O'clock Hero? (1982)

WATCH VIDEO

Live on Danish telly, a seething version of The Gift's Jammiest track, with its echoes of It's Too Bad and That's Entertainment. But hang on, is the brass in tune? And is that a hint of Weller dragging something heavy uphill?

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4. The Jam - The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow) (1982)

Paul's girlfriend (or perhaps wife, or ex-wife - the chronology is confusing) is snogging Bruce! Now Rick's giving her flowers! Is this the real reason the Jam split up?

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5. The Jam - final Tube appearance, 1982

Weller retires The Jam on Channel 4's revered pop show and plugs Riot Stories books imprint. Then we get Ghosts, In The Crowd, A Town Called Malice, This Is The Modern World...

...Then, as the Jam really start cooking, Move On Up, Beat Surrender and Precious. Start blubbing now!

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6. The Jam - Beat Surrender

And the final Top Of The Pops, with a slight return of the classic, mid-'70s "drummer at the front" vibe. Weller almost looks relieved: "As it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end..."

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7. The Jam - In The Crowd (1982)

Genuine footage of the last show in Brighton, December 21, 1982... or is it? That wasn't John Weller doing the intro, and In The Crowd came six songs in. Can anyone authenticate this?

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8. Paul Weller interview, Nationwide (1982)

WATCH VIDEO

Hugh Scully introduces a prickly seaside chat with the "voice of a new beat generation" on the occasion of his apparent career suicide. Quite a tough grilling, actually: "What about the other two? Are you dumping them?"

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9. Influences 1: Spandau Ballet - Chant No.1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On) (1982)

Weller was cocking an ear to the sleek funk of Kemp & Co's best (some would say, only good) track. Precious, and The Style Council's soon-come Money-Go-Round were in a simpatico vein.

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10. Influences 2: The World Column - So Is The Sun (1969)

Northern Soul stormer somewhat reconfigured for The Gift album's Trans-Global Express.

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11. Influences 3: Pigbag - Papa's Got A Brand New Pig Bag (1982)

Weller-impressing, all-parping yob-groove later appropriated by fans at Middlesbrough and QPR football clubs. Parent album, Dr Heckle & Mr Jive, reissued in 2010 to massive hipster acclaim.

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12. Influences 4: Curtis Mayfield - Keep On Keeping On (1971)

Typically effortless yet content-rich slice of wistful positivism from the ex-Impressions star's second solo album, Roots. Mayfield's Move On Up was already a Jam cover.

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13. Influences 5: Fun Boy 3 With Bananarama - It Ain't What You Do (It's The Way That You Do It) (1982)

Weller recruited both acts to play support for The Jam's Sobell Centre CND shows in October 1981. Testosterone-pumped Jam fans were not impressed, but the sinister pop smarts of this Feb '82, Number 4 single typify the playful, go-anywhere spirit Weller now coveted.

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14. Influences 6: Swingle Singers With The Modern Jazz Quartet - Sascha (aka Little David's Fugue) (1966)

The Style Council's rummest influence? Not-for-everyone Gallic jazz choir invite John Lewis, Milt Jackson, Percy Heath and Connie Kay for a sophisto city break in Paris. The spark that lit Café Bleu.

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15. The Jam - Solid Bond In Your Heart (demo)

In the running to be the last Jam single before being pipped by Beat Surrender, this future Style Council soul-pop smash is arguably better as a rougher-arsed Jam tune. The missing link?

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16. The Style Council - Speak Like A Child (1983)

First Style Council single - with new pal and Respond artist Tracie Young recruited through the pages of Smash Hits magazine - unveils a visibly more relaxed Weller, grooving with his new "links" on an open-top bus. Oi, Health & Safety!

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17. The Style Council - Money Go Round (Part 1) (1983)

Rap and funk meld in what, in the days of Level 42, would have been termed a "workout".

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18. The Style Council - Long Hot Summer (1983)

The start of Weller's exploration of camp that would end, climactically, in this... . How much can one man feel himself up in a punt? The answer: this much.

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19. Liam Gallagher & Steve Cradock - Carnation (1999)

The Gift's second-best song revived by various Ben Shermans out of Oasis and Ocean Colour Scene. Weller helps out on Fender Rhodes. Timeless!