The acclaimed and eclectic new album by Paul Weller affords us the chance to revisit the Jam's back pages in this amusingly Americophobic Creem interview from March 1981.-- Barney Hoskyns, RBP Editorial Director

On a damp, dank Sunday lunchtime the three pasty-faced, unhealthy-looking members of the Jam sit in an uncomfortably functional room in a nondescript London hotel close to Oxford Circus, and consider their new album Sound Affects.

On this latest long-player – the simplicity and directness of which is epitomized by the melodic minimalism of the "Start" single already lifted from it – guitarist Paul Weller, bassist Bruce Foxton, and drummer Rick Buckler have once again worked with producer Vic Coppersmith, who by now appears a major force in the establishing of the busy, bleak sometimes violent sounds of the Jam: for the next time the group record, though, says Foxton, they are searching for an 8-track studio, in which they may well produce themselves.

Earlier this year, the trio played its fourth brief foray of American dates. Unlike most British bands, though, the Jam express no great desire to conquer the States.

"I get very negative about America," says Weller. "In fact, I tend to go over the top about it and generalize much too much. The main thing, though, is that I just don't see the same enthusiasm there. It's so totally different from Europe, and it just becomes so frustrating, because it seems that we've just wasted a lot of time there when we could have been playing to a much more positive response to audiences elsewhere.

"I just get the impression that the majority of Americans just want to be entertained, they seem to need to be coaxed in some way into liking us. They don't seem to see much difference between rock 'n' roll and TV entertainment."

As are most of the post-'76 rockers towards their contemporaries, Weller is derisively dismissive of the Stateside triumphs of such competitors as the Pretenders and the Clash. "Just play their records," he barks gruffly of the Clash, "and you'll see why they did it in the States: 'Train In Vain' sounds like something by Nils Lofgren." Perhaps he should take some comfort in the knowledge that the Clash consider the music of The Jam to be equally contemptible. Bruce Foxton, possibly with some accuracy, dismisses the Police as "just like another Bee Gees."

"I'm beginning to question the whole point of going to America, though," continues Weller. "Why, after you crack England, are you expected to immediately go and break America? It's a bit of a joke: why not Russia or Red China? Pete Townshend said that the reason people go and play in America is that they're the only ones who can speak English. But that's rubbish: the reason bands go there is just for money. Nothing else. The Jam have got much more in common with Europe. I suppose it should really, because the environment our music is coming out of is European."

***

In the UK, the Jam are certainly the most popular of all the credible New Wave Brit Rockers, consistently knocking up number one single hits. Considering the orgasmic reaction the group had received at the Rainbow Theatre the previous evening on the first of the four London dates they were playing to climax their British tour, it is surprising to have to realize the group's large success is limited essentially to this island.

The group seems almost abashed, though, when I mention the degree of reverence with which they are regarded by their British fans – on the tube home from the Rainbow, the train had been crammed full of kids, many clad in the not always desirable late '70s mod style, the blame for which movement many lay about the neck of the '60s-obsessive Weller, metaphorically rocking the carriages with their choir-like renditions of such appropriate Jam near-anthems as "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight."

"That English following's taken four years to get that large," offers Paul. "We've been building it since 1977. Recently it has suddenly got a lot bigger and more fanatical – probably because of the number ones – but really it's the result of a slow build-up over the years. Mind you, we've always had a really strong following: even when it was only 400 people those 400 were a really powerful force.

*** 

Although the Jam were spring-boarded to their current success by the rapid emergence of punk at the end of 1976, the group had already been in existence for nearly three years, although its live work was mainly restricted to dates in the group's home town of Woking, just to the south of London. In retrospect then, does it seem that the group genuinely was a part of the Punk Movement?

"I certainly felt part of it, yeah!" nods Paul. "We didn't call ourselves A Punk Band, because there didn't seem any point – there doesn't seem much point in any of those labels. But I still felt part of it."

Paul Weller has no doubts whatsoever of the place of Punk in the history of rock 'n' roll: "Punk was the most important musical development in our time – certainly! In fact, it's a pity for really young kids today that things seem to have got away from that sense of unity that was around then – now it's all this splintered tribalism.

"It's a shame, really, that something like 2-Tone didn't stay in the clubs for a bit longer, but it did rise very quickly to the big venues."

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