Foxton's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as bassist and backing vocalist of mod revival band the Jam. He occasionally performed the lead vocals, such as on the songs "Carnaby Street", "News of the World", "David Watts" and "Smithers-Jones". After the band's break-up, he pursued a brief solo career releasing one studio album, Touch Sensitive, in 1984. The album's single "Freak" became a UK Top 20 hit in 1983. He played in several bands, including Sharp with former Jam member Rick Buckler, before joining Stiff Little Fingers in 1990.
After leaving SLF in 2007, Foxton officially joined Rick Buckler and members of his tribute band, The Gift, to tour under the name From the Jam.
Early life and education
Bruce Douglas Foxton was born the youngest of three boys on 1 September 1955, in Woking, Surrey, England, to parents Henry and Helen.[1][2] He grew up at 126 Albert Drive, Sheerwater where he was born, and attended Sheerwater Junior and Secondary where he showed great skill in football and technical drawing. In 1972, he left school to work with his brother Derek at a printing firm. While there, he formed a band with his colleagues at work but he abandoned the project out of frustration due to lack of progress and instead chose to join The Jam, although at the beginning he had doubts about the band's frequent covers of old hits.[1]
Career
The Jam performing live in Newcastle upon Tyne during their Trans-global Unity tour, 1982.
Together with drummer Rick Buckler he formed the rhythm section for The Jam, which was fronted by singer, guitarist and songwriter Paul Weller. Foxton initially joined the band as lead guitarist (Weller played bass), but the pair switched roles following the departure of guitarist Steve Brookes. During his time with the band Foxton performed lead vocals on several tracks, most notably the singles "David Watts" (a cover of a Kinks track) and "News of the World", which was his own composition. Foxton also penned a number of other tracks, the most notable being "Smithers-Jones", done as a straightforward rock take for the B-side of "When You're Young" and later reworked with strings for the Setting Sons album. After Foxton joined Stiff Little Fingers in 1990 the band would regularly perform the song live.
Whilst in The Jam, Foxton discovered the new wave band the Vapors and offered them two appearances on the May 1979 tour of The Jam. The band was managed by John Weller, Paul's father.[4] The Vapors enjoyed greater success in the US than The Jam, with the Top 40 single "Turning Japanese", but broke up shortly thereafter.
After The Jam broke-up in 1982, Foxton pursued a brief solo career and released the studio album, Touch Sensitive, in 1984. The album's single "Freak" became a UK Top 20 hit in 1983. He had other minor UK hits in 1983 and 1984 with the singles "This Is the Way" and "It Makes Me Wonder",[5] and played in several bands, including Sharp with former Jam member Rick Buckler, before joining Stiff Little Fingers.
He stayed with Stiff Little Fingers for 15 years, during which time they recorded five albums, namely, Flags and Emblems, Get a Life, Tinderbox, Hope Street and Guitar and Drum. During his time with the band, he wrote and co-wrote several tracks and, along with lead singer Jake Burns, managed the band for a while after Russel Emmanuel relinquished the role.
In 1994, Foxton and Buckler collaborated on Our Story, a biography of their years in The Jam. It was around this time he became a source of fascination for comedians Stewart Lee and Richard Herring on their BBC Radio 1 music shows.
In February 2007, Foxton and Buckler announced they would be touring together again as From the Jam, with members of Buckler's Jam tribute band the Gift.[6] In March 2008, they toured Australia[7] and New Zealand – a first for Foxton and Buckler. A complete concert (recorded at the London Astoria in December 2007) was released on DVD in 2008 through the London-based indie label Invisible Hands Music.[8]
On 5 May 2009, Foxton attended the funeral of Paul Weller's father John, who had been instrumental in The Jam's success.[9] Foxton played bass and contributed backing vocals on the songs "Fast Car/Slow Traffic" and "She Speaks" included on Weller's solo album, Wake Up the Nation, released in April 2010. On 25 May 2010, at the Royal Albert Hall, Foxton joined Weller onstage for the first time in 28 years, to perform three songs, "Fast Car/Slow Traffic", "The Eton Rifles" and "The Butterfly Collector".
On 1 October 2012, Foxton released Back in the Room, his first album in 30 years. It was funded by fans through PledgeMusic and released on Absolute via Universal.[10] Co-written with From the Jam singer Russell Hastings and featuring drummer Mark Brzezicki, guest musicians included Paul Weller. Weller performed on three tracks, the single "Number Six", "Window Shopping" and "Coming on Strong".
In November 2016, Smash the Clock, a second collaboration with Russell Hastings, was released on Absolute to generally favourable reviews.[11] Once again it featured a number of well known guest musicians, including Paul Weller. "Get Ready to Rock" online magazine/blog in their review wrote "Foxton and Hastings may not thank me for saying it, but this is probably the best album Paul Weller never made"[12] In December 2017, Foxton released the album From The Jam Live! with Hastings.[13] In 2020, Foxton and Hastings celebrated the 40th anniversary of The Jam’s 4th album Setting Sons with a From The Jam tour that involved The Vapors as the original support act on The Jam's 1979 Setting Sons tour. Because of the Covid pandemic, the tour was eventually postponed to 2021.[14] In October 2022, The Butterfly Effect, Foxton's third collaboration with Hastings, was released on Absolute.[15]
The Jam were an English mod revival/punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1982, including four number one hits. As of 2007, "That's Entertainment" and "Just Who Is the 5 O'Clock Hero?" remain the best-selling import singles of all time in the UK. They released one live album and six studio albums, the last of which, The Gift, reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. When the group disbanded in 1982, their first 15 singles were re-released and all placed within the top 100.
Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star, doing rock covers, until they discovered punk. They were the first punk band in Belfast to release a record – the "Suspect Device" single came out on their own independent label, Rigid Digits. Their album Inflammable Material, released in partnership with Rough Trade, became the first independent LP to enter the UK top 20.
The Vapors are an English new wave and power pop band that initially existed between 1978 and 1981. They had a hit with the song "Turning Japanese", which reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart in 1980 and No. 36 in the US Billboard Hot 100.
A tribute act, tribute band, tribute group or tribute artist is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act. Tribute acts include individual performers who mimic the songs and style of an artist, such as Elvis impersonators covering the works of Elvis Presley or groups like The Iron Maidens, an all-female band that pays tribute to Iron Maiden.
In the City is the debut studio album by British band the Jam. Released in May 1977 by Polydor Records, the album reached No. 20 on the UK Albums Chart.
This Is the Modern World is the second studio album by British band the Jam, released in November 1977. The album was released less than six months after their debut album In the City, and reached No. 22 on the UK Albums Chart.
The Gift is the sixth and final studio album by English new wave/mod revival band the Jam. It was originally released on 12 March 1982 by Polydor as the follow-up to the Jam's critically and commercially successful 1980 album Sound Affects. The songs were largely recorded during 1981 to 1982, at George Martin's Air Studios, assisted by Peter Wilson, and is generally regarded as the culmination of the smoother sound of the band's later work. It was one of the band's most successful studio albums, reaching No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart.
Paul Richard Buckler is an English musician who is the former drummer of The Jam.
The Bishop David Brown School is a mixed academy status secondary school located in Sheerwater, (Woking), Surrey, England.
Sheerwater F.C. are a Non-League football club who are based in Sheerwater, in Woking, Surrey, England. They play their home fixtures at the Eastwood Centre and are members of the Combined Counties League Premier Division South.
Sharp were an English new wave band active during the mid-1980s, featuring former Jam members Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released one standalone single, in 1986.
The Sound of the Jam is a compilation album and the fifth greatest hits album by the group The Jam, released to mark their twenty-fifth anniversary. It contains a remixed version of 'That's Entertainment', featuring only the guitars and vocals of the demo version; and without the bass, drums and percussion.
"When You're Young" was the eighth single released by the Jam. The single was released on 17 August 1979, and charted at number 17 in the UK Singles Chart on 8 September. The B-Side of the single, "Smithers-Jones", is a guitar-based recording of this song, as opposed to the all-strings arrangement composed at the suggestion of the band's drummer, Rick Buckler, and included on their fourth album, Setting Sons.
"Funeral Pyre" is The Jam's thirteenth single released on 29 May 1981. Backed by the B-side "Disguises", a cover of a Who track, it reached No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart.
"Beat Surrender" was The Jam's final single, and was released on 22 November 1982. It became the band's fourth and last No. 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in December 1982.
Masterswitch was an English rock band active in the late 1970s.
Casbah Club is a British mod rock band formed in Finchley, London in 2004.
Mark Michael Brzezicki is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the Scottish rock band Big Country. He has also played with the Cult, Ultravox, From the Jam, Procol Harum, Rick Astley, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Roger Daltrey, Fish, Steve Harley, Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw, the Pretenders, Thunderclap Newman, Tiffany, Midge Ure, Pete Townshend and many others. Brzezicki was also the sole drummer on Shine, the second English-language studio album by Swedish singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad of ABBA. He uses both the traditional and matched grips.
From the Jam are an English band, initially formed in 2006 as The Gift by former the Jam drummer Rick Buckler, playing material from the Jam with musicians Russell Hastings and David Moore. In 2006, former Jam member Bruce Foxton performed on stage with the Gift, and later joined the band permanently as bassist; at this point the group changed its name to From the Jam.
Time UK were a mid-1980s English rock band with Rick Buckler, the former drummer with the Jam. The group released three singles.
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