The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 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.
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company intends to be the initial focus of promotional efforts and radio airplay, with the aim of it becoming a hit record. The B-side is a secondary recording that typically receives less attention, although some B-sides have been as successful as, or more so than, their A-sides.
Soft Cell are an English synth-pop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. The duo consists of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The band are primarily known for their 1981 hit version of "Tainted Love" and their platinum-selling debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.
Michael Stock is an English songwriter, record producer, musician, and member of the songwriting and production trio Stock Aitken Waterman. He has been responsible for over a hundred top-40 hits in the UK, including 16 Number One's and is recognised as one of the most successful songwriters of all time by the Guinness World Records. As part of Stock Aitken Waterman in the 1980s and 90s, he holds the UK record of 11 number one records with different acts. In the UK Singles Chart he has written 54 top-ten hits including 7 number ones.
Paul John Weller is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the band the Jam in the late-1970s. Following the dissolution of the Jam in 1982, he changed musical style and had further success with the Style Council (1983–1989), before establishing himself as a solo artist with his eponymous 1992 album.
Bis are a Scottish indie pop band composed of Steven Clark, John Clark, and Amanda MacKinnon, formed in 1994. The band's name, rhyming with 'this', derives from "black iron skyline", a lyric from the song "Twilight of a Champion" by The The.
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.
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" is a song by English rock band Joy Division, released in June 1980 as a non-album single. Its lyrics were inspired by lead singer Ian Curtis's marital problems and struggles with epilepsy. The single was released the month after his suicide.
Setting Sons is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Jam, released on 16 November 1979 by Polydor Records. It reached No. 4 in the UK Albums Chart upon the first week of release, continuing the commercial favour that had begun with their previous album All Mod Cons.
Sound Affects is the fifth studio album by English rock band the Jam. The album was released on 28 November 1980 by Polydor Records. It is the only Jam album to be co-produced by the band themselves, and contains the only album track co-written by the entire band, "Music for the Last Couple".
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. Generally regarded as the culmination of the smoother sound of the band's later work, it was one of their most successful studio albums, reaching No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart.
"Start!" is the eleventh UK single release by the band The Jam and their second number-one, following "Going Underground"/"Dreams of Children". Upon its release on 15 August 1980, it debuted at number three, and two weeks later reached number one for one week. Written by Paul Weller and produced by Vic Coppersmith-Heaven and The Jam, "Start!" was the lead single from the band's fifth album Sound Affects. The single's B-side is "Liza Radley".
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-selling singles in the United Kingdom, based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and streaming. The Official Chart, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and MTV, is the UK music industry's recognised official measure of singles and albums popularity because it is the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, today surveying over 15,000 retailers and digital services daily, capturing 99.9% of all singles consumed in Britain across the week, and over 98% of albums. To be eligible for the chart, a single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with a minimum sale price of 40 pence. The rules have changed many times as technology has developed, the most notable being the inclusion of digital downloads in 2005 and streaming in July 2014.
"Strange Town" is a 1979 single by the Jam. The single was released on 9 March 1979 and reached No. 15 in the UK Singles Chart on 8 April. In 1983 it was certified Silver for 250,000 sales
"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 the reissue of their fourth album, Setting Sons.
"Town Called Malice" is a song recorded by British band the Jam from the album The Gift. It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart in February 1982.
"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.
"Farewell to the Fairground" is a song by London-based indie rock band White Lies. It was released on 23 March 2009 by Fiction Records. It was their third single from debut album To Lose My Life..., and fourth single overall. The band recorded a video for the track with director Andreas Nilsson, filmed in Nikel, Russia.
Ruby Trax - The NME's Roaring Forty is a compilation album released by the 'rock inkie' (newspaper) NME in 1992 to commemorate 40 years of publication. The album features 40 cover versions of classic Number 1 songs by popular bands of the era, though as the NME based it on the NME's own chart, some songs did not reach number one on the British Market Research Bureau/Gallup chart. It was released in the following formats: three LPs (NME40LP), three CDs (NME40CD) or two cassettes (NME40MC), all having a total of 40 songs.
