In the City

The debut album from influential UK mod band the Jam came out in 1977. Blending the sound of punk/new wave with mid-sixties Who and choppy, taut, edgy guitar playing à la Dr Feelgood’s Wilco Johnson, the album is a mix of vocalist/guitarist Paul Weller originals and R’n’B covers. Their first single, the title track, is an all-time great rock debut, powerful, fresh and burning with all the energy and frustration of youth. Weller’s songwriting here is still in embryonic form and this is just the merest hint of the greatness that was to come.