I got into the Jam a long time after everyone else. I'd hated all the songs I was supposed to have liked; 'Going Underground', 'That's Entertainment' and the truly awful 'Town Called Malice'. It wasn't until a friend let me borrow his vinyl copy of Snap! that I finally started to see some worth in Weller's song-writing. I liked odd songs a lot and tended to buy the LP's that they came from with 'Sound Affects', 'The Gift' and 'Setting Sons' my personal favourites.
I listened to them through college, long after everyone else had loved them and moved onto the Style Council. I guess it was the fact that no-one was interested in them anymore that made them more underground in my mind, and weirdly more enjoyable.
I could have picked a whole host of Jam songs, but I've gone for 'Thick as Thieves'. It's a low key tale of friendship with clashing guitars and belting drums that tells you everything you need to know about the group. If I were you, I'd treat everything Weller did before 1978 with caution and you really shouldn't touch anything after 1982 with a barge pole. The present day Weller output is up there with David Bowie as the worst middle-aged offerings from any artist in the history of music.
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