Bruce Douglas Foxton (born 1 September 1955) is an English singer, songwriter and musician.

Foxton's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as bassist and backing vocalist of punk rock and mod revival band the Jam. He occasionally performed the lead vocals, such as on the songs '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, and played in several bands, including Sharp with former Jam member Rick Buckler, before joining Stiff Little Fingers in 1990.

Artist: The Jam Album: The Gift Release: 1982 All Copyright goes to 'the best band in the F'ackin World' The Jam.

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[edit]

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]

1. Tracklist: 1 The Dreams of Children 2 Tales from the Riverbank 3 Liza Radley 4 Move on Up 5 Shopping 6 Smithers-Jones 7 Pop Art Poem 8 Boy.
2. Album JAM Project – The Age of Dragon Knights (2020.01.01/MP3/RAR) Popular Posts Weekly Cosplay Nikumikyo きょう肉肉 Nikumikyo Vol.1 – Vol.24 531 views.

Career[edit]

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. He had minor UK hits in 1983 and 1984 with the singles 'Freak', '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 2006, Foxton toured with Bruce Watson, Mark Brzezicki and Simon Townshend as the Casbah Club. When this band supported the Who in the UK, Foxton encountered Paul Weller backstage for the first time in nearly 25 years.

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]

Personal life[edit]

In early 2009, Foxton's wife of 25 years Pat, who had worked in public relations for United Artists and CBS, died of breast cancer.^[13]

Bruce is now married to Kate Foxton (nee Farrow)

Discography[edit]

With The Jam[edit]

Solo[edit]

Studio albums

Singles

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abJohn Reed (5 November 2009). Paul Weller: My Ever Changing Moods. Omnibus Press. pp. 60–63. ISBN978-0-85712-049-6.
2. ^Sharon Davis (6 January 2012). 80s Chart-Toppers: Every Chart-Topper Tells a Story. Mainstream Publishing. p. 147. ISBN978-1-78057-411-0.
3. ^'The Jam Information Pages – by Kevin Lock'. Thejam.org.uk. 11 April 2007. Archived from the original on 16 August 2013.
4. ^Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (4 October 1980). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 32. ISSN0006-2510.
5. ^ ^abcRoberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 211. ISBN1-904994-10-5.
6. ^'Two-Thirds Of The Jam Reuniting For Tour'. Billboard.
7. ^'The Jam to Play Australia – Without Frontman'. ABC 'Dig Radio'. 11 December 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
8. ^'From The Jam 2007 tour'. Noble PR. 2007. Archived from the original on 24 July 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2007.
9. ^'Photographic press agency and picture library'. Rex Features. 5 May 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
10. ^'Back in the Room – Bruce Foxton : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards'. AllMusic. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
11. ^'Bruce Foxton - Smash The Clock'. Discogs. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
12. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 9 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
13. ^'Jam star wife's funeral draws mourners including PM's wife Sarah Brown and Spandau Ballet's Tony Hadley'. Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2011.

External links[edit]

• Bruce Foxton at AllMusic
• Bruce Foxton discography at Discogs
• Bruce Foxton on IMDb

In an article for Time Out in March 1982, Pete Townshend wrote of his initial encounters with the young Paul Weller. Despite both being of the mod ilk, the pair clashed on the importance of breaking the American market – among other things. The Jam’s frontman, though a fan of early Who, saw the band then as one of the 'establishment rock acts' that punk had burst out against and wasn’t interested in Townshend’s seemingly commercial motivations. Townshend, both in admiration and in question of Weller’s white-knuckled grasp of his principles, wrote: “As I approach my forties I find it harder to give my time to the proudly independent desperation of the young. I tend to think hard before committing myself in a song or an interview the way Weller does without fail. And yet he feels old at 24. Will it happen to him too?”

It was just a few short months after Townshend’s words were published that Weller announced to his bandmates that The Jam were over.

Punk was completely dead by 1982. The surviving bands who had risen from the working classes to rebel against stadium rock were now looking at much bigger venues, bigger money, and in Weller’s case, a bigger moral dilemma. The Jam’s energy was still electric, and Weller’s political convictions still seethed, yet he was becoming more and more aware of the contradiction in becoming an ‘over-25’ idol of the dissatisfied youth.

Beyond that, Weller’s song writing had become more sophisticated, his voice both on paper and on record had gained range and depth. His musical direction was also shifting. His intensified love of 60s soul of the Stax and Tamla/Motown variety had given him a vision for The Jam’s next album, one he would ultimately struggle to actualize.

Their sixth and final record, The Gift is only barely a Jam album, so it’s fairly unsurprising that many fans of the band wouldn’t rank it among the group’s best. Yet for the Paul Weller fan – who names himself a fan of both The Jam and the Style Council, as well as the man’s wildly varied solo career – this is a cornerstone of his catalogue. It’s Weller with one foot out the door, only a Jam album with a Jam sound because Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler are making themselves known. A rhythm section so distinctive that their timbre comes through on even the most divisive of Weller’s musical sidesteps.

The band may have been tighter than ever before but Weller was gagging to loosen up. He was realising that he had not only outgrown his fanbase, but also his band’s line-up.

Despite suffering the beginnings of Weller’s self-exile, The Gift has some undeniably Jam-esque moments, such as the opener ‘Happy Together’, bereft of the horns that feature on much of the record and also featuring the familiar serrated guitars and front-mixed Rickenbacker bass that characterized the band from the start. ‘Just Who Is The 5 O’Clock Hero’ perfectly illustrates lyrically the challenges faced in the lives of the modernly mundane – in this case inspired by seeing his father John coming home from work every day “covered in shit and aches and pains” – in the way that only The Jam’s Weller could. In contrast ‘Carnation’, a realization of the innate dark side in everyone, wears its anguish on its sleeve with mournful chord changes. Lastly, the often-overlooked ‘Running On the Spot’ has everything an excellent Jam tune should, but polished to a tinny sheen. The rhythm is so solid and the harmonies so tight, all over the usual potent social observations such as: “Out in the pastures we call society/ You can't see further than the bottom of your glass”.

And then there are the tracks that clearly show Weller struggling with the limitations of The Jam in articulating his new direction. The most obvious of these is ‘The Planner’s Dream Goes Wrong’. Appropriately prefixed by Foxton’s clunky ‘Circus’ instrumental, ‘Planner’s’ is indicative of the bubbly positivity abstracting a truly grim political point that would be common in the Style Council era with tunes like ‘Come To Milton Keynes’. Yet the song falls flat on its face with a calypso beat and steel drums manhandled into the mix, overpowering the message.

Weller’s message was also changing in his songwriting. Themes of unity pervade the usual disenchantment; he’d begun to offer suggestions and solutions along with his social commentary – seemingly more confident in his political leanings. ‘Trans-Global Express’, the spoken word call-to-arms is certainly a sign of what was to come, but the lyrics are so buried in the production that they are virtually inaudible. Still the Stax-style romp laying over it is great fun, even if the words are telling the world to strike and “see the hands of oppression fumble/and their systems crash to the ground”. Perhaps that political nerve still had a ways to go.

But The Gift has its outright successes, where the soul influence found its place among The Jam’s sound. Oddly, they all seem to be accompanied by some manner of direct lift from another tune. ‘Town Called Malice’ for one, nicks the beat and bassline from The Supremes’ ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’, but pairs it sublimely with a cutting look at Thatcher’s Britain. The other tune on ‘Malice’’s double A-side single, ‘Precious’ gives more than homage to ‘Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag’, but again the funk bassline seems to suit Foxton perfectly. Then there’s the title track, infectiously soulful with bubbly lyrics full of moving and grooving, topped off with a riff-lift from the Small Faces’ ‘Don’t Burst My Bubble’.

Jam Gift Pack

Set apart from the others is possibly the highlight of the record: ‘Ghosts’. A testament to Weller’s now finely tuned soft touch, beginning with sliding bass and a low register whisper, joined by brass, hand claps and a soaring vocal – beautifully expressive of the pursuit of happiness he’s encouraging.

It’s been 30 years since The Gift was released and, as is customary, the record has been repackaged and supplemented as an anniversary issue. The ‘super deluxe’ package out now is comprised of three CDs and one DVD, including demos (often recorded entirely by Weller himself), instrumentals and alternate versions of the original album tracks as well as b-sides and many other additional pieces relevant to this particular era of The Jam. Disc three contains the live set from the Jam’s Wembley appearance on December 3rd 1982 and the DVD boasts a collection of promos, live performances and TV appearances from the time. All in all it’s about as complete as you can get when it comes to showing where the Jam were as a band, and where Weller was going.

Importantly, the collection includes the two 1982 singles that were not on The Gift’s tracklist: ‘The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had to Swallow)’ and the band’s swansong chart-topper ‘Beat Surrender’. The former of these is a real precursor to the Style Council – a point cemented by the demo (also in the collection), which is so completely realized that Foxton and Buckler were redundant by the final take. Similarly, soul covers ‘Move On Up’, ‘War’ and ‘Stoned Out of My Mind’ have more a Weller stamp than a Jam one – it’s even been reported that Weller used a drum machine for the latter two.

But if anything could have suggested a future for The Jam, it’s the punchy ‘Pity Poor Alfie’, which appears on the new edition of The Gift in in two versions: the first undulating into ‘Fever’ and the second, a swing number. It stands out from the rest of the soul numbers and from the group’s usual sound, almost big-band-like; yet there’s something intrinsically Jam-like about it. Buckler and Foxton are on incredible form here, certainly enough to bring curiosity on what could have come next had they remained a trio and just applied a touch of the Style Council revolving line-up on the next record.

However, while I’ve been happy to see many bands hop the reunion bandwagon in recent years – especially the ones who either because of age or geography evaded me previously – I hope that The Jam never do. This, simply for the reason that respect for the group’s legacy and for Weller’s convictions is very much tied up in the circumstances of their demise. The Gift is inerrable proof of his foresight.

In truth, I don’t think The Jam will come together again. Anyone who believes otherwise need only look to Weller’s dark ages in the early 90s following his reviled too-early romp with house music, which saw the Style Council dropped from their label and subsequently disbanded. By all accounts he was a man lost, confused and distrustful of the instincts he had relied on so heavily throughout his career. Yet even among that insecurity, the idea of reforming The Jam for what would have undoubtedly been a massively lucrative and fanatically welcomed outing, remained unappealing to Weller. Keeping in mind that the man has yet another solo album hit under his belt from just earlier this year, I think all of the ‘just Jam’ fans out there shouldn’t hold their breath. Besides, as one of Pete Townshend’s cutting, apt observations of Weller’s nature concluded: 'I have never come across any other artist or writer so afraid of appearing hypocritical.” It’s Weller’s greatest personality flaw, which has also proved to be his greatest artistic strength. Just as he couldn’t bear being an old man leading the young, he also could not claim to be a progressive, ever-changing artist if he repeated himself. The Jam ended with a number one album and number one single, a death with dignity for which we should all be grateful.

Animal Jam Rare Gift Sleigh

The super deluxe box of The Gift is out now on Universal