At 17 I'd been around a bit. I'd been to that there London in the summer of 76 and hung around with some of the up and coming bands of the day. I'd partied with the pistols, Siouxsie Souix and Billy idol. I'd got drunk with Steve Harley and had a minor sesh in the company of the great David Bowie. In short I'd been close enough to get to know some of my hero's and although I haven't got a musical note in my body I knew what I liked. Then I heard that first song of theirs it hit every nerve in my body, my interest was definitely peaked. It lead to me buying that single and being a fan from that day on. It was the Jam and the song was ' In the city' It was probably my age as I now know it isn't the best song ever written, yet it lead on to me seeing them live three times at the fantastically intimate Malvern winter gardens venue and even meeting them briefly before and after one gig. That one song and it's B side was the catalyst for a buying spree that saw me buy every single thing they ever did that included ( in my mind ) the best album ever written and possibly the second best album ever written. The album I regard as the best ever was this one. All mod cons! The second best album ever written and running a close second IMO is ' Setting sons'! Play them loud and tell me you disagree. I lied about the musical note thing. I could get a tune out of a guitar when I was 7, but only old Rock n roll songs, so that doesn't count as music There's no way your best album is better than mine, or is it?
Quite a few Jam fans on here @Fruitcake. I was a bit young, got into them right near the end. Collected all the albums, played them until they were worn out. Then Weller did the SC, not my cuppa, made me loose interest in the Jam and all the Weller works, until he went solo. Don't forget The Gift, that was pretty good too, although very different to Setting Sons and the earlier work. Smithers Jones is a cracker.