‘What’re you trying to say that you haven’t tried to say before?’

Yep, it’s the ‘Time for Truth’. After spending much of 2023 working on Wild! Wild! Wild! A People’s History of Slade, I can reveal a few basic details of my next project with Richard Houghton at Spenwood Books, a fresh celebration of The Jam.

A cornerstone in my own music journey, The Jam resonated from the moment I first heard them – I’m thinking ‘Modern World’ on the radio, late ’77, aged 10 – and it still pains me that I never caught them in concert. By the time of their December ’82 split, I was 15 and while I’d already managed seven live shows – six on my patch, another up the road in Hammersmith – the opportunity never arose.

My debut gig at a village youth club in mid-July 1980, featuring Blank Expression, who ended up supporting them 21 months later, fell barely a week before The Jam played the third of their seven dates at my nearest big venue, Guildford Civic Hall. But that was between ‘Going Underground’ and ‘Start’ topping the charts, Paul, Bruce and Rick at a commercial peak. That coupled with the clamour for tickets to see these local lads made good ruled out any hope of someone’s 12-year-old brother getting in. The same went for their return that December, this Saturday kid just about a teenager by then.

There were back-to-back returns to the Civic in July ’81, barely a fortnight after my first visit there for The Undertones, this Boy About Town missing out, wages from a village grocer’s and Sunday paper-rounds not going so far, making do with a heady diet of All Mod Cons, Setting Sons and Sound Affects among my brother’s record collection.

When this dynamic three-piece from just up the A320 returned in March ’82 ahead of the Trans Global Unity Express tour, this 14-year-old secondary school lad wasn’t in on the whispers. And I was travelling back from a half-term Cornish break with my folks when the split were announced, with little chance of a ticket for December’s highly emotional farewell, the Guildford date tagged on to the end of the initial Beat Surrender farewell tour, a subsequent frenzy for tickets leading to a far bigger finale down the A281 at Brighton Conference Centre.

My brother and many more I got to know in years to come were at the Civic for what was seen as the last show proper, but I had to make do with those final telly appearances, and a soon worn-out copy of Dig the New Breed on cassette. The Bitterest Pill was mine to take.

I’ve seen Paul, Bruce and Rick many times since, in various band formats, and had the joy of meeting and interviewing the latter two. Four decades after it all ended, they all still have that same stellar allure for this perennial teenager. But as I never saw them first time around, hopefully you’ll indulge in me living the live experience via your own recollections of those halcyon days.

Solid Bond in Your Heart: A People’s History of The Jam is set for publication this September, celebrating an explosive three-piece that conquered hearts and minds all around the world, working their way up from Surrey’s working men’s club and pub scene, properly launching their first assault on the capital in the year punk rock exploded. And Woking’s finest went on to enjoy a half-dozen incendiary years of chart success before Paul Weller pulled the plug, the lead singer, guitarist and primary songwriter already set for the next adventure in an amazing five-decades-and-counting career.

What can we tell that’s not been told before? There’s been some great books about the band and its individual members. But we have a fresh chance to add to all that, many of these eyewitness accounts being told for the first time, further highlighting an influential outfit with the help of those who were there at various key stages. Including excerpts from this scribe’s interviews with PW’s main co-riders, and further primary players in and around the band, we’ll celebrate an evergreen legacy and a trio that inspire to this day, more than 40 years after The Jam parted company.

And I’d love to see and hear your stories about catching the band and how much The Jam meant to you, sending your words and related personal photographs (with your own copyright) and memorabilia via thedayiwasthere@gmail.com If you need any help, just ask and I’ll suggest a few prompts regarding what we’re looking for.