Tag Archives: Bruce Foxton

Preston Weekender: Sunday on the Square – From The Jam / Buzzcocks / Space / Evil Blizzard

‘Hello hooray, what a nice day…’ Forty years to the week from my first live solo sighting of Bruce Foxton – at Guildford Civic Hall on his Touch Sensitive LP tour – the Flag Market in Preston was transformed into … Continue reading

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Celebrating the Sounds of the Street – Introducing Solid Bond in Your Heart: A People’s History of The Jam

‘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 … Continue reading

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Treading Gently forward – beyond The Jam with Steve Brookes

When I spoke to Steve Brookes earlier this week, he was at home in Camberley, Surrey, having played Thames Side Brewery in Staines that weekend, this accomplished guitarist and singer-songwriter clearly enjoying gigging as much now as five decades ago, … Continue reading

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Looking back on The Jam, 1982 and all that – back in conversation with Rick Buckler

This time 40 years ago, Rick Buckler must have been wondering just what was next, Christmas and New Year behind him, the ultra-successful group that had been his life for the past decade disbanded, his future uncertain. But as the … Continue reading

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From George Abbot and Godalming College to the Marquee and the Whisky a Go Go – in conversation with Howard Smith

Howard Smith was just back from a family holiday in Suffolk when I called, setting up his children with a Disney classic before chatting about his own golden era. In his case that involved a comparatively short but incident-packed period … Continue reading

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How we got there – talking Together with The Vapors’ Dave Fenton

Four decades to the week of the release of their debut LP, The Vapors delivered a new album, and it’s one that proved beyond doubt the staying power of a band that were always about so much more than one … Continue reading

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Still on The Vapors’ trail – back in touch with Dave Fenton

This time 40 years ago, The Vapors were about to set out on tour with The Jam on their biggest adventure to date, invited along for the ride on the latter’s Setting Sons tour by their co-managers, Jam bass player … Continue reading

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Celebrating 40 years of All Mod Cons with From The Jam

Somehow, while based in Lancashire for nearly 25 years now, I’d never visited The Grand in Clitheroe until last month, yet now I’ve caught two great bands there within a month, with two of my teenage heroes visiting – Hugh … Continue reading

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Where we go from here: Talking The Vapors with Steve Smith

Steve Smith lives near Brighton these days, having left his Surrey hometown in the mid-1980s, initially heading to London. He returns regularly to Guildford to pop in on his Mum though, and plays locally with new wave/punk covers band The … Continue reading

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January to June 2017 – the writewyattuk review: the first six months …

Blue Aeroplanes frontman Gerard Langley on the band’s early days: “When we started out, we got out of Bristol as much as we could, but would often be third on the bill, playing without a soundcheck. We thought we’d just run … Continue reading

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