THE JAM – THE GIFT LP + BAG – Nr MINT UK 1982 WELLER PUNK MOD

The Jam – The Gift
(Polydor Records  1982  POLD5055)
Matrix No’s: A2/B1 – UK Pressing

Gift Bag has some tears and creasing on the top and a tear top right (sticker removal?)
Sleeve & Inner Sleeve in Nr MINT condition

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some light surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

The Jam were an English punk rock/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the “angry young men” outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped clothes, and they incorporated a number of mainstream 1960s rock and R&B influences rather than rejecting them, placing The Jam at the forefront of the mod revival movement.

They had 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1982, including four number one hits. As of 2007, “That’s Entertainment” and “Just Who Is the 5 O’Clock Hero?” remained the best-selling import singles of all time in the UK. They released one live album and six studio albums, the last of which, The Gift, hit number one on the UK album charts. When the group disbanded in 1982, their first 15 singles were re-released and all placed within the top 100.

The band drew upon a variety of stylistic influences over the course of their career, including 1960s beat music, soul, rhythm and blues and psychedelic rock, as well as 1970s punk and new wave. The trio was known for its melodic pop songs, its distinctly English flavour and its mod image. The band launched the career of Paul Weller, who went on to form The Style Council and later had a successful solo career. Weller wrote and sang most of The Jam’s original compositions, and he played lead guitar, using a Rickenbacker 330. Bruce Foxton provided backing vocals and prominent basslines, which were the foundation of many of the band’s songs, including the hits “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight”, “The Eton Rifles”, “Going Underground” and “Town Called Malice” mainly using a Rickenbacker 4001 and a Fender Precision Bass and rarely an Epiphone Rivoli.

The Gift is the sixth and final studio album by British band The Jam. Released on 12 March 1982, it reached #1 on the British charts. Clocking in at 32:17 minutes, the album received a mixed reception from critics and fans.

The original release of the album was on 12″ vinyl, and initial copies came with a paper bag stating “The Jam… A Gift”. These copies are increasingly difficult to find, especially in good condition. Other issues included the regular vinyl issue, the Japanese vinyl issue (with a bonus lyric book), the CD issue, the re-mastered issue, and a recently issued Japanese version in a mini-LP style sleeve.

The album moved away from the simple three-chord music of In the City and This is the Modern World, and the more melodic All Mod Cons, Setting Sons and Sound Affects, to demonstrate Weller’s love of northern soul. Funk bass lines and wah-wah guitar effects were often used throughout the album, along with jazz influences such as brass sections and saxophone solos (most notably on the track “Precious”) and “Trans-Global Express” which was based on the Northern Soul funk hit “So Is The Sun” by World Column, lifting the chorus and rhythm line in their entirety from that song. Only two songs on the album exceed three and a half minutes.

The biggest hit of the album was “Town Called Malice”. The song’s lyrics are an accurate reflection of English working-class life at the time, and deal with small-town issues such as recreational drinking, the struggle to make a living, unemployment and lack of facilities in small towns.

“Just Who is the 5 O’Clock Hero?”, which was released as a 7″ vinyl single in the Netherlands only, represents the efforts put in by 9-to-5 working men and women of Britain, who keep society running (and as such, are unsung heroes). Unlike the earlier song “Mr. Clean” from All Mod Cons, Weller does not mock the character, but rather praises him/her. However, the character from “Mr. Clean” represents a completely different strata of society, the executive/upper management types who would typically hound and otherwise make the character from “Just Who Is The 5 O’Clock Hero?”‘s life difficult.

Weller’s experimentation of several different musical styles previously unexplored by The Jam on this album led to increasing disagreement with the other band members, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler, who were disillusioned with the move away from a traditional pub rock or punk rock style. The band broke up after touring the album (even after its massive success, rising to #1 on the British charts) on the ‘Trans-Global Express Tour’.

After the album’s release, Paul Weller went on to form The Style Council. The song “Carnation” was later covered by Liam Gallagher of Oasis and Steve Cradock of Ocean Colour Scene.

Track listing

All songs by Paul Weller except where otherwise noted:

1. “Happy Together” – 2:51
2. “Ghosts” – 2:11
3. “Precious” – 4:13
4. “Just Who is the 5 O’Clock Hero?” – 2:15
5. “Trans-Global Express” – 3:59
6. “Running on the Spot” – 3:06
7. “Circus” (Bruce Foxton) – 2:11
8. “The Planner’s Dream Goes Wrong” – 2:19
9. “Carnation” – 3:28
10. “Town Called Malice” – 2:55
11. “The Gift” – 3:08