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Bruce Foxton.. a great player no one seems to know.

#21
DocDee said:
Living in Australia in the 70s and 80s there wasn’t a lot going on besides Cold Chisel, AC/DC, INXS plus a lot of copy bands.
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Hmm, doesn’t Skyhooks, The Saints, Radio Birdman, Nick Cave(and all his previous projects), or the Go-Betweens rate at all? Then, the band that literally changed my life as, through an unbelievable series of events, I gained the aquaintance of, even playing with one of their(now former)members, The Church?

I won’t get bogged down with that story, but I will say I was a huge Jam and Bruce fan from the get-go, as I was not only a devotee of the earlier era of The Who and Small Faces that got overlooked/ignored in the US(that The Jam was inspired by)but was also energized by all the fresh sounds of that time in general coming from the UK, US, Oz, NZ, wherever. In spite of those Who comparisons, Foxton was nothing of an Entwistle clone, and definitely had his own thing going that propelled the band. Yeah, I was saddened by Weller putting an end to it all, was confused by Style Council, and was disappointed that Foxton didn’t achieve much beyond The Jam(he could have done better than SLF), but but they did go out on top.
 
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#22
Michedelic said:
Hmm, doesn’t Skyhooks, The Saints, Radio Birdman, Nick Cave(and all his previous projects), or the Go-Betweens rate at all? Then, the band that literally changed my life as, through an unbelievable series of events, I gained the aquaintance of, even playing with one of their(now former)members, The Church?

I won’t get bogged down with that story, but I will say I was a huge Jam and Bruce fan from the get-go, as I was not only a devotee of the earlier era of The Who and Small Faces that got overlooked/ignored in the US(that The Jam was inspired by)but was also energized by all the fresh sounds of that time in general coming from the UK, US, Oz, NZ, wherever. In spite of those Who comparisons, Foxton was nothing of an Entwistle clone, and definitely had his own thing going that propelled the band. Yeah, I was saddened by Weller putting an end to it all, was confused by Style Council, and was disappointed that Foxton didn’t achieve much beyond The Jam(he could have done better than SLF), but but they did go out on top.
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Hi Michedelic

Completely agree with all the bands you noted which were part of an awesome indie scene, which I had the pleasure of seeing all of those bands numerous times, me personally I wouldn’t put Skyhooks in that group wasn’t a big fan.

I was more so probably referencing mainstream Aus with my opening comment earlier. But the music from the UK was awesome back then, Clash, Joy Division, Smiths just a great era in music. Over here we also had the Hoodo Gurus, Hunters and Collectors, The Moffs, Died Pretty.

My playlist is still stuck in that period plus some great 90s and 2000 bands.

Cheers
 
#24
DocDee said:
Hi Michedelic

Completely agree with all the bands you noted which were part of an awesome indie scene, which I had the pleasure of seeing all of those bands numerous times, me personally I wouldn’t put Skyhooks in that group wasn’t a big fan.

I was more so probably referencing mainstream Aus with my opening comment earlier. But the music from the UK was awesome back then, Clash, Joy Division, Smiths just a great era in music. Over here we also had the Hoodo Gurus, Hunters and Collectors, The Moffs, Died Pretty.

My playlist is still stuck in that period plus some great 90s and 2000 bands.

Cheers
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I know that they didn’t fit in exactly, but I justvmentioned Skyhooks as their guitarist recently died, and they were one of those bands that were forerunners in a way, with all the glam outrageousness.
There was some raw sounding 60’s stuff that I discovered…I know there’s more to the Easybeats than “Friday…”, their tune “Sorry” was killer, but there also was this outfit, the Missing Links, and their garage epic…
 
#27
Gsnorgathon said:
I'm afraid The Jam not being more popular is all my fault. Every time I think a band should be huge... they never are. I just don't get *popular* music on some level evidently, so I'm unerringly wrong.
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It’s really more the instance of Anerican mainstream tastes at that time being allergic to anything new, or music born of a new attitude, or that it all didn’t fit in the narrow definition of what ‘rawk’ was supposed to be, or look like. Plus, the band was just too “British”, there was too much about their vibe and content that was too unrelatable. That had happened before with plenty of Britbands. Being huge in the UK didn’t translate.
 
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#28
i would say foxton was the biggest influence on me when i was learning bass. some fantastic bass lines. funnily enough, i was noodling along to 'monday' just the other day...

i was lucky enough to have seen the jam a couple of times too.

that his career fell off a cliff after the jam is a mystery and an absolute waste of a very talented musician.
 
#29
sonic boogaloo said:
i would say foxton was the biggest influence on me when i was learning bass. some fantastic bass lines. funnily enough, i was noodling along to 'monday' just the other day...

i was lucky enough to have seen the jam a couple of times too.

that his career fell off a cliff after the jam is a mystery and an absolute waste of a very talented musician.
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His solo album got overlooked, and his joining up with the latter day Stiff Little Fingers didn’t really get too many excited, but there’s all sorts of variables in the ‘biz’. He was always going to be in Weller’s shadow.
 
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#30
Michedelic said:
He was always going to be in Weller’s shadow.
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for sure.

he wrote some of the worst jam songs so clearly his songwriting wasn't a strength, 'london traffic' anyone?

i just don't understand why a bass player of his calibre didn't join or form a more successful band than say SLF who were already past their prime. i would have thought some top musicians would have been queuing up for his services.

mani, for example, went on to enhance his reputation by joining primal scream and making a huge contribution to them. i would have expected foxton to have taken a similar trajectory.

strange too how buckler's career followed a similar path despite him also being a very talented musician.
 
#31
sonic boogaloo said:
for sure.

he wrote some of the worst jam songs so clearly his songwriting wasn't a strength, 'london traffic' anyone?

i just don't understand why a bass player of his calibre didn't join or form a more successful band than say SLF who were already past their prime. i would have thought some top musicians would have been queuing up for his services.

mani, for example, went on to enhance his reputation by joining primal scream and making a huge contribution to them. i would have expected foxton to have taken a similar trajectory.

strange too how buckler's career followed a similar path despite him also being a very talented musician.
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I’d forgotten about these kids, obviously inspired, or….overly derivative? Did you know about them?




They do cover “…Malice”.
 
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#32
i'd seen the first video.

too derivative for me. the guitars, the look, the songs... even playing an outdoor gig in soho just as the jam did back in 77.

C6V2KOyWgAA-sMh.jpg


i like their energy though, and the bass player is great!
 
#33
DocDee said:
Living in Australia in the 70s and 80s there wasn’t a lot going on besides Cold Chisel, AC/DC, INXS plus a lot of copy bands.
Click to expand...
Nothing going on in Oz in.the '70s and '80s, apart from The Angels, The Allnighters, Australian Crawl, Big Pig, The Birthday Party, Brian Mannix and the Uncanny X-Men, The Cockroaches, Died Pretty, Divinyls, Do Re Mi, The Dynamic Hepnotics, The Eurogliders, Flowers/Icehouse, The Hitmen, Jimmy and the Boys, Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons, The Laughing Clowns, LRB, The Numbers, Machinations, Matt Finish, Men At Work, Mental as Anything, MEO 245, Midnight Oil, Models, Mondo Rock, Outline, Pseudo Echo, The Reels, Rose Tattoo, The Scientists, The Screaming Tribesmen, The Sports, Sunnyboys, The Triffids, V. Spy V. Spy, Wa Wa Nee, Dave Warner, Weddings, Parties, Anything, XL Capris, not to mention the acts from across the Tasman such as Dragon, Mi-Sex, Pop Mechanix, and Split Enz. That's just the acts I remember that charted (and have not yet been name-checked in this thread). In the late '70s through to the mid '80s there was so much original live music in Sydney and Melbourne you were spoilt for choice. Just about any night of the week you could find someone interesting playing original music.

As regards Bruce Foxton - he's an absolute legend as a bass player. Sound Affects is one of the best bass-driven albums of all time. Paul Weller was absolutely on his game, and Bruce provided the sonic backbone.
 
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#34
sonic boogaloo said:
i'd seen the first video.

too derivative for me. the guitars, the look, the songs... even playing an outdoor gig in soho just as the jam did back in 77.

View attachment 7401930

i like their energy though, and the bass player is great!
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The amazing thing is that the two frontpeople are still in their teens, and are brother and sister. They really must have dug deep to discover the 70’s Mod revival, let alone any influence from the original era. Their parents might have been kids during the Jam’s run. Weller(in something of a sarcastic mood, surprise surprise)was once quoted as to his frustration with the ‘revivalist’ label, saying something to the effect, “how could I revive an era I was too young to be involved in?”

Anyway, currently there’s this 20-somethings fascination with various facets of late 80’s/early 90’s indie rock(a.k.a. their parents’ music), and I’m enjoying alot of it. I was ‘old’(had hit 30)when the OG stuff was happening, and I just find it all amusing.

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Meet The Molotovs, the teenage siblings bringing an old school blast of rock and roll

With a ferocious live reputation and guerilla gigs under their belt, The Molotovs want to start their own rock and roll revolution.
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#35
for the Bruce Foxton fans, From The Jam live.
Great agressive P-Bass tone from an all tube Marshall VBA400.

Unfortunately the original concert recording which was only only online for a f´short while was at much higher quality, buts this is still the best I could find.



and here the full concert
 
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#36
OldogNewTrick said:
for the Bruce Foxton fans, From The Jam live.
Great agressive P-Bass tone from an all tube Marshall VBA400.

Unfortunately the original concert recording which was only only online for a f´short while was at much higher quality, buts this is still the best I could find.



and here the full concert
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Do you know if there are plans to continue this, considering Buckler’s death?
 
#38
OldogNewTrick said:
no, I believe this project ran its course - but they were great. more music, less battle of the egos...
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True, but without Weller, none of this would have happened.

But I’m getting a kick out of those kids; they may The Jam’s version of Greta Van Fleet, but it’s cool to hear fresh material in that style. There were plenty of bands back in the day doing that sort of thing anyway, while riding the coattails of the Mod revival, sounding more like Woking than Shepherd’s Bush.
 
#39
mind you, From The Jam were basically the Jam minus Paul Weller, with Russell Hastings, a long‑time collaborator, handling Paul Weller’s vocal parts and lead guitar live.

Appearantly, while Foxton was open to a reunion, Rick Buckler never forgave Paul Weller and vetoed the reunion.
I was lucky to fo find a DVD rip of "From The Jam - A First Class Return", which From The Jam themselves published on the now disappeared website www.fromthejam.co.uk.
Much better sound quality than the youtube version now online.
 

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