The Jam

Dressed in sharp suits, openly professing their love of 1960s rock and pop and with a steely determination to conquer the charts, The Jam adopted the fiery adrenaline rush of early contemporaries The Buzzcocks, Sex Pistols and The Clash... but never really shared their punk philosophy. Despite a love of American soul and rock'n'roll, Paul Weller developed into a distinctly English songwriter, offering colloquial, suburban observations and political barbs in the vein of The Kinks' Ray Davies. Leading a new wave of bands out of the ashes of punk, they topped the UK singles charts with Going Underground, Start, Town Called Malice and Beat Surrender and crafted six successful albums, including the classic All Mod Cons (1978). The Gift (1982) was their only Number 1 album, but at the height of their fame Weller disbanded the group to form the soul, jazz and funk inspired The Style Council, before embarking on a long-running solo career.