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Somerset House set to bounce to the sound of the Jam in new exhibition
Nicky Weller laughs as she recalls her teenage years running the Jam fan club from the family home, opening the sack loads of letters addressed only ‘The Jam, Woking’ and ‘Paul Weller, Woking’. “I got £5 a week running that,” she says. “It was probably quite a lot of money for a 14-year-old.”
She is up to her neck in the Jam once more, co-curating the first comprehensive exhibition devoted to a rock band who, over the course of six years, connected so remarkably with the confused, disenchanted youth of the late 70s and early 80s Britain.
All three band members – Weller, Rick Buckler and Bruce Foxton – are supporting the show and providing objects, instruments and personal memorabilia for an exhibition to be staged, incongruously perhaps, at one of the grandest buildings in London: Somerset House.Nicky has spent a long time going through brother Paul’s shed, as well as boxes of cuttings, films and photographs kept by her late father John, the Jam’s manager and a central figure in the story.
“It was emotional going through my dad’s stuff,” she admits. “Me and my mum had about a week just going through the garage – we just sat there crying. On the other hand it was lovely that we uncovered things.”
She was particularly pleased to find ciné film from a 1976 gig at the Greyhound on Fulham Palace Road, London, shortly after original band member Steve Brookes had left.
Other gems include footage from 1979, when John Weller paid someone to film gigs at the Rainbow in Finsbury Park, north London, from the balcony one night and the stage the next.
We stopped at the right time. It didn’t go on and become embarrassing
Paul Weller
“It’s pretty rough, but its’s brilliant,” she says . “And it exists! That’s something special for the fans who have only heard the recording, everyone thought the film was lost.”Nicky has also unearthed never-before seen photographs – including one, taken by Paul’s mum Ann, of the three boys smiling unguardedly on set for the video of 1981 single Funeral Pyre.
Another was taken by Derek D’Souza at a shoot in Chiswick Park for the Absolute Beginners single. A young fan who regularly took pictures at the band’s concerts, he got a call from Ann who said the band liked them and asked them to do some for the single.
D’Souza was such a fan that he kept his train ticket, his camera, a letter from Paul and the cheque – a paltry £29.50. All will be in the show.
Nicky and fellow curator Tory Turk stress that the show is not just for diehard fans of the Jam, but will be part social and cultural history telling wider stories of family life and growing up in 1970s Britain.
It will also not just be about Paul, although inevitably there will be a lot of him – given he was the band’s driving and artistic force.
His sister has found her teenaged brother’s scrapbooks and schoolbooks – they might have maths and geography written on the front, but inside are little doodles, poetry and songs. They reveal Weller imagining himself being in a band, drawing what his record covers will look like, how the word Jam will have a dragged M.
The show will open with one of the band’s most shocking moments: its end. It was in October 1982 that Weller, aged only 24, decided that they should split up at the height of their fame and powers, with a handwritten statement that read: “I want all we have achieved to count for something, and most of all I’d hate us to end up old and embarrassing like so many other groups do.”
Weller’s bandmates and, more importantly, the fans, were devastated, but no amount of persuasion could change his mind.
The Jam: About the Young Idea runs from 26 June – 31 August at Somerset House, London. Photograph: Neal Preston/Corbis
Nearly 33 years later, Weller still refuses to countenance reforming. He once said in an BBC interview: “Me and my children would have to be destitute and starving in the gutter before I’d even consider that and I don’t think that’ll happen anyway. I think it’s a great thing that the Jam’s music has endured over the years and people still love it and still play it.“It still means something to people, and a lot of that’s because we stopped at the right time. It didn’t go on and become embarrassing.”
Foxton said: “We knew it a few months before because Paul had called a meeting, that’s when he dropped the bombshell; that it was over. It was very hard, very tough and must have been tough for Paul to make that decision. It was a bold step really, we were at the top of our tree.
“We had no choice to accept, but it was a very, very emotional period. After the split, I was all over the place for a while.”
Foxton later joined Stiff Little Fingers and now tours with From the Jam. After years of acrimony and not talking, he and Weller are friends once more – but he does not expect to see the Jam back. “No. Paul’s doing well in his own right, we’re kind of happy. We’re all kind of happy doing our own thing, I can’t see it really happening to be honest.”
The Somerset House exhibition will have rooms devoted to the six studio albums, each designed with references to the art work. As well as films, original stage outfits, letters, fanzines and 12 guitars – there will of course be music. “It will be a noisy, noisy exhibition,” says Turk.
It will show how Weller and his friend Brookes sounded more like the Everly Brothers in their teenage incarnation, before a Sex Pistols gig prompted an epiphany.
Unlike the Pistols, Weller wrote generally positive songs, says Turk. “It wasn’t just about being annoyed and angry for the sake of it. Their songs helped people get through a day, whether that was breaking up with a girlfriend, having an argument with their dad or not having money to buy some clothes. They were writing about normal life.”
• The Jam: About the Young Idea. 26 June-31 August at East Wing Galleries, Somerset House, London.
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"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." - George Best --- Dienstags und donnerstags, ab 20 Uhr, samstags ab 20.30 Uhr: Radio StoneFMHighlights von Rolling-Stone.deNeu auf Disney+: Die Film- und Serien-Highlights im August
Amazon Prime Video: Die wichtigsten Neuerscheinungen im August
Neu auf Netflix: Die Serien-Highlights im August 2025
Netflix: Das sind die besten Netflix-Serien aller Zeiten
Neu auf Netflix: Die wichtigsten Filme im August 2025
Sting im Interview: „Trump spricht kein Englisch. Er redet Nonsens“
WerbungIch guck mir die Ausstellung am Wochenende an. Und Weller persönlich auch.
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Nie mehr Zweite Liga!!!Liam1994Ich guck mir die Ausstellung am Wochenende an. Und Weller persönlich auch.
Neid.
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Staring at a grey sky, try to paint it blue - Teenage BlueDas Glastonbury-Konzert wird live übertragen (stream bei der BBC) u.a. hier:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0615rkc
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Liam1994Ich guck mir die Ausstellung am Wochenende an. Und Weller persönlich auch.
Ich werde die Ausstellung etwas später besuchen. Einen Vorgeschmack gibt es hier:
http://www.gettyimages.in/search/2/image?phrase=the+jam
http://www.gettyimages.at/detail/nachrichtenfoto/musicians-bruce-foxton-and-paul-weller-of-the-jam-nachrichtenfoto/478506094--
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." - George Best --- Dienstags und donnerstags, ab 20 Uhr, samstags ab 20.30 Uhr: Radio StoneFMNoch mehr zur Ausstellung:
http://www.itv.com/news/london/update/2015-06-25/the-exhibition-dedicated-to-paul-weller-and-the-jam/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05zr37p--
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." - George Best --- Dienstags und donnerstags, ab 20 Uhr, samstags ab 20.30 Uhr: Radio StoneFMNoch mehr Fotos (Ausstellung und Hyde Park)
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"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." - George Best --- Dienstags und donnerstags, ab 20 Uhr, samstags ab 20.30 Uhr: Radio StoneFMAusstellung habe ich nicht geschafft, ärgerlich, aber die Zeit hat einfach nicht gereicht.
Der Auftritt im Hyde-Park war sehr gut. Extrem entspannter Weller, Band tight wie immer. Um es sich mit dem Publikum nicht direkt zu verderben, fing er diesmal mit dem Changingman an statt mit White Sky. Ansonsten viel neues Album und wie tags drauf in Glastonbury hatte er drei Jam-Nummern im Programm.
Setlist:
The Changingman
White Sky
From the Floorboards Up
I’m Where I Should Be
Long Time
That’s Entertainment (mit Miles Kane)
Saturns Pattern
Going My Way
Friday Street
Porcelain Gods (diesmal nur ca. 7 Minuten lang)
Broken Stones
You Do Something to Me
Start!
Peacock Suit
Town Called Malice--
Nie mehr Zweite Liga!!!N-TV zur Ausstellung
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"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." - George Best --- Dienstags und donnerstags, ab 20 Uhr, samstags ab 20.30 Uhr: Radio StoneFMHyde Park komplett
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URcCnRUXOxs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhg2hl3L0r4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2GGVdSNsd8--
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." - George Best --- Dienstags und donnerstags, ab 20 Uhr, samstags ab 20.30 Uhr: Radio StoneFMTolle Single von Steve Ellis & Cow, aufgenommen in Wellers Black Barn Studio. Weller und Andy Lewis haben auch mitgespielt.
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Staring at a grey sky, try to paint it blue - Teenage BlueHast Du eine Quelle für die Single, Jan?
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"I know a few groovy middle-aged people, but not many." Keith Richards 1966midnight moverHast Du eine Quelle für die Single, Jan?
Bekommst Du direkt bei Cow: http://cowmusic.co.uk/
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Staring at a grey sky, try to paint it blue - Teenage BlueHier noch ein Teaser:
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Staring at a grey sky, try to paint it blue - Teenage Bluej.w.Bekommst Du direkt bei Cow: http://cowmusic.co.uk/
Bestellt. Thanks…
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"I know a few groovy middle-aged people, but not many." Keith Richards 1966
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