The Jam: A Town Called Malice

Town Called Malice (Weller)
Recorded in December 1981at the AIR Studios, Oxford Street, London
Produced by Pete Wilson and The Jam
A-side released 13 February 1982; Polydor POSP 400; reached no 1 in UK chart
Double A-side: ‘Precious’

In February 1982 The Jam had not topped the charts for eighteen months and, despite the fact that the two singles they had released since the 1980 hit ‘Start!’ had both reached number 4 (‘Funeral Pyre’ and ‘Absolute Beginners’), they once again needed to make a comeback.

In 1978 the band had returned in style with the seminal All Mod Cons. This time, three and a half years later, they again managed to produce something special. ‘Town Called Malice’ crashed into the charts at number one on 13 February and remained there for three weeks, while simultaneously enjoying comprehensive chart success all over the world.

The song’s title is an obvious allusion to Nevil Shute’s popular novel A Town Called Alice, but nothing else of Shute’s makes it onto the track. Instead, Weller presents his defining image of everyday urban English life.

The real inspiration comes from Paul’s old friend Dave Waller, whose method of descriptive urban imagery is mirrored in ‘Town Called Malice’. The images could have reflected any suburban town, but in fact it was The Jam’s hometown of Woking that provided the backdrop.

In 1982 the Unigate Dairy on Goldsworth Road was on the verge of closing, with the town’s milkmen making way for the hypermarkets and their wall-to-wall plastic milk cartons.

Also, 1982 was a time of high unemployment in the area and Weller draws on this, giving his townsfolk the choice of ‘beer or the kids’ new gear’ as families are forced to make cutbacks.

But Paul finally recognises that he’s moaning too much by signing off with the masterful lyric: I could go on for hours and I probably will but I’d sooner put some joy back into a town called Malice’.

All this is set against a classic bass line and stomping Motown beat borrowed from The Supremes’ 1966 gem ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’, written by Holland/Dozier/Holland (and inspiring Phil Collins to rework The Supremes’ song itself in November 1982).

Squire guitarist Enzo Esposito remembers that, despite the chart success of ‘Town Called Malice’, Paul was never totally happy with the end result. Enzo: ‘Paul wanted it to have a slower, more soulful tempo, more like he plays it these days. I think he was happy with the song but just felt it was recorded with a faster tempo than he would have liked at the time.’

But The Jam were back, and bigger than ever. ‘Town Called Malice’ was in fact released as a double A-side with ‘Precious’ and the band were immediately asked to perform both tracks on the same edition of Top Of The Pops.

In doing so they became the first act since The Beatles performed ‘Day Tripper’ / ‘We Can Work It Out’ to play two songs back to back on the show. It was official: The Jam were, to many people, as popular as The Beatles, and Weller felt he had achieved his childhood dream.

Unlike 1981, The Jam set out on a gruelling world tour, starting on 12 March at the Guildhall in Portsmouth, taking in the whole of the UK, parts of Europe, America, Canada and Japan before returning to London on 26 June to play at Loftus Road in Shepherd’s Bush.

The tour was a major success and The Jam sold out in every town, but the yobbish culture of the band’s audience increasingly depressed Weller, who was by now determined to lighten up and enjoy the lifestyle advocated by Colin MacInnes in his book Absolute Beginners.

In the video for ‘Town Called Malice’ the band flashed up a series of subliminal messages, one of them reading: ‘If we ain’t getting through to you then you obviously ain’t listening.’

‘Town Called Malice’ came in a sleeve decorated with a depressing urban image, using a photograph taken by Rick Buckler from the tour coach as the band travelled to a gig in Leicester. – Albert Jack

Albert Jack AUDIOBOOKS available for download here