Going Underground

Does everyone have a defining song, the one that changed your life and set you on your musical path? If so, mine is undoubtedly, after all, Going Underground by The Jam.

There I was, a musical slug, listening to the Capital Radio Hall of Fame, a rundown of the "Greatest Songs of All Time" from 500 to 1, when there it was, at Number 248, sandwiched between Lionel Richie and the Eagles, or whatever, a whole different sound, a surge of adrenaline, a whole new way of looking at and listening to the world.

Back then, it wasn't so easy just to hear something and then enjoy it to one's heart content (I make it sound like the dark ages, that record shops didn't exist, but i had limited money, didn't know much about music, and just generally didn't get out much, also obviously there was no downloading). It was several months where I had the nerve, money and opportunity to buy The Jam's Greatest Hits from Ealing Broadway Our Price. From the day I bought it, I think I listened to Going Underground twice a day, at least, for a year. I sang along, got used to every cadence, every jagged guitar, every release of tension.

Thankfully, I learnt, Going Underground was not a one-off. The Jam's Greatest Hits is one of the finest singles collections of all time- a five year wonder with barely a misfire. Down in the Tube Station is pretty much as perfect to me as Going Underground, A Town Called Malice has got better and better with age, there's nothing not to like from In the City to Beat Surrender.

But Going Underground was the one. Depending on how you look at it, it is extraordinary that it was so low in the Hall of Fame or that it was there at all. It sounded so out of place, yet it truly was a pop smash hit, straight in at Number 1 - I was not a member of an exclusive club in my admiration.

It was a great mistake in my '101 Songs' post when I listed my 101 favourite songs of the time that I didn't include Going Underground. I remember pondering it, but thinking, actually, I hadn't listened to it for quite a while, it wasn't really still a favourite.

Well, I've listened to it since. And come close to that same feeling I had when I was 15. Going Underground really is a glorious power-pop song. I'm not sure anything else comes close even now. It's incredible that Weller was only 22 when it came out - it's a great lyric, not stunning poetry but simple but effective - nothing clunks - kidney machines replaced by rockets and guns. It's all great stuff.

Moving on briefly, Paul Weller can sometimes be a bit of a dirty word - there can be good reasons for this - his run of albums from the late 90s to early 2000s is pretty average (though's he picked up again significantly now), the Dadrock thing, the hair, but i also sometimes wonder if it's only a certain kind of snobbery which stops him being fully lionised to the extent of say, David Bowie. He's gruff, unglamorous, can seem a little inarticulate, but his career is one of the most eclectic, adventurous, imaginative in British music - he's taken in punk, funk, soul, folk, jazz, house music and plenty more. He's never stopped. You can think he's not the greatest lyricist in the world but then, things like That's Entertainment, some of the stuff on Wild Wood, it's as good as anything else.

Here's a Weller playlist, taking in his whole 35 year career. It's going to be long, because he's done a huge number of great songs, frankly. So there, Weller haters. Huh!!

Going Underground - The Jam
Sunflower - Paul Weller
Are You Trying to be Lonely? - Andy Lewis and Paul Weller
A Town Called Malice - The Jam
No Tears to Cry - Paul Weller
Blink and You'll Miss It - Paul Weller
Headstart for Happiness - The Style Council
My Ever Changing Moods - The Style Council
Man in the Cornershop - The Jam
Time Passes - Paul Weller
Down in the Tube Station at Midnight - The Jam
Beat Surrender - The Jam
Wild Wood - Paul Weller
Moon on Your Pyjamas - Paul Weller
Have You Ever Had it Blue - The Style Council
That's Entertainment - The Jam
Uh Huh Oh Yeh - Paul Weller
Shout to the Top - The Style Council
You're the Best Thing - The Style Council
In the City - The Jam
Tales from the Riverbank - The Jam
Carnation - The Jam
Come On Let's Go - Paul Weller
Above the Clouds - Paul Weller
Frightened - Paul Weller
A Solid bond in your Heart - The Style Council
It's Written in the Stars - Paul Weller
When you're Young - The Jam
The Long Hot Summer - The Style Council
Stanley Road - Paul Weller
Boy About Town - The Jam
Push it Along - Paul Weller
Where'er you Go - Paul Weller
Wasteland - The Jam
English Rose - The Jam
Shadow of the Sun - Paul Weller