Bruce From The Jam set for Sheffield

Paul Weller formed The Style Council and with that and other solo work, he had remained active.

Drummer Rick Buckler formed The Gift, named after The Jam’s final album, and bassist Bruce Foxton ended up in a band called The Casbah Club.

Then fate took a hand.

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“I was performing in The Casbah Club with Pete Townshend’s brother Simon and Mark Brzezicki and we were playing a gig at Surrey University,” says Bruce.

“We were on first, then Rick’s band The Gift – which also had guitarist Russell Hastings in the line-up – took to the stage.”

“They were playing some Jam songs and I got asked to get up on stage with them. So I did and played a couple of songs.”

“The place was sold out and you could see the emotion, some people were actually crying. After all, it was the first time I’d been on stage for about 28 years.

“So we got talking, and I ended up getting on stage with them quite a bit and doing more songs, and in the end we said ‘why don’t we join forces?’ and we did.”

“I’d always been introduced as ‘Bruce Foxton – From The Jam’ and we thought it was a good name.”

After a while, Rick decided to leave.

“I still don’t really know why,” says Bruce. “We just got an email from him saying he was leaving.

“I haven’t spoken to him since – but it’s not because I don’t want to, he seems to have cut himself off.”

From The Jam now consists of Bruce and Russell, along with drummer Mike Randon and keyboard player Andy Fairclough.

And despite the split of the original band, Bruce and Weller have reconciled.

“We’re good buddies,” says Bruce. “He was very supportive when my wife Pat was diagnosed with cancer and it brought us closer together.”

The band is in celebration mode at the moment. They have now been going for 10 years, and are commemorating the 35th anniversary of The Gift.

“We’ve celebrated all the albums,” says Bruce. “We’ll probably also do it again in five years for the 40th anniversary.”

“We’ll be playing a selection of songs from it, but not all. Some of the tracks are difficult to play as there’s a lot of brass. Plus not everybody who comes to the show will have that album. Most just want to hear the hits.”

“Also, the set varies from night to night. We have a wealth of great Jam music. Let’s enjoy it and see where it takes us.”

From The Jam play The Leadmill on Saturday, December 2. For tickets, see leadmill.co.uk