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The Jam / Fire and Skill: box details

Fire And Skill the forthcoming Jam six-CD live boxset will include six previously unreleased concerts – one from each year of the band’s major-label career.

The first disc features an early gig at London s famous 100 Club from 1977, 10 months after they first played the venue in November 1976. This was recorded for broadcast for American radio ahead of the trio’s inaugural visit to US in October 1977 for a six-date tour.

CD 2 holds a 1978 show at north London’s Music Machine venue (now KOKO) featuring most of second album This Is The Modern World, while the next disc boasts audio from Reading University, February 1979 which concentrates on the next album, the acclaimed All Mod Cons.

A trip up north for the fourth CD of Fire and Skill finds us in Newcastle City Hall October 1980. It was 20 months after the Reading show and in that time Setting Sons had been released and the band had enjoyed a top five hit with Eton Rifles and a number one single with Going Underground. Sound Affects was a month away from release.

The fifth disc sees The Jam previewing material from their final album The Gift at Hammersmith Palais December in 1981. The four shows on consecutive nights took the form of a 1960s soul revue, showcasing new acts including Bananarama, Department S and TV21.

Wembley Arena – 1982 completes the box . The band had announced they were splitting up and a 14-date farewell tour announced for late November and December of that year. This recording is the second night of a five night stand.

This new box set comes in a lift-off lid box and includes a separate hardcover book, and individual gatefold wallets for the discs, as well as new essay, period photos and rare memorabilia. All audio has been remastered at Abbey Road.

Fire and Skill is due for released on 30 October 2015

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fireandskillcover

track_listing

Disc: 1 – Live at the 100 Club – 11th September 1977
1. I’ve Changed My Address
2. Carnaby Street
3. The Modern World
4. Time For Truth
5. So Sad About Us
6. London Girl
7. In The Street Today
8. Standards
9. All Around The World
10. London Traffic
11. Heat Wave
12. Sweet Soul Music
13. Bricks And Mortar
14. In The City
15. Art School
16. Back In My Arms Again
17. Slow Down
18. In The Midnight Hour
19. Sounds From The Street
20. Takin My Love
21. In The City (encore)

Disc: 2 – Live at the Music Machine 2nd March 1978
1. The Modern World
2. London Traffic
3. I Need You
4. The Combine
5. Aunties And Uncles
6. Standards
7. Here Comes The Weekend
8. Sounds From The Street
9. News Of The World
10. London Girl
11. In The Street Today
12. Bricks And Mortar
13. In The Midnight Hour
14. Carnaby Street
15. All Around The World
16. Slow Down
17. News Of The World (Sound-check bonus track)

Disc: 3 – Live at Reading University – 16th February 1979
1. The Modern World
2. Sounds From The Street
3. Away From The Numbers
4. All Mod Cons To Be Someone
5. It s Too Bad
6. Mr Clean
7. Billy Hunt
8. In The Street Today
9. Standards
10. Tonight At Noon
11. Down In The Tube Station At Midnight
12. News Of The World
13. Here Comes The Weekend
14. Bricks And Mortar / Batman
15. The Place I Love
16. David Watts
17. Heat Wave
18. A Bomb In Wardour Street

Disc: 4 – Live at Newcastle City Hall – 28th October 1980
1. Intro
2. Dreamtime
3. Thick As Thieves
4. Boy about Town
5. Monday
6. Going Underground
7. Pretty Green
8. Man In The Corner Shop
9. Set The House Ablaze
10. Private Hell
11. Liza Radley
12. Dreams Of Children
13. The Modern World
14. Little Boy Soldiers
15. But I m Different Now
16. Start!
17. Scrape Away
18. Strange Town
19. When You re Young
20. The Eton Rifles
21. Billy Hunt
22. Down In The Tube Station At Midnight
23. To Be Someone
24. A Bomb In Wardour Street
25. David Watts

Disc: 5 – Live at Hammersmith Palais – 14th December 1981
1. The Gift / Down In The Tube Station At Midnight
2. Man In The Corner Shop
3. Ghosts
4. Absolute Beginners
5. Town Called Malice
6. Set The House Ablaze
7. That s Entertainment / Tales From The River Bank
8. Precious
9. Happy Together
10. In The Crowd / David Watts
11. Boy About Town
12. Pretty Green
13. Funeral Pyre
14. Circus
15. Going Underground
16. Big Bird
17. Little Boy Soldiers

Disc: 6 – Live at Wembley Arena – 2nd December 1982
1. Start!
2. It s Too Bad
3. Beat Surrender
4. Away From The Numbers
5. Ghosts
6. In The Crowd
7. Boy About Town
8. Get Yourself Together
9. All Mod Cons
10. To Be Someone
11. Smithers-Jones
12. The Great Depression
13. Precious
14. Move On Up
15. When You re Young
16. David Watts
17. Private Hell
18. ‘Down In The Tube Station At Midnight’
19. ‘Mr Clean’
20. ‘Trans-Global Express’
21. ‘Going Underground’
22. ‘The Butterfly Collector’
23. ‘Dreams Of Children’
24. ‘The Gift’

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37 Comments

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Philip

“Gazelle says:

August 31, 2015 at 14:59

Although the full gigs are previously unreleased, some of the individual tracks have been previously available:

– ‘Start’, included on ‘Dig The New Breed’.”

……..except Start is missing from the box…….

Adey

If only Bowie would release a 6cd boxset of previously unreleased live recordings, instead of a £100 boxset with 2 exclusive tracks on it!

Adey

Sorry my mistake its not actually japan issue

Mike Bushell

I’ll have to cut down on beer or the kids new boxed sets. It’s a big decision in a town called…..

Mic Smith

I saw the Jam live just the once on the Setting Sons tour (Trentham Gardens) and recall it being a short gig – I was convinced that they kept it brief in order to make it to the studios of BRMB for an interview with Robin Valk. I felt a bit short changed to be honest although the gig was an amazing event. I’m not a big enough fan of the band to get this box set although it does look like a great item. Chuffed for those that will get it and enjoy it though.

michael1984

I doubt I’ll pick this up – but the Jam were a great band, and they seemed to have always delivered the goods live. Too bad there’s no Blu Ray/DVD added to this as their so-called complete video collection that was released on DVD about 10 or so years ago was far from complete…

John Moore

This is an excellent move and will please fans galore. The band have had a lot of activity from their label and a complete live set going through the albums is very smart. Sound quality is always a concern but well done to the label- I shall be picking this up.

Mr Tim

Indeed. The lack of repetition is pretty astounding. New year, new set list. Im putting this on my (overgrown unaffordable) list.

paul griffiths

just a bit too pricey for me….shame

Dean

Hm, I think this is a killer set. It’s just the kind of thing I’d like to see more of, an expansive collection of shows covering the entire range of a bands career. We all know prices fluctuate, so there’s nothing much to worry about there, imo. Kudos to the label for putting this out.

Carlo

In case anyone is interested in the number of tracks and duplication, there are 73 tracks and in brackets is the amount of times each track appears throughout:
A Bomb In Wardour Street (2)
Absolute Beginners (1)
All Around The World (2)
All Mod Cons (2)
Art School (1)
Aunties And Uncles (1)
Away From The Numbers (2)
Back In My Arms Again (1)
Beat Surrender (1)
Big Bird (1)
Billy Hunt (2)
Boy about Town (3)
Bricks And Mortar (3)
But I’m Different Now (1)
Carnaby Street (2)
Circus (1)
David Watts (4)
Down In The Tube Station At Midnight (3)
Dreams Of Children (2)
Dreamtime (1)
Funeral Pyre (1)
Get Yourself Together (1)
Ghosts (2)
Going Underground (3)
Happy Together (1)
Heat Wave (2)
Here Comes The Weekend (2)
I Need You (1)
I’ve Changed My Address (1)
In The City (2)
In The Crowd (2)
In The Midnight Hour (2)
In The Street Today (3)
Intro (1)
It s Too Bad (2)
Little Boy Soldiers (2)
Liza Radley (1)
London Girl (2)
London Traffic (2)
Man In The Corner Shop (2)
Monday (1)
Move On Up (1)
Mr Clean (2)
News Of The World (3)
Precious (2)
Pretty Green (2)
Private Hell (2)
Scrape Away (1)
Set The House Ablaze (2)
Slow Down (2)
Smithers-Jones (1)
So Sad About Us (1)
Sounds From The Street (3)
Standards (3)
Start! (2)
Strange Town (1)
Sweet Soul Music (1)
Takin My Love (1)
That s Entertainment / Tales From The River Bank (1)
The Butterfly Collector (1)
The Combine (1)
The Eton Rifles (1)
The Gift (2)
The Great Depression (1)
The Modern World (4)
The Place I Love (1)
Thick As Thieves (1)
Time For Truth (1)
To Be Someone (3)
Tonight At Noon (1)
Town Called Malice (1)
Trans-Global Express (1)
When You’re Young (2)

Rare Glam

Thanks for taking th time to do that Carlo, it’s useful to know about repetition in these sort of sets and there doesn’t seem to be all that much.

PC

Chucky, once you take out banter, song intros, tuning, the gap between the show and the encore etc, most live shows would fit on an 80 minute CD.

richard

When i first saw the Jam in 1980 they looked professional, well dressed, and playing was very powerful. about 15-16 songs in a set.

If you delete all the time in between songs, the whole set was less than an hour of real music. I hope Paul allows me to give a link to this performance. https://youtu.be/UD-0xqNNfDs

Richard

Andy

Base.com have cancelled my pre-order placed at the beginning of August. Took them 3 weeks to discover they’d incorrectly priced this box set!

Sal

Regarding the price issue – £10 per disc for unreleased material isn’t too bad when you break it down. I thought The Gift and Setting Sons were overpriced considering they were re-releases from £80 upwards.

The concerts are full sets but with editing between songs to shorten the gaps. I don’t think the gigs will fit on a CD without some editing especially when returning to the stage for an encore.

Chucky

Just curious for those old enough/lucky enough to have seen the Jam play live – are these in fact complete shows? The “full-length” shows released on the SDE version of The Gift and Setting Sons fit on one disc, and each of these shows fit on one disc each. So the Jam routinely played a 70-ish minute set? I suppose there were many short songs…just curious if these were indeed the full concerts.

S.Harris

A limited vinyl L.P of the Newcastle gig is also being released.

All the best

Shaun

BritinDetroit

This calls for patience. Having waited for “Setting Sons” and “The Gift” as 35 pound SDEs and they are totally fab gear.

richard

Lovely collection i can’t wait to pump up the volume with this box.

and what a year .. Bowie, Yes, Led Zeppelin, Young, Small Faces .. so many great boxes this year ..

My Tubes are running in overtime !!

Richard

Gazelle

Although the full gigs are previously unreleased, some of the individual tracks have been previously available:

London 100 Club (17/09/1977)
– ‘Sweet Soul Music’ and ‘Back In Your Arms Again’ are both included on the b-side of ‘The Modern World’ 7″ single, alongside an edit of ‘Bricks And Mortar’.
– ‘In The City’ is included on ‘Dig The New Breed’.

Reading University (16/02/1978)
– ‘Standards’ is included on ‘Dig The New Breed’.

London Hammersmith Palais (14/12/1981)
– ‘Town Called Malice’ is included on the 12″ single of the same name (as well as ‘Live Jam’).
– ‘Start’, ‘Big Bird’ and ‘Set The House Ablaze’ are included on ‘Dig The New Breed’.
– ‘Funeral Pyre’ and ‘Man In The Corner Shop’ are included on ‘Live Jam’.

London Wembley Arena (2/12/1982)
– ‘Precious’ and ‘The Butterfly Collector’ are included on ‘Live Jam’.

Additionally, the free EP that accompanied ‘Snap!’ contained recordings of ‘Move On Up’, ‘Get Yourself Together’ and ‘The Great Depression’ that came from either the 2/12/1982 or 3/12/1982 gig from London Wembley Arena.

Gazelle

The following tracks are missing from the track listing above for disc six:
18. ‘Down In The Tube Station At Midnight’
19. ‘Mr Clean’
20. ‘Trans-Global Express’
21. ‘Going Underground’
22. ‘The Butterfly Collector’
23. ‘Dreams Of Children’
24. ‘The Gift’

steve moorcroft

Re Base.com.
They contacted all customers who pre ordered at £39.99 stating it was no longer available at that price !! I contacted them asking if this was legal and they replied with a load of copy and paste legal jargon. Avoid this company at all costs.

Neil

If you buy something from a shop on any high street and they have put the wrong price on something they have to honour that price. It seems that does not apply on online stores for some reason

Sal

Neil,
It’s a myth that most of the public believe is true and something that I’ve used to my advantage in the past.

Shops are under no obligation to sell something that’s marked at the wrong price. If it’s noticed at the counter before money has exchanged, the item can be withdrawn from sale. If the mistake has been noted after the sale, the exchange of money is considered a binding contract.

It’s normally a good will gesture if the shop knows it’s selling something to you at the wrong price or they believe, like you, they have to sell something at the marked price.

Read this article from the Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/money-saving-tips/10602641/Price-glitches-Do-retailers-have-to-honour-pricing-mistakes.html

Sal

Also, if I was working for a big corporate shop, would I give two monkeys if a punter got a good deal?

Exactly, no I wouldn’t.

Richard

If a shop – bricks and mortar or online – has something on sale at the wrong price, there is no legal obligation to sell it for that price. It’s called “an invitation to treat”, and until they have actually taken the money from you they can refuse to sell it to you. Some shops will honour the price as a gesture of goodwill, but they don’t have to. This information comes to you courtesy of a “basic law” course which I took 35 years ago, so please feel free to tell me that it’s no longer correct.

Stan Butler

That’s bang on Richard. About the very first thing you learn in a Contract Law course.

Robert Fitzpatrick

I wonder if the sound quality will be decent! I won’t get it if it sounds like the doors boot yer butt box!

steve gilmour

the price has to be a joke right – even the UK price….who is going to pay this??

Rare Glam

You can also pre-order it deirect from:

https://shop.virginemi.com/paulweller/The-Jam/Music/Fire-And-Skill/4R8L04SG09P

Costs £60 + £7 courier delivery, so about the same as the current Amazon charge within UK at least.

Mark S

Can anyone confirm if Disc 6 is the same Wembley gig previously featured in The Gift Super Deluxe Edition?
I know it says previously unreleased but wondering if they aren’t counting the SDE of The Gift?

Sat

Hi Mark,

Polydor recorded 2 separate Wembley gigs from 1982. The Gift SDE has the 3/12/82 gig (23 tracks). This new live box set has the previous nights gig – 2/12/82 (24 tracks) – of which 21 of the tracks were available on the bootleg cd Ready Steady.. Gone. Although the setlist is slightly different on both nights, I would have much preferred an earlier gig from 1982.