JC over at the Vinyl Villain has mounted a challenge today over Paul Weller’s solo career.

There’s bits I have liked – but the thing is that as frontman of The Jam (who were ripped off by so many of the bands of the last decade -particularly The Arctic Monkeys and The Libertines) he was responsible for some of the greatest music of the last forty years.

Not of course, that the Jam’s early career was perfect. ‘In the City’ is an awesome debut -like all the best debut singles, it sounds like a manifesto -and yet the album of the same name was patchy. The follow up This Is The Modern World wasn’t very good either -and Weller knew it. But from the era of All Mod Cons onwards to their split in 1982, they were one of the greatest bands in the world.

And I still reckon that this is their finest track:

The Jam -‘Strange Town.’ mp3

…closely followed by this:

The Jam -‘Going Underground.’ mp3