Down In The Tube Station At Midnight – The Jam (1978)

Description

Additional information about this, The Jam vinyl art.

The Jam – The Artist

The Jam were an English mod revival/punk rock band during the 1970s and early 1980s, which formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, in the county of Surrey. The group consisted of Paul Weller on bass and lead vocals, guitarist Steve Brookes and drummer Rick Buckler. While it shared the “angry young man” outlook and fast tempo of the contemporary mid-1970s’ British Punk Rock movement, in contrast with it the band wore smartly tailored suits reminiscent of English pop-bands in the early 1960s, and incorporated mainstream 1960s rock and R&B influences into its sound, particularly from The Who’s work of that period, and also drew influence from the work of The Kinks and the music of American Motown. This placed the act at the forefront of the 1970s/1980s nascent Mod revival movement.

Down In The Tube Station At Midnight – The Song

Down In The Tube Station At Midnight was the second single taken from the album All Mod Cons by The Jam. Released in 1978. The single was backed by a cover version of The Who’s song “So Sad About Us”, and the song “The Night”, written by Bruce Foxton. The song tells the story of an unnamed narrator traveling on his own who enters a deserted London Underground Tube station at midnight to get the last train home, where he is attacked by a gang of skinheads as he buys a ticket from an automated machine. The lyrics are sentimental, contrasting the warmth of home and domestic life with the dangers of 1970s London’s urban decay and casual late-night violence.

The London Underground Roundel – The Shape

The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground, or by its nickname the Tube) is a public rapid transit system serving London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. The electric trains that run in the London underground are known as tube trains and are designed for the maximum number of standing passengers and for speed of access to the cars.  A roundel has been used by London Transport since 1908 as a trademark. It has undergone subtle changes since then but it is now readily recognised as a symbol for their overground railways, underground tubes, buses, trams and river services. The 100th anniversary of the roundel was celebrated in 2008 by TFL commissioning 100 artists to produce works that celebrate the design.

Need Help?  Contact Us