"Town Called Malice"
Single by the Jam
from the album The Gift
A-side"Precious"
Released29 January 1982 (1982-01-29)
Recorded1981
Genre
Length2:52
LabelPolydor (UK)[4]
Songwriter(s)Paul Weller[4]
Producer(s)Peter Wilson and the Jam[5]
The Jam singles chronology
"Absolute Beginners"
(1981) 		"Town Called Malice" / "Precious"
(1982) 		"Just Who Is the 5 O'Clock Hero?"
(1982)

"Town Called Malice" is a song recorded by British band the Jam from the album The Gift. It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart in February 1982.[6][7]

Overview

The title is a play on words of the 1950 Nevil Shute novel A Town Like Alice, although Paul Weller says he had not read the book at the time.[8] It was a double A-side single release featuring "Precious" as the flip side. A 12" version was also available with a live version of "Town Called Malice" backed by an extended version of "Precious".

Paul Weller has said that "Town Called Malice" was written about his hometown of Woking, inspired by his working-class upbringing there and desire to leave.[9][10] The Irish Independent described the song, like "Going Underground", as a "class-war tirade set to a post-punk northern soul groove".[1] Greg Freeman of The Guardian described it as featuring a "stomping, Motown-inspired beat" conveying a "sense of pent-up rage and frustrated ambition".[11]

Released as the first single from the album on 29 January 1982, it entered the UK Singles Chart at number one and stayed at there for three weeks,[5] preventing "Golden Brown" by the Stranglers from reaching the top spot. EMI, the Stranglers' label, objected to the sales of both versions of "Town Called Malice" being aggregated, arguing that Jam fans were buying both and thus preventing "Golden Brown" from reaching number one.[4]

"Town Called Malice" was the Jam's third number-one single in the UK. It was the band's sole entry on any mainstream American chart when it hit No. 31 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1982.[12][13] The song was ranked among the top ten "Tracks of the Year" for 1982 by NME.[14]

In popular culture

"Town Called Malice" has been featured in:

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for "Town Called Malice"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[30] 2× Platinum 1,200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ a b c Egan, Barry (9 May 2021). "Modfather Paul Weller's fire still burns: 'He sings with a passion that his teenage self would surely have admired'". Independent.ie. Independent.ie. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  2. ^ "AllMusic - Town Called Malice - The Jam". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  3. ^ "New Wave Music Songs". AllMusic.
  4. ^ a b c Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 221–2. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  5. ^ a b "JAM | Artist". Official Charts. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  6. ^ "The Jam Singles – Town Called Malice". Thejam.org.uk. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  7. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 405–6. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  8. ^ Dave Simpson (12 November 2012). "How we made: Paul Weller and Bruce Foxton on Town Called Malice | Music". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  9. ^ "Sunday Times 2007". Wellerworld.co.uk. 12 June 1999. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  10. ^ "July 2008". Music Zone. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  11. ^ Freeman, Greg (5 April 2012). "Old music: The Jam – Town Called Malice". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  12. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "The Jam | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  13. ^ "Billboard Chart History: The Jam". Billboard.com.
  14. ^ "Tracks of the Year". NME. 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  15. ^ [1]Archived 2 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ [2]Archived (Date missing) at fifplay.com (Error: unknown archive URL)
  17. ^ MrJamesPriestly (4 December 2011), The Matador intro, archived from the original on 22 December 2021, retrieved 27 May 2018
  18. ^ Moran, Sarah (2 July 2019). "Spider Man: Far From Home - Soundtrack". screenrant. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  19. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  20. ^ "The Jam – Town Called Malice" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  21. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 13, 1982" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  22. ^ "The Jam – Town Called Malice" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  23. ^ "The Jam – Town Called Malice". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  24. ^ "The Jam: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  25. ^ "The Jam Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  26. ^ "The Jam Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  27. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1982". Ultratop. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  28. ^ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1982". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  29. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1982". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  30. ^ "British single certifications – Jam – Town Called Malice". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 December 2022.

External links

The Jam
Authority control databases
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