The Jam - The Gift Super Deluxe Edition

Yup, that nails it on the head. I was a fan almost from the start (mid 1979) and was sorely disappointed when they almost completely abandoned their hard edge in 1981-82. Stuff like "Precious" (which I still dislike) was dangerously close to disco, which was still very much a dirty word in 1982, at least in my world.

By 1984 I was fully on board with Weller's new direction (I loved the early Style Council singles and most of the first two LPs!) but it took a while for me to embrace it.

 

Very little to be honest, there's only a couple of demo's from "Extra's" which you don't have. As usual it'll be up to Weller what he want's to let go. Hopefully the solo demo's will be included from a better source than the "Skirt" demos.

 

Earlier I forgot to mention that I also have Extras... and the Jam at the BBC... I guess I am a Jam completist lol...
I suppose this new boxset can only be interesting to me if they include some great video contents

 

pick this up too if you see it...hard to find now...Peel sessions + 2 more concerts

 

oops you beat me by a minute utenteanonimo64! Then how about the DVD set?

 

Eagle-eyed Weller-thread-followers (excuse the hyphen overload) on here will know who is charge of The Gift reissue, so I imagine PW has co-operated with the reissue and handed over some vault material. Doubt much of it will be that revealing, but you never know.

 

Sounds right - the early 80's was when I first seriously started to get into music and "Town Called Malice" was my introduction to The Jam as it was their first hit in oz and it was massive. Not sure if any of their earlier singles charted here. Anyway love the later stuff including The Bitterest Pill which is one of my favourite Jam songs.

 

The Bitterest Pill has been accurately dubbed - maybe on here, by Butch, because it certainly sounds smart enough to have come from his acerbic brain - 'the first Style Council single'. In sound and definitely in spirit. The whole thing was a pisstake, from the lyrics on in. The video is hilarious (see Weller trying (and failing) to keep a straight face when he slams his fist down on the table). As a song in its own right, it's dead good. Don't think they ever played it live. Maybe he ought to revive it now. Certainly rather hear that than In The City (now part of the current set).

 

I know in my case I often heard "A Town Called Malice" on a progressive radio station in Boston and it spurred me to buy their latest single, which was almost their last one before the breakup (The Bitterest Pill). Then I picked up the Snap LP the following year or so and that seemed to be all the Jam I needed. To this date I am not sure if I have ever heard any other Jam song on US radio besides A town Called Malice.

 

Someone mentioned upthread, the lilac and white striped colour scheme of the Super Deluxe.
In the UK at least, the sleeve of the vinyl album was issued within a lilac and white striped paper bag, a throwback to the era when record shops didn't use plastic bags! Got mine on release day.

 

Frank thanks for the shoutout. TBP was kinda/sorta the Style Council before there was one wasn't it? In the same vein, Walls Come Tumbling Down was like The Jam...but only without the requisite snarl of Weller's Rick(Rickenbacker guitar to all you civilians out there).

 

Some more details at: http://store.universal-music.co.uk/restofworld/rock/the-boxset-the-jam-the-gift-super-deluxe-edition-2012/invt/0602537119332/

Features:

Outer box in original striped bag style cover – ‘The Jam – A Gift’!
Hardback 72-page, full-colour book – including period and fan’s memorabilia, magazine cuttings (NME etc.), reviews, photos, new interviews (with Paul Weller and producer Peter Wilson)
Forward by Paul Weller and new essay by John Harris
Set of postcard prints


Four discs, in individual wallets:

1. Disc 1 – original album re-mastered

+ 10 singles/b-sides from the period, up to the split.


2. Disc 2 – bonus tracks

15 demos & alternate tracks, 13 previously unreleased, re-mastered


3. Disc 3 – Live at Wembley December 1982

23 tracks, complete concert from the last ever Jam tour (previously unreleased), re-mastered


4. Disc 4 – DVD compilation

Promo clips (Town Called Malice / Precious / The Bitterest Pill)

Trans-Global Unity Express tour – live tracks from Birmingham show:

01. Town Called Malice
02. Carnation
03. Precious
04. Ghosts
05. Move On Up
06. Private Hell
07. Pretty Green
08. “Trans-Global Express”
09. The Gift

Danish TV special (DR) The Gift album live in small studio with audience

Top Of The Pops – 1982 – Town Called Malice / Precious

 

I think I have touched the subject too many times now so this is the last time I complain. The prices of these super deluxe boxsets are outrageous. This one is currently £109 on Amazon. I am sure it will drop as the Universal website has it for £80, but still I think it is ridiculous. They really want us to resume the bad habit of illegal downloading that, from my personal experience, people had almost forgotten about in the last few years. The DRC boxset is currently £26.74 on Amazon. Why should this new boxset be three times more expensive?
I do not care for the boxes, the books and the memorabilia so I will look in the right places for the live CD which is the only thing I am curious about.

 

No interest in the demos?

 

Live Jam gigs (official or unofficial) from 1977 to 1982 are ten a penny. Can't wait to hear the demos.

"We are the mods,we are the Mods,we are the Mods".

 

Looks like it'll be a decent package.

Check out the official promo site:

http://www.thejamthegift.com/

 

Its very expensive. I thought the Pistols one was dear. These type of things were £75 a short while ago (Who, Nirvana).

 

Agreed. Almost comically expensive (as in it would be funny if we weren't the sort of people who are expected to buy these things).

On the plus side: the demos disc should be interesting enough to merit more than two plays and prompt Butch to start a whole thread about it.

I assume the Wembley show is a properly mixed version of the familiar Ready Steady Gone bootleg. It'll be good to have. I went to a couple of the Wembley shows. No one could quite believe it was over.

The DVD should be interesting. I'm guessing it'll feature The Jam's performance on The Tube. Shame they didn't see fit to release the full Bingley Hall show too.

 

You getting the Pistols one, Jim?

 

Hopefully we're all in for a pleasant surprise and it's the 3rd that gets released.

 

I will be getting this.

 

Fingers crossed. What nights were the Snap EP tracks taken from?

 

Like to, but can't afford either at the moment. I can't justify spending over £200 for two boxes for a few CDs of demos and odds and sods that I'll probably only play a few times. I think the pricing now is madness, it seems they know hardcore fans will buy it whatever so hike up the price. Leaves a bad taste.