"Absolute Beginners" was a single released by

The Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 198 ...

on 16 October 1981. The song did not appear on any of the band's studio albums; it reached number 4 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The song was named after the

Colin MacInnes Colin MacInnes (20 August 1914 – 22 April 1976) was an English novelist and journalist. Early life MacInnes was born in London, the son of singer James Campbell McInnes and novelist Angela Mackail, who was the granddaughter of the Pre-Rap ...

novel of the same name. The book was one of songwriter

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...

's favourites, being chosen by him when he appeared on ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usu ...

''. "Tales from the Riverbank" appeared as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

. The band's record company

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

later stated that they believed "Tales from the Riverbank" should have been released as the A-side. The song also appeared on the soundtrack for the 1997 film ''

Grosse Pointe Blank ''Grosse Pointe Blank'' is a 1997 American black comedy action film directed by George Armitage from a screenplay by Tom Jankiewicz, D. V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink and John Cusack. It stars Cusack, Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin and Dan Aykroyd and follo ...

''.

Music video

The video to "Absolute Beginners" was filmed in the neighbourhood around Nomis Studios in

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, i ...

, London. The video includes footage of the band running around terraced streets in the vicinity of the studios, chasing a camera tied to the rear of a vehicle. The video also includes inserted text slides typical of those used during the

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

era.''That's Entertainment: My Life in The Jam'',

Rick Butler Rick Butler is a prominent youth volleyball coach and the founder of Sports Performance Volleyball Club in Aurora, Illinois. Butler has been accused of having had sexual relationships with female players in his club in the 1980s that began when he ...

, Ian Snowball, 2015, , pp. 151-152

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Absolute Beginners (The Jam Song) 1981 singles 1981 songs Polydor Records singles Songs written by Paul Weller The Jam songs