"Going Underground" is a single 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 1 ...

, released in March 1980. It debuted at number one 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 ...

, spending three weeks at the top. "Going Underground" was the first of four number one singles the band were to achieve throughout their career.

Song profile

"Going Underground" was not released on any of the band's six studio albums, although it has appeared on many compilations and re-releases since the 1980s. The song was released as a

double A-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 company ...

with "Dreams of Children", which originally had been intended to be the sole A-side; following a mix-up at the pressing plant, the single became a double A-side, and DJs tended to choose the more melodic "Going Underground" to play on the radio. The song covers social issues of the time such as political corruption, voter apathy and

Thatcherism Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character and general style of manag ...

. It was the 15th best-selling single in the UK in 1980. The song was ranked at number 2 among the "Tracks of the Year" for 1980 by '' NME''. In March 2005, ''Q'' magazine placed "Going Underground" at number 73 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks, and in October 2006, placed it at number 98 in its list of the 100 Greatest Songs Ever.

Covers and parodies

Ade Edmondson Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. He was part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s and had roles in the television series '' The Young Ones'' (1 ...

folk punk Folk punk (known in its early days as rogue folk) is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was popularized in the early 1980s by the Pogues in England, and by Violent Femmes in the United States. Folk punk achieved some mainstream success in ...

band The Bad Shepherds covered it in 2013. Welsh

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...

band

Lostprophets Lostprophets (stylised as lostprophets) were a Welsh Rock music, rock band from Pontypridd, formed in 1997 by singer and lyricist Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer), Ian Watkins and guitarist Lee Gaze. The band was founded after their former band ...

covered the song in 2007 as a B-side to their single, " 4:AM Forever". The comedy band

Amateur Transplants Amateur Transplants was a parody music band fronted by London-based, British comedian Adam Kay and Suman Biswas (born 1978). Amateur Transplants came to prominence in 2005 with a song about the London Underground, parodying the Jam song "Go ...

released a two-minute parody titled "London Underground" in 2005 in the light of the December strike. It became a popular download in the United Kingdom. The song was covered by Buffalo Tom for the 1999 Jam tribute album '' Fire and Skill: The Songs of the Jam''. This version also was released as part of a double A-side single with

Liam Gallagher William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He achieved fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis from 1991 to 2009, and later fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2009 to 2014, before starti ...

's and

Steve Cradock Stephen "Steve" Cradock (born 22 August 1969 in Solihull) is an English guitarist, most notable for playing in the rock group Ocean Colour Scene. Cradock also plays the guitar in Paul Weller's band, having appeared on all of Weller's solo r ...

's version of "Carnation" and reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart. Manfred Mann's Earth Band covered the song on their 1986 album, ''

Criminal Tango ''Criminal Tango'' is an album released in 1986 by Manfred Mann's Earth Band with Chris Thompson. Founding guitarist/vocalist Mick Rogers returned to the band for this album and is still an active member. The new bassist Steve Kinch joined t ...

''. Daryl Denham released a version of the song titled " Go England" in 2002, after Weller gave permission for it to be adapted as a football song.

"Dreams of Children"

"Going Underground" was coupled with "Dreams of Children" as a double A-side. It opens and is intermittently accentuated with a backmasked sample of the band's 1979 song " Thick as Thieves". In the US the backwards intro was edited out making the single 10 seconds shorter than the UK Version. This US edit is available on the best-of compilation ''

Snap! Snap! is a German Eurodance group formed in 1989 by producers Michael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti. The act has been through a number of line-up changes over the years, including American singers, songwriters and rappers Thea Austin, Turbo B ...

''. The Jam released two other double A-side singles: " David Watts"/"'A' Bomb in Wardour Street" and "

Town Called Malice "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. Overview The title is a play on words of the 1950 Nevil Shute novel ''A Town Like ...

"/" Precious".

References

{{authority control 1979 songs 1980 singles The Jam songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Paul Weller Political songs Protest songs Song recordings produced by Vic Coppersmith-Heaven Polydor Records singles British hard rock songs