"Precious" is a song composed by

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 ...

and performed by the British band

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 ...

Details

It appeared on The Jam's 1982 album, '' The Gift'', and also 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 ...

single along with "

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 ...

". It reached 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 ...

, although the song received much less airplay than "Town Called Malice". It was a departure for the band from their punk and mod roots, involving a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

-like sound that the band had not previously explored. ''Uncut'' described the track as "hypnotically itchy

punk-funk Dance-punk (also known as disco-punk, punk-funk or techno-punk) is a post-punk subgenre that emerged in the late 1970s, and is closely associated with the disco, post-disco and new wave movements.Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-1984 ...

". Some fans and critics have noticed the song contains a number of similarities to "

Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag" is an instrumental performed by British dance-punk band Pigbag. The instrumental was written by Chris Hamlin and James Johnstone before Pigbag was formed and produced by Dave Hunt and Dick O'Dell. In the United St ...

", which was a relatively new release itself at the time. Weller himself was to admit in 1998 he had used that song as part of the inspiration for "Precious".

References

1982 songs Songs written by Paul Weller The Jam songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles {{1980s-rock-song-stub