Daily Express - 02.09.2019

Daily Express Monday, September 2, 2019 23

DX1ST

had been

non-stop for

seven years

and then, all

of a sudden,

we were

doing our

final gig at

Brighton and

I was like, ‘Oh

my God, what

am I going to

do?’ even

though I knew

that day was coming.

“My life felt empty

because it had revolved

around The Jam for what

seemed like so long and

all of a sudden I was wak-

ing up in the morning

and I had nothing to be

getting on with.

“It was very weird

and I was quite

depressed at the time.

“It took a long time to

get out of it. It sounds

cliched but life does go

on and you have to pick

yourself up somehow.

“Luckily, my late

wife Pat kept me going

and we married two

years after, in 1984.”

Bruce didn’t speak to

Paul for 25 years.

It took the deaths

of Paul’s father, for-

mer Jam manager

John, in 2009, and

Bruce’s wife Pat in

2010, for relations

to thaw.

He says: “It put

things in perspec-

tive to realise

how ridiculous

we both had

been. But Pat would have been

pleased that out of a horrible situa-

tion something good has come out

of it.”

After a long hiatus, Bruce played

bass on Paul’s single Fast Car/Slow

Traffic. In 2014 he appeared along-

side Weller for the first time in 28

years to perform The Jam classics

Eton Rifles, The Butterfly Collector

and Fast Car/Slow Traffic during

the singer’s five-night residency at

the Albert Hall.

P

AUL then returned the

favour and appeared on a

track on From The Jam’s

album Back In The Room.

Bruce recalls: “We were

in Paul’s studio in

Ripley and we hadn’t

arranged anything

but Paul usually

sticks his head

in to see how

it’s going and

I collared him

and asked if he

fancied being on

a track.

“It was all very

spur of the moment

and Paul is such a great

songwriter that he came up with

some really good ideas.

“I would like to think that in

future Paul would be up for playing

on a track or two. It’s a very loose

arrangement and it’s great that we

have reconciled.

“We are good friends but I don’t

hang out with him every day and I

don’t phone and ask if I can borrow

some sugar!

“It’s one of those relationships

that if we are in the same area, then

we’ll meet. He is pleased that I am

doing something and it keeps The

Jam flag flying.

“I really enjoy what I am doing

or I wouldn’t have been doing it

since 2006 but Paul coming to a

gig? I think that’s the furthest from

his mind.”

Famously, Paul once said of a

Jam reunion: “Me and my children

would have to be destitute and

starving in the gutter before I’d

even consider that.”

Bruce is not in touch with his

other Jam bandmate, Rick.

He says: “That has been a bit sad.

All I know is he’s had a few books

out and he has been doing some

Q&As around the country.

“I have no idea why he doesn’t

want to speak to me. It is crazy

but I am too old to be both-

ered with it all.”

One constant has

been his second

wife Kate, they

married in 2013.

“I am very

lucky to have met

Kate. She really

understands this is

something that I

have done all my

life and she is not

going to change me.”

And now he is delighted

to be a step-grandfather.

He says: “I never had children

but Kate’s daughter has just had a

baby, Zara, and she is simply adora-

ble. I will definitely be video-

calling them when I am on tour and

they’ve kindly given me the name

“Grandad Rock” which I am more

than happy about because it shows

that I’ve actually still got it!”

● Bruce Foxton and From The Jam

on tour for the 40th anniversary of

the album Setting Sons.

STICK IN
THE
GAME:
Bruce
Foxton is
touring at
age 63

‘I’m

more than

happy about

‘Grandad Rock’...

it shows I’ve

actually still

got it!’

had been

non-stop for

seven years

and then, all

of a sudden,

wwe were

dddoing our

fififinal gig at

BBBBrighton and

IIII was like, ‘Oh

mmy God, what

am I going to

do?’ even

though I knew

that day was coming.

“My life felt empty

because it had revolved

around The Jam for what

seemed like so long and

all of a sudden I was wak-

ing up in the morning

and I had nothing to be

getting on with.

“It was very weird

and I was quite

depressed at the time.

“It took a long time to

get out of it. It sounds

cliched but life does go

on and you have to pick

yourself up somehow.

“Luckily, my late

wife Pat kept me going

and we married two

years after, in 1984.”

Bruce didn’t speak to

Paul for 25 years.

It took the deaths

of Paul’s father, forrr-

mer Jam manager

John, in 2009, and

Bruce’s wife Pat in

2010 , for relations

to thaw.

He says: “It put

things in perspec-

tive to realise

how ridiculous

we both had

been. But Pat would have been

pleased that out of a horrible situa-

tion something good has come out

of it.”

After a long hiatus, Bruce played

bass on Paul’s single Fast Car/Slow

Traffic. In 2014 he appeared along-

side Weller for the first time in 28

years to perform The Jam classics

Eton Rifles, The Butterfly Collector

and Fast Car/Slow Traffic during

the singer’s five-night residency at

the Albert Hall.

AAAUL then returned the

favour and appeared on a

track on From The Jam’s

album Back In The Room.

Bruce recalls: “We were

in Paul’s studio in

Ripley and we hadn’t

arranged anything

but Paul usually

sticks his head

in to see how

it’s going and

I collared him

and asked if he

fancied being on

a track.

“It was all very

spur of the moment

and Paul is such a great

songwriter that he came up with

some really good ideas.

“I would like to think that in

future Paul would be up for playing

on a track or two. It’s a very loose

arrangement and it’s great that we

have reconciled.

“We are good friends but I don’t

hang out with him every day and I

don’t phone and ask if I can borrow

some sugar!

“It’s one of those relationships

that if we are in the same area, then

we’ll meet. He is pleased that I am

doing something and it keeps The

Jam flag flying.

“I really enjoy what I am doing

or I wouldn’t have been doing it

since 2006 but Paul coming to a

gig? I think that’s the furthest from

his mind.”

Famously, Paul once said of a

Jam reunion: “Me and my children

would have to be destitute and

starving in the gutter before I’d

even consider that.”

Bruce is not in touch with his

other Jam bandmate, Rick.

He says: “That has been a bit sad.

All I know is he’s had a few books

out and he has been doing some

Q&As around the country.

“I have no idea why he doesn’t

want to speak to me. It is crazy

but I am too old to be both-

ered with it all.”

One constant has

been his second

wife Kate, they

married in 2013.

“I am very

lucky to have met

Kate. She really

understands this is

something that I

have done all my

life and she is not

going to change me.”

And now he is delighted

to be a step-grandfather.

He says: “I never had children

but Kate’s daughter has just had a

baby, Zara, and she is simply adora-

ble. I will definitely be video-

calling them when I am on tour and

they’ve kindly given me the name

“Grandad Rock” which I am more

than happy about because it shows

that I’ve actually still got it!”

●Bruce Foxton and From The Jam

on tour for the 40th anniversary of

the album Setting Sons.

STICK IN
THE
GAME:
Bruce
Foxton is
touring at
age 63

‘I’m

more than

happy about

‘Grandad Rock’...

it shows I’ve

actually still

got it!’

LUCKY MAN:

Bruce and

his wife Kate

who he

married

in 2013

SWEET BOYS: The

Jam in 1977 with

Bruce, Rick and Paul