Bruce Foxton
(born 1 September 1955, Woking, Surrey) is an English rock and roll musician who is best remembered as the bass player in punk/new wave bands The Jam and Stiff Little Fingers.
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BRUCE FOXTON TICKETS
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Biography
In The Jam, he and
drummer Rick Buckler played a subordinate role behind singer,
guitarist, and songwriter
Paul Weller. However, Foxton took lead vocals on a few tracks, most notably the singles "
David Watts" (a cover of a
Kinks track) and "
News of the World", which was his own composition. Foxton also penned other tracks, possibly the most notable being "Smithers-Jones", done as a straightforward rock take for the
B-side of "
When You're Young" and later reworked with strings for the
Setting Sons
album. Stiff Little Fingers would regularly perform the song live after Foxton joined.
Whilst in The Jam, Foxton discovered
The Vapors and co-managed the group with John Weller, Paul's father. Ironically, The Vapors enjoyed greater success in the U.S. than The Jam would ever have with the
Top 40 single "
Turning Japanese", but broke up shortly thereafter.
After The Jam split, Foxton pursued a brief
solo career, and released the album
Touch Sensitive
. He had a minor UK
hit with the single "Freak" and played in several less well known groups, including Sharp, until he joined Stiff Little Fingers.
He stayed with Stiff Little Fingers for fifteen years, during which time they recorded five
albums, namely,
Flags and Emblems
,
Get a Life
,
Tinderbox
,
Hope Street
, and
Guitar and Drum
. During his time with the band, he wrote and co-wrote several tracks, and along with
Jake Burns,
managed the group for a while, after Russel Emmanuel gave up the job.
In 1994, Foxton and
Buckler collaborated on
Our Story
, a
biography of their years in The Jam. It was around this time he became a source of fascination for comedians
Stewart Lee and
Richard Herring on their
BBC Radio 1 music shows.
In 2006, Foxton toured with
Bruce Watson,
Mark Brzezicki and
Simon Townshend as
The Casbah Club. When this band supported
The Who in Britain, Foxton encountered Paul Weller backstage for the first time in nearly 25 years. It was reported in the October 2009 edition of Mojo Magazine that Foxton shall be contributing some bass to Weller's forthcoming album.
In February 2007, Foxton and Buckler announced they would be touring again as
From The Jam, with members of Buckler's Jam tribute band The Gift.
[1]
n March 2008, they toured Australia
[2] and New Zealand - a first for Foxton and Buckler. A complete concert (recorded in London, December 2007) was released on
DVD in 2008 through the London-based indie label
Invisible Hands Music.
[3]
Foxton's wife died in 2009 after a battle with
cancer.
[4] On 5 May 2009, Foxton attended the funeral of Paul Weller's father John, who was instrumental in The Jam's success.
[5]
Equipment
Rickenbacker 4001 Bass guitar, which matched Paul Weller's Rickenbacker 330 six-string and helped to define the "Jam" guitar sound. Used on and off from 1977-1982, most notable songs featuring these basses are "Town Called Malice", "News of the World", and "Eton Rifles".
Ibanez Rickenbacker 4001 Copy - Used in the early days of the Jam
Modified Rickenbacker 4001 with Fender precision pickups, used to record "Tales from the Riverbank" and "That's Entertainment".
Fender Precision Bass, which Bruce adopted during the All Mod Cons period, an attempt to obtain a richer tone for his melodic lines. Despite not having the "mod" image of the Rickenbacker, the Fender is the bass most used by Bruce throughout The Jam’s and SLF's career.
Epiphone Rivoli Bass guitar - used for recording the jam song "Start!"
Marshall 100 Watt Bass amplifier
Aria II - used in the late days of the jam and during Foxton's solo career.
Waterstone Brighton 64'- currently being used to play "Start!" with From The Jam
Waterstone Lulu - Used as a back up for From The Jam
Waterstone RSG - Used as a back up for From The Jam
57' Fender precision bass- used in SLF, Casbah club, and from the jam
[6]
References
- Untitled Document
- The Jam To Play Australia - Without Frontman
- From The Jam 2007 tour
- http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2009/04/09/jam-star-wife-s-funeral-draws-mourners-including-pm-s
- http://www.rexfeatures.com/set/918791
- http://www.thejam.org.uk/equipment.html