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Cover of All Mod Cons by The Jam — Cover: All Mod Cons

Song · The Jam

“David Watts” by The Jam

From the album All Mod Cons (1978)

“David Watts” by The Jam appears on 16 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1999 and 2024. It was first released in 1978 on the album All Mod Cons. Its best result is #589 on The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,718 alternative song of all time.

16countdowns

3stations

#589best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1999–2024years charted

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The Jam took "David Watts" from Ray Davies, who wrote it for the Kinks' 1967 album Something Else by the Kinks, and put it on All Mod Cons in 1978, with Vic Coppersmith-Heaven and Chris Parry producing. It's a song about a schoolboy staring in awe at a classmate who seems to lead a charmed life, and nobody can quite agree whether the ache underneath is envy or a crush. Davies has said he likes it that way and wants the meaning left open.

The Jam play it with clenched-teeth urgency, harder and punchier than the original, turning its sly wistfulness into a charge down the school corridor.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

#1,718 of all time

All Rock Formats

#3,080 of all time

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1999	836	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	887	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	892	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2002	892	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2002	1791	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)	2002
2003	888	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2004	888	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2005	888	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2007	1724	CD101	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)	2008
2008	1693	CD101	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)	2009
2009	1703	CD101	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)	2010
2010	1553	CD101	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)	2011
2011	1523	CD101	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)	2011
2013	1543	CD101	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)	2012
2014	1531	CD101	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)	2013
2024	589	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs	850

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