“Going Underground” by The Jam

"Going Underground" is a sharp, furious broadside from the Jam, released in March 1980 and written by lead guitarist Paul Weller, who aims it squarely at Margaret Thatcher's newly elected Conservative government, at the voter apathy that let her in and at the military-industrial complex humming behind it all. The band cut it at the Townhouse Studios in London on 16 January 1980, the same day as "Dreams of Children", with Vic Coppersmith-Heaven producing.

"Dreams of Children" was meant to be the lone A-side until a pressing-plant mix-up made the record a double A-side, and DJs went for the more tuneful "Going Underground". It entered the UK chart at number one and held on for three weeks, the first of four chart-toppers for the band, yet it sits on none of their six studio albums, only on compilations and reissues of Setting Sons.

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