Song · The Jam
“In The City” by The Jam
From the album In the City (1977)
“In The City” by The Jam appears on 9 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1978 and 2023. It was first released in 1977 on the album In the City. Its best result is #44 on the John Peel's All-Time Festive Fifty (1978). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #3,098 alternative song of all time.
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"In the City" was the Jam's first single, out in April 1977 as the title track of their debut album, and it's pure pent-up teenage energy: Paul Weller's guitar slashing away, Bruce Foxton's bass charging and Rick Buckler's drums pushing everything toward the red. Weller wrote it, sharing the vocals with Foxton, and Vic Coppersmith-Heaven and Chris Parry produced. It's an early example of the mod-flavored anthems to British youth that ran through the band's first records.
It crept into the UK Top 40 at number 40, the first of 18 straight Top 40 hits. For the 25th anniversary in 2002, Polydor reissued it as a seven-inch in its original sleeve at the original price of 75 pence; it sold out immediately and peaked at 36, higher than it ever went the first time around.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 44 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's All-Time Festive Fifty (1978) | 50 |
| 1999 | 694 | Q101 | Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1017 |
| 2002 | 952 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1902 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2005 | 274 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) | 500 |
| 2006 | 217 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) | 499 |
| 2019 | 358 | KEXP | KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time | 627 |
| 2022 | 508 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s | 908 |
| 2023 | 450 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places | 800 |
Also listed as: In the City; In the city.
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