“Precious” by The Jam

"Precious" is the other half of the coin that was "Town Called Malice": the two shared a double A-side single in 1982, and both turned up on The Gift, the Jam's album that year on Polydor. The single went to number one in Britain, though it was "Malice" that got the airplay while "Precious" was left in the shadows. Paul Weller wrote it alone, and it's a sharp left turn away from the punk and mod the Jam had built their name on, into funk territory they had never set foot in before, with Steve Nichol on trumpet and Keith Thomas on saxophone.

Uncut later called it "hypnotically itchy punk-funk", which is about right. Some fans and critics caught a family resemblance to "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag", itself still fresh at the time, and in 1998 Weller owned up to using it as a springboard. Peter Wilson produced with the band.

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