Bassist Bruce Foxton on the story of The Jam's That's Entertainment: “It was a bit of a departure for us, because it was acoustic”

The Jam taken on the street in Tokyo, July 1980, Tokyo, Japan. Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton, Rick Buckle

By the time Paul Weller penned That’s Entertainment in 1980, The Jam were already established as one of the biggest bands in the UK. Since signing to Polydor in 1977, the prolific mod icons had enjoyed three Top 20 albums and six Top 20 singles. That’s Entertainment appeared on their fifth album, 1980’s Sound Affects, which would rise to a peak of No. 2 on the UK album charts. 

However, That’s Entertainment was never issued as a UK single before the band split in 1982, perhaps because Polydor deemed its acoustic approach too out of kilter with the plugged-in sounds for which The Jam were renowned. Nonetheless, loyal fans of the band imported non-UK pressings of the song by the thousand, leading to a No. 21 chart placing in February 1981. To this day, it remains one of the best-selling imports in UK chart history.