The Jam were the first punk group I used to see on a regular basis… if they ever really were a punk group.

They played fast and loud and angrily, and they had a social conscience, which pressed all the right buttons in 1977.

On the other hand they wore Mod-style suits and ties and haircuts and had been playing their souped-up R&B since 1973.

Early in 1977 they had a weekly residency at The Nashville pub in Hammersmith and then another one up the road at The Red Cow in Hammersmith, and I went along with my college friend Adrian Thrills.

I still have the badges to prove it – along with Paul’s dad’s business card as a builder in Woking (and manager of the band).

At the first few the crowd was sparse; one night when there were calls for an encore, Paul Weller and Bruce Foxton returned to the stage only to realise their drummer, Rick Buckler, wasn’t there.

Someone had already given him a lift home to Woking but, rather than deny the audience an encore, Weller asked if anyone knew how to play the drums.

In true punk DIY fashion Adrian came to the rescue by answering the call. Familiar with their repertoire from seeing them several times before, he got behind the kit to bash out the beat for, if memory serves, a cover of Heat Wave by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas.

In those days The Jam played a lot of covers from that era – Arthur Conley’s Sweet Soul Music, Larry Williams’s Slow Down, Wilson Pickett’s In The Midnight Hour, as well as an obscure Who song called So Sad About Us.

They went back to The Who for the title of their debut single in April 1977, borrowing the title from another obscure B-side for the self-penned In The City, with self-penned lyrics alluding to police violence.

I still get a visceral thrill listening to Weller’s Wilko-like riffing, Foxton’s descending bass and the sudden clatter of Buckler’s drums. I don’t think Adrian could have managed that.

In The City crept into the Top 40 at No.40 to begin a run of what would become 18 consecutive hit singles for The Jam.