Bruce Foxton
 |
This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2009) |
| Bruce Foxton | |
|---|---|
 Bruce Foxton playing with "From The Jam" at the Glasgow Carling Academy in 2007 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Bruce D. Foxton |
| Born | 1 September 1955 |
| Origin | Woking, Surrey, England |
| Genres | Punk rock, rock and roll |
| Occupations | Bass player |
| Instruments | Bass guitar, guitar, vocals |
| Associated acts | The Jam, Stiff Little Fingers, Casbah Club, From The Jam |
| Website | www.brucefoxton.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| Rickenbacker 4001 Fender Precision Bass |
|
Bruce Foxton (born 1 September 1955, Woking, Surrey) is an English rock and roll musician who is best known as the bass player in punk rock bands The Jam and Stiff Little Fingers.
[edit] Biography
In The Jam, he and drummer Rick Buckler played behind singer, guitarist, and songwriter Paul Weller. However, Foxton contributed greatly to transform recordings of Weller's compositions from what was presented to the group in demo form with his melodic and innovative bass parts, which have influenced many players[who?].[citation needed]initially joining as guiatrist (while Weller played bass ) , the pair switched positions following the departure of guitarist Steve Brooks . Foxton also took lead vocals on a few tracks, most notably the singles "David Watts" (a cover of a Kinks track) and "News of the World", which was his own composition. Foxton also penned other tracks, possibly the most notable being "Smithers-Jones", done as a straightforward rock take for the B-side of "When You're Young" and later reworked with strings for the Setting Sons album. Stiff Little Fingers would regularly perform the song live after Foxton joined.
Whilst in The Jam, Foxton discovered The Vapors and co-managed the group with John Weller, Paul's father. Ironically, The Vapors enjoyed greater success in the U.S. than The Jam would ever have with the Top 40 single "Turning Japanese", but broke up shortly thereafter.
After The Jam split, Foxton pursued a brief solo career, and released the album Touch Sensitive (UK #68).[1] He had minor UK hits in 1983 and 1984 with the singles "Freak", "This Is The Way" and "It Makes Me Wonder",[1] and played in several less well known groups, including Sharp, until he joined Stiff Little Fingers.
He stayed with Stiff Little Fingers for fifteen years, during which time they recorded five albums, namely, Flags and Emblems, Get a Life, Tinderbox, Hope Street, and Guitar and Drum. During his time with the band, he wrote and co-wrote several tracks, and along with Jake Burns, managed the group for a while, after Russel Emmanuel gave up the job.
In 1994, Foxton and Buckler collaborated on Our Story, a biography of their years in The Jam. It was around this time he became a source of fascination for comedians Stewart Lee and Richard Herring on their BBC Radio 1 music shows.
In 2006, Foxton toured with Bruce Watson, Mark Brzezicki and Simon Townshend as The Casbah Club. When this band supported The Who in Britain, Foxton encountered Paul Weller backstage for the first time in nearly 25 years. In February 2007, Foxton and Buckler announced they would be touring again as From The Jam, with members of Buckler's Jam tribute band The Gift.[2] In March 2008, they toured Australia[3] and New Zealand – a first for Foxton and Buckler. A complete concert (recorded in London, December 2007) was released on DVD in 2008 through the London-based indie label Invisible Hands Music.[4]
Foxton's wife Pat died in 2009 from cancer.[5] On 5 May 2009, Foxton attended the funeral of Paul Weller's father John, who was instrumental in The Jam's success.[6] Foxton played bass and contributed backing vocals on Weller's Wake Up the Nation album, released in April 2010. The songs in question were "Fast Car/Slow Traffic" and "She Speaks".
On 25 May 2010, at the Royal Albert Hall, Foxton joined Weller onstage for the first time in twenty eight years, to perform three songs, "Fast Car/Slow Traffic", "Eton Rifles", and "The Butterfly Collector".
[edit] References
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 211. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "The Jam To Play Australia – Without Frontman". ABC "Dig Radio". 11 December 2007. http://www.abc.net.au/dig/stories/s2115198.htm. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
- ^ "From The Jam 2007 tour". Noble PR. 2007. Archived from the original on 24 July 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070724090049/http://www.noblepr.co.uk/Press_Releases/from_the_jam/from_the_jam2.htm. Retrieved 30 July 2007.
- ^ "Jam star wife's funeral draws mourners including PM's wife Sarah Brown and Spandau Ballet's Tony Hadley". mirror.co.uk. http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2009/04/09/jam-star-wife-s-funeral-draws-mourners-including-pm-s-wife-sarah-brown-and-spandau-ballet-s-tony-hadley-115875-21265628/. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
- ^ "Photographic press agency and picture library". Rex Features. 5 May 2009. http://www.rexfeatures.com/set/918791. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||
| Preceded by Ali McMordie |
Bassist for Stiff Little Fingers 1990–2006 |
Succeeded by Ali McMordie |
