"Town Called Malice" is a song recorded by British band

the Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1 ...

from the album '' The Gift''. It debuted at number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in February 1982.

Overview

The title is a play on words of the 1950

Nevil Shute Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect ...

novel ''

A Town Like Alice ''A Town Like Alice'' (United States title: ''The Legacy'') is a romance novel by Nevil Shute, published in 1950 when Shute had newly settled in Australia. Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman, becomes romantically interested in a fellow prisoner ...

'', although

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul mu ...

says he had not read the book at the time. It was a double

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

single release featuring " Precious" as the flip side. A 12" version was also available with a live version of "Town Called Malice" backed by an extended version of "Precious". Paul Weller has said that it was written about his hometown Woking as a result of his teenage experiences there. The '' Irish Independent'' described the song, like "Going Underground", as a " class-war tirade set to a

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

northern soul groove". Released as the first single from the album on 29 January 1982, it entered the chart at number one on the UK Singles Chart, staying at the top for three weeks, and preventing "

Golden Brown "Golden Brown" is a song by the English rock band the Stranglers released as a 7-inch single on EMI's Liberty label in 1982, noted for its distinctive harpsichord instrumentation. It was the second single released from the band's sixth studio ...

" by

the Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origin ...

from reaching number one.

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

, the Stranglers record company, objected to the sales of both versions of "Town Called Malice" being aggregated, arguing that Jam fans were buying both and thus preventing their band from reaching the top of the chart. "Town Called Malice" was the band's third number-one single in the UK. It was the band's sole chart entry onto any American chart (although this single and " Start!" both appeared in the low-rungs of the ''Billboard'' Dance/Club Play charts) when it hit No. 31 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1982. The song was ranked among the top ten "Tracks of the Year" for 1982 by ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

''.

In popular culture

"Town Called Malice" has been featured in the following: - The 1985 comedy film, ''

National Lampoon's European Vacation ''National Lampoon's European Vacation'' is a 1985 American comedy film directed by Amy Heckerling and written by Robert Klane. The second film in National Lampoon's ''Vacation'' film series, it stars Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Dana Hill, ...

'' - The 2000 drama ''

Billy Elliot ''Billy Elliot'' is a 2000 British coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Lee Hall. Set in County Durham in North East England during the 1984–1985 miners' strike, the film is about a working-class boy w ...

''; - The 2003 video game, FIFA 2004. - The 2005 film, ''

The Matador ''The Matador'' is a 2005 black comedy crime film written and directed by Richard Shepard and starring Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear. The film was released on DVD on July 4, 2006 and on HD DVD on December 19, 2006. Brosnan was nominated for ...

''. - The 2019 superhero movie, '' Spider-Man: Far From Home''. - The third episode of the seventh season of AMC's '' The Walking Dead'', in a montage where Dwight observes daily life in the Sanctuary. - The 2022 action film Morbius, starting from the intro of the song, until abruptly stopping at the end of the scene; the melody is recognizable, but most lyrics are audibly obscured by dialogue between main characters

Milo Milo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Milo'' (magazine), a strength sports magazine *'' Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze'', a 2011 children's novel by Alan Silberberg * ''Milo'' (video game), a first-person adventure-puzzle computer ga ...

and Dr. Michael Morbius.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

Lyrics to "Town Called Malice"
{{Authority control 1981 songs 1982 singles The Jam songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Paul Weller Polydor Records singles