Bruce Foxton - Biography

Biography

Foxton was born in Woking, Surrey. In The Jam, he and drummer Rick Buckler played with singer, guitarist, and songwriter Paul Weller. Foxton initially joined as lead guitarist (while Weller played bass), but the pair switched positions following the departure of guitarist Steve Brookes. 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). He had minor UK hits in 1983 and 1984 with the singles "Freak", "This Is The Way" and "It Makes Me Wonder", 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. In March 2008, they toured Australia 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.

Foxton's wife Pat died in 2009 from cancer. On 5 May 2009, Foxton attended the funeral of Paul Weller's father John, who was instrumental in The Jam's success. 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".

On 1 October 2012, Foxton released his latest album, Back in the Room.