Return of the 5 O’Clock Hero: Universal Goes Big with The Jam’s “Gift” Box

As the 1980s began, it seemed all of England was moving and shaking to the eclectic sound of The Jam. Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler started The Jam as an “angry young man” punk band, but stumbled upon something more: a revival of mod culture in the U.K. and an increasing stable of diversely-recorded chart hits.

While 1982 saw the release of their biggest album to date, The Gift, and a string of seven consecutive Top 10 hits (including two No. 1s) stretching back from the previous year, Weller did something few could’ve expected that same year: he ended the band on top. Now, three decades later, Universal is set to commemorate The Gift with an impressive four-disc box.

The deluxe Gift, packaged in a box replicating the “gift bag” that housed the original LP, features three CDs and one DVD. In turn, they feature:

• The remastered original 11-track LP, featuring chart-topper “Town Called Malice” and “Just Who is the 5 O’Clock Hero?,” and ten follow-up single and B-side tracks, including No. 2 hit “The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had to Swallow)” and the chart-topping “Beat Surrender”
• A disc of 15 demos – only two of which have been released on previous Jam archival projects
• An unreleased concert from the end of The Jam’s Gift Tour, recorded at Wembley Stadium in December 1982
  
• A DVD featuring music videos, a Top of the Pops performance and two live shows – one recorded at Bingley Hall in Birmingham and released on VHS in 1982, and one recorded for Danish TV and making its DVD debut

Deluxe packaging abounds within this set, including a 72-page book featuring vintage press clippings, memorabilia and new interviews with Paul Weller and album producer Peter Wilson, a foreword from Weller and essay by John Harris, postcards and a replica of the 1982 tour program. A cut-down double-disc edition will be released, as well as a 10″ vinyl version of the Danish concert (a potential Record Store Day exclusive?).

Pre-order links are live for an import version to be issued November 27, but the press release received at Second Disc HQ indicates a November 19 release, likely meaning – gasp! – a domestic release! We’ll keep an eye out for domestic links, but the full track list and the import link is dreaming of the quiet life after the jump.