"Town Called Malice" is a song recorded by British band the Jam from the album The Gift. It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart in February 1982.[6][7]
Overview
The title is inspired by the 1950 Nevil Shute novel A Town Like Alice, although Paul Weller said in 2012 that he had not read the book at the time.[8] "Town Called Malice" was released as a double A-side single along with "Precious". A 12" version was also available with a live version of "Town Called Malice" backed by an extended version of "Precious".
Weller has said that "Town Called Malice" was written about his hometown of Woking, inspired by his working-class upbringing there and desire to leave.[9][10] The Irish Independent described the song, like the band's 1980 single "Going Underground", as a "class-war tirade set to a post-punknorthern soul groove".[2] Greg Freeman of The Guardian described it as featuring a "stomping, Motown-inspired beat" conveying a "sense of pent-up rage and frustrated ambition".[11]
Released as the first single from the album on 29 January 1982, it entered the UK Singles Chart at number one and stayed at there for three weeks,[5] preventing "Golden Brown" by the Stranglers from reaching the top spot. EMI, the Stranglers' label, objected to the sales of both versions of "Town Called Malice" being aggregated, arguing that Jam fans were buying both and thus preventing "Golden Brown" from reaching number one.[4]
"Town Called Malice" was the Jam's third number-one single in the UK. According to the Official Charts Company it was the 10th best-selling single of 1982 in the UK.[12] It was the band's sole entry on any mainstream American chart when it hit No. 31 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1982.[13][14] The song was ranked among the top ten "Tracks of the Year" for 1982 by NME.[15]
