B-side "Dreams of Children" Format 7" vinyl Genre Punk rock
mod revival | Released 14 March 1980 Recorded December 1979 Length 2:50 | |
"Going Underground" is the first British number-one chart single by The Jam, released in March 1980. It went straight in at number one in the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks at the top. It was the first of three instant chart-toppers for the group.
Contents
Song profile
"Going Underground" was not released on any of the band's six studio albums, although it has appeared on many compilations and re-releases since then. The single's B-side was "Dreams of Children", which had originally been intended to be the A-side; following a mix-up at the pressing plant, the single became a double-A-side, and DJs tended to choose the more melodic "Going Underground" to play on the radio.
The song was ranked at #2 among the "Tracks of the Year" for 1980 by NME.In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Going Underground" at number 73 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks, and in October 2006 placed it at number 98 in their list of the 100 Greatest Songs Ever.
Covers
Ade Edmondson's folk punk band The Bad Shepherds covered it in 2013.
Welsh alternative metal band Lostprophets covered the song in 2007 as a B-side to their single 4:AM Forever.
The Comedy band Amateur Transplants released a two-minute parody titled "London Underground" in 2005, in the light of the December strike. It became a popular download in the United Kingdom.
The song was covered by Buffalo Tom for the 1999 Jam tribute album Fire and Skill: The Songs of the Jam. This version was also released as part of a double A-side single with Liam Gallagher and Steve Cradock's version of "Carnation" and reached number 6 in the UK singles chart.
Dreams of Children
"Going Underground" was coupled with "Dreams of Children" as a double A side. It opens and is intermittently accentuated with a backmasked sample of the band's 1979 song "Thick as Thieves".
The Jam released two other double- A-side singles, which were "David Watts"/"'A' Bomb in Wardour Street" and "Town Called Malice"/"Precious".