# The Story Behind The Song: The Jam’s masterpiece ‘That’s Entertainment’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-story-behind-the-song-the-jams-masterpiece-thats-entertainment/
- Published: 2026-07-21T07:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-29T07:19:57+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-story-behind-the-jam-thats-entertainment/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- A sparse 1980 song captured bleak everyday life in London.
- Weller said he wrote it in around ten minutes.
- Its German single became a hugely popular UK import.

## Summary

The article examines how The Jam’s ‘That’s Entertainment’ became a defining song of British punk and new wave. Written by Paul Weller for the 1980 album *Sound Affects*, it portrays a bleak, everyday London through restrained acoustic instrumentation rather than the band’s usual electric intensity, giving its social observations particular force.

Weller reportedly wrote the song in about ten minutes after a night at the pub, drawing on images around him and his disillusionment with the capital. Although The Jam did not initially release it as a UK single, a German single became a major UK import after ‘Start’ reached number one; the article also notes that Weller said Paul Drew’s poem ‘Entertainment’ inspired its central idea, with Drew’s permission.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.