From The Jam Feature In Bowel Cancer Charity Book

Seeing From The Jam perform the songs of The Jam is one of my favourite nights out in the musical diary. Recreating the arrangements with such precision and having the superb voice of Russell Hastings accompanying Bruce Foxton makes the whole thing work wonderfully well.

When I started to put the Lives & Times bowel cancer fundraising book together I wanted to get as much stuff about The Jam, past and present, in the book as I could. What price getting Paul, Bruce and Rick together for a photo? Well yes of course we can all dream. I never managed to get a response from Paul or Rick, although I did manage to get a request to Rick through his book page on Facebook. Thankfully fortune was on my side as when I approached From The Jam to be in the book I was successful. I was given a photo pass for the Reading gig on the Settings Sons 35th anniversary tour.

Normally being in the photo pit you are restricted to the first three songs of the set, so I made sure I was primed and ready. As things turned out I needn't have worried as I was able to stay in there for the whole set, which gave me unlimited photographic access up close and personal. And of course I was also able to enjoy the concert from the very front!

SUB 89 in Reading is a great venue for bands to play the town these days, and From The Jam always fill the venue to capacity. The lighting in there makes photography quite challenging, and it took me quite some time to decide on which were the best photos to consider using in the book. These two photos of Bruce and Russell made the shortlist, but not actually into the book.

As a 16 year old I saw the final tour of The Jam at Wembley in 1982. Seeing these songs again 35 years later is nothing short of an absolute joy, and my heartfelt thanks to the band for participating in the book.

I published the Lives & Times book on November 27th 2015. It has so far raised over £3250 for the Beating Bowel Cancer charity. All proceeds I receive from sales of the book are donated to the charity.

I have been supporting Beating Bowel Cancer since 2012, as it was then that my mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer. Although the operation to remove the tumour in her bowel was successful, Mum also had secondary cancer on her left lung. This is where the primary cancer spreads to another part of the body. She had four operation over four years on her lungs. The cancer also spread to her brain, and in spite of "Cyberknife" treatment her health declined and she passed away on August 29th 2016.

Information about the Beating Bowel Cancer charity and the work that is does can be found by clicking here.

I am currently doing a new book in my mother's memory. The challenge for this one is to try and Paul and Rick to take part... Can anyone help me with this?

Lives & Times Meets The Stranglers at SUB 89 in Reading

Tuesday July 8th, 2014 was the day I got to photograph the legendary Stranglers for the Lives & Times fundraising book in support of the Beating Bowel Cancer charity. They were playing a low key festival warm up show at SUB 89 in Reading. Even on the day it was by no means a foregone conclusion that it would happen. In the end I was only given a couple of hours notice and invited to go along to the sound-check. This meant I raced home from work, got on my bike and cycled into Reading just in time to meet the band at the venue. It was fascinating seeing the guys sound-check and I was given a free reign to wander around during the couple of songs that they played and snap away. I remember thinking that it sounded spot on to me and when I returned as a fan later in the evening to watch the gig the sound indeed was excellent, and it was a cracking show. The whole experience is documented alongside photos in Lives & Times.

Back in March 2016 I got to see The Stranglers play at the Hexagon in Reading on their "Black and White" tour when they were supported by The Alarm who also feature in the book. It was a fantastic night watching two of my favourite bands... There was no special treatment for me this time though as I returned to my normal gig going status.

Please support Lives & Times and help me raise as much money as possible. All proceeds raised are donated to Beating Bowel Cancer. Bowel cancer remains the second biggest cancer killer in the UK, but if detected early has a survival rate of over 90%. My Mum was diagnosed in 2012 and after many battles she passed away August 29th, 2016.