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?

Stiff Little Fingers supporting Bowel Cancer Charity Book

Back in March 2015, I travelled to Oxford to see Stiff Little Fingers play live at the O2 Academy. Having made contact with Jake a few weeks earlier, he invited me to go and photograph the band at their sound-check before the gig. This particular photo shows Jake sporting the bowel cancer tie, which I asked many of the people in the book to do a photo with to help raise awareness about bowel cancer. It was fascinating going back stage to meet the band in their dressing room, and the gig itself was absolutely brilliant with the band playing many of their classic songs alongside tracks from their most recent studio album, No Going Back. This was a great chapter to write, as not only was it a brilliant evening, but having first seen the band play live in 1987, and buying the 'At The Edge' 7" single in 1980, there is a long history of me following the band. 

At the time of the meeting my Mum had been living with bowel cancer for three years. Although she had successfully had the tumour removed from her bowel in 2012, she also had secondary cancer on her left lung, and underwent four operations over a four year period to remove nodules. On the day that Lives & Times was published in November 2015, Mum had a seizure, and the cancer had spread to her brain. She underwent CyberKnife treatment in early 2016, but more seizures followed and her condition slowly deteriorated, and she sadly passed away in August, 2016. All proceeds raised from sales of the book are donated to the Beating Bowel Cancer, and it has raised over £3250 to date.

41,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year. It is the second highest cancer killer in the UK taking 16,000 lives. Importantly, if detected early it can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases. Much more work needs to be done to raise awareness about this awful illness, to increase the numbers diagnosed early, and help reduce the number of deaths. There is still a stigma attached to anything related to bums and poo!

The book contains chapters on people from all walks of life, including the world of music, sport, television, and people affected by cancer.