One of The Jam’s best loved songs, “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight” was released as a single in October 1978.
Martyn Goddard photographed the cover of the single and recalls the shoot:. "Most of my sessions with the Jam were in my London studio, but on 12 September 1978 we broke with tradition and decided to shoot the “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight” single cover on location. We chose Bond Street tube station on the Central line, I think because Bill Smith knew the station well as it was on his daily commute. We waited until late evening before our raid on the station, as this was going to be a quick shoot. In other words, we didn’t have permission."
"I used a 35mm Nikon camera with fast black and white film pushed to the limit to take the photographs without a tripod, hence the resulting grainy images. The band pitched themselves at the end of the platform and I waited until a speeding train emerged out of the tunnel before pressing the shutter. We only shot with about five trains before making an exit to street level."
Collectors now have the opportunity to purchase a limited edition photograph, signed by Martyn, of his iconic “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight” single sleeve cover image. Here’s the skinny on prices and sizes.
When you visit About The Young Idea – the fabulous Jam exhibition at Somerset House you will see an ultra-large format version of the tube station image. Here’s a shot of Martyn at the Somerset House exhibition opening night event, standing in front of it.
Read all about it – Martyn Goddard’s photographs of The Jam are the subject of our exhibition, Golden Faces, on the gallery walls from 1 July to 8 August 2015.
