Jam fans tour Tescos in search of rare pink vinyl

Tesco got more than it bargained for when it offered limited edition vinyl pressings of classic albums by the Jam and the Clash as Father’s Day gifts, prompting ageing mods and punks to descend on its stores.

Jam enthusiasts have reported driving to multiple Tesco stores to pick up a copy of Sound Affects, the band’s 1980 LP, on pink vinyl. In a clash of cultures and generations, some were met by bewildered Tesco employees, with one asking if vinyl was like a CD and another mistaking calendars for albums.

The album, which contains the singles Start! and That’s Entertainment, costs £16 and is available in 150 large stores, according to Tesco. But many fans could not find a copy, sparking searches and tipoffs on social media with Tesco’s music buyer Michael Mulligan involved.

Some Jam fans launched an altruistic effort to get copies to bereft fans. Other copies found their way on to ebay with price tags of up to £60.

Tesco has stocked up on 1,800 copies each of eight records for Father’s Day with four available on coloured vinyl. As well as Sound Affects, Tesco has the Clash’s double LP London Calling in green and pink, Searching for the Young Soul Rebels by Dexy’s Midnight Runners in green and 12 Gold Bars by Status Quo, predictably in gold.

Susan Care, 48, from Camborne in Cornwall, made a 130-mile round trip to a Tesco in Plymouth on Wednesday night and returned with two copies of Sound Affects and a Dexy’s LP at 2am.

A fan since the Jam’s heyday of the late 70s and early 80s, she said it was like a trip back in time to when she bought the band’s singles on release day.

“I’m probably still about 15 at heart. I’m not particularly obsessive or materialistic but I had to have it. The woman who served us couldn’t find them but then she realised what she thought were calendars in the Father’s Day section might be albums.”

Care added: “I can think of better places to buy stuff. I don’t particularly like Tesco because they are everywhere but this was a good idea.”

Keith Lewington, who moderates the 13,000-member Jam Society Facebook page, bought 12 copies and mailed them to members for the cover price plus postage. He also posted the barcode for Sound Affects for presentation to Tesco staff. Others also bought multiple copies to sell for no profit when implored by fellow members.

Lewington, 48, from Kings Lynn, said: “Jam fans are fanatical and there are a lot of collectors. Any new release gets snapped up and there is a certain amount of uncertainty about it and people think: ‘I want it now, as soon as possible.’ I think that caught Tesco off guard. They can’t have realised how popular the band still are. I was asked by a member of staff if a record was like a CD.”

Clash fans were also frustrated because hardly any copies of London Calling, which includes the song Lost in the Supermarket, were available. Tesco said there would be plentiful stocks of the album arriving on Friday and Saturday and that more copies of Sound Affects and other LPs should arrive too.

Tesco started stocking records for the first time in its history in December in a bid to cash in on the craze for vinyl and the revival of record players. A Tesco spokeswoman said the retailer ordered the coloured albums, dating from 1979 and 1980, as potential Father’s Day gifts for Tesco’s average CD buyer who would have been about 16 when the LPs were released.

She said Tesco had not expected collectors to rush out to buy the records. With more than two weeks till Father’s Day, there may not be many left as gifts for dads.

The pink pressing of Sound Affects, which reached number two in the charts in 1980, is thought to be the first UK release of an album by the group, led by mod frontman Paul Weller, on coloured vinyl, sparking particular interest.

As well as the coloured pressings, Tesco is stocking four LPs on black vinyl for Father’s Day: Changes One by David Bowie, Purple Rain by Prince and the Revolution, Parklife by Blur, and the Ultimate Collection by Paul Simon.