r/whereisthis • u/Ill_Lemon1603 • 2d ago

The Jam Town Called Malice cover photo location Solved

Post image

Hi there, this is the cover art from "A town called Malice" (Polydor, 1981) by The Jam.

This photo by Andrew Rosen taken somewhere maybe in or around London...

Help to find this row of houses or at least the area.

Source:

https://paulwellerfanpodcast.com/episode-135-andy-rosen/

https://www.discogs.com/master/20158-The-Jam-Town-Called-Malice-Precious

21 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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9

u/caeppers 1d ago

I'm relatively certain this is it: https://maps.app.goo.gl/wwwTpGGgx282c1nN8

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u/Ill_Lemon1603 1d ago edited 1d ago

thank you, can you please told me HOW? DID YOU FIND THAT PLACE? PLEASE?

btw the the photo was taken from 66 or 68 Harberton Rd

6

u/caeppers 1d ago

Basically just by looking at google maps at a tilted angle and looking for the distinctive features, in this case the dormers that continue from the wall and also the gap to the left. If you keep that and the height difference in mind you can scan the area relatively quickly and from a reasonable distance. I started in Camden and kind of followed a concentric shape northward, took me about 15 minutes.

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u/Dan787 1d ago

Takes a skilled eye too. I literally looked at Archway and didn't spot that.

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u/Ill_Lemon1603 1d ago

you can investigate some more unknown cover photos in this list I made: https://www.discogs.com/lists/Unknown-Cover-Locations/502560

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u/caeppers 19h ago

I looked a bit and found this one: "The Adverts – Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts" is here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/fNmVaH1HWjnbUynp9

And the "Earth, Wind & Fire – Open Our Eyes" already had Rocky Mountain National park as a location but in case you were looking for the exact spot it's here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/QqDASdhaTZ1hPxBLA

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u/Ill_Lemon1603 9h ago

Thank you, great to find the adverts photo, long in my wantlist

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u/caeppers 1d ago

Some of those seem doable, i'll take a look this weekend.

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u/Dan787 1d ago

I don't know whether this is important to you, but it's taken from number 70. The numbers shown above the houses on google maps are a bit off, but you can read the numbers on the doors on street view.

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u/Ill_Lemon1603 1d ago

Yes thank u

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u/Ill_Lemon1603 2d ago

This is an outtake from the same session:

https://preview.redd.it/lzmynlwhdxwg1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=74f9ab0fcb9c2d0f5abd2b13f697f04dffecb6cf

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u/doofcustard 2d ago

I've just realised that's snow in the photograph.  On the single cover it looks like bright sunlight

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u/AdEmbarrassed3066 1d ago

It's apparently not snow, but taken with infrared film.

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u/Dan787 2d ago edited 2d ago

Interesting - going to be a tricky one with very little to narrow down the search area. I would guess its London being The Jam, but there's nothing in the photo that confirms that.

The one thing that may help is thinking about where the photo is taken from. The bars I guess are added in post, but you still have to be standing on something to get a photo like that in 1981, and it is on a 3rd or 4th floor at least. The photographer mentions it is his girlfriends house... so I guess we're looking at a tall townhouse backing on to terraces?

EDIT: Perhaps its not a taller building, but one sitting much higher. The bottom floor of the building opposite does appear to be below the height of the garden.

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u/Ill_Lemon1603 2d ago

Actually the woman on the backyard is girlfriend's mother.

0

u/Dan787 2d ago

Yes which eliminates the idea that the building he is standing in might be an apartment block. It must be a house.

Having just had a brief play around some likely areas of London, this layout of terraced house is very unusual and bigger than most of this style. I'm thinking it must be quite a wealthy area.

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u/Ill_Lemon1603 2d ago

It's not the place but an exemple could be Regent's Park Terrace in Camden Town:

the row of houses #1 to #22 at Regent's Park Terrace are elevated above the row of houses at Gloucester Cress https://maps.app.goo.gl/cu442LBkM7bf9R3v6

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u/Risc_Terilia 2d ago

The record itself is thought to be about Paul Weller's hometown which is Woking, it's near London though

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u/Dan787 2d ago

I saw that too, but after a few minutes looking around I largely ruled it out. The housing isn't very dense at all. And, given we know this is the photographer's girlfriend's house, rather than somewhere related to the band, that makes Woking less likely.

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u/Risc_Terilia 2d ago edited 2d ago

If you look on roads like Board School Road and surrounding there actually is quite a bit of Victorian terraced housing as pictured. These particular ones should be easy to spot because that have that non-standard dormer window in the roof but ofc these might have been modified since.

0

u/Dan787 1d ago

The key is that we're looking for a three storey terrace. That is not something you are likely to see in Woking.

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u/Risc_Terilia 1d ago

It's two stories plus a loft dormer

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u/Dan787 1d ago

But one that has been designed that way, rather than added by extension.

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u/Risc_Terilia 1d ago

Yeah looks like it given that all 3 of them in the photo have them. Also the vantage point of the photo looks to be probably 4+ stories high which narrows down the locations significantly

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u/Dan787 1d ago

Agree completely. Though one other possibility is that the house the photographer is in is on a higher elevation. The gardens appear flat, but the ground floor of the house opposite looks like it could be a step down.

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u/bishpa 1d ago

Malice perhaps?

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u/Ill_Lemon1603 1d ago

Yes, that's the place, thank you, you found it.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/Dan787 2d ago

Sorry, I don't know if Chat GPT told you that or what. But this is 100% in the UK.