‘That's Entertainment’ is a 1980 song by British punk-mod revivalist group the Jam from their fifth album, Sound Affects. Although never released as a domestic single in the UK during the band's lifetime, ‘That's Entertainment’ nonetheless charted as an import single (backed by a live version of "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight"), peaking at No. 21. It was given its first full UK release in 1983 and peaked at No. 60. A second reissue in 1991 also made the top 50.
The song remains one of the two all-time biggest selling import singles in the UK, alongside the Jam's ‘Just Who Is the 5 O'Clock Hero?’, which hit the charts at No. 8 as an import in 1982. ‘That's Entertainment’ has been listed by BBC Radio 2 as the 43rd best song ever released by any artist. ‘That's Entertainment’ is listed at No.306, on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time released in 2004. It consistently makes similar British lists of all-time great songs, such as BBC Radio 2's "Sold on Song" 2004 Top 100, at No.43.
In an interview, Paul Weller explained how he came up with the lyrics: "I was in London by the time I wrote ‘That's Entertainment'. Writing it was easy, in a sense, because all those images were at hand, around me." He said: "I wrote it in 10 mins flat, whilst under the influence, I'd had a few but some songs just write themselves. It was easy to write, I drew on everything around me."
Labels – Metronome, Polydor
Songwriter – Paul Weller
Producer – Vic Coppersmith-Heaven, The Jam
SONG LYRICS
A police car and a screaming sirenPneumatic drill and ripped-up concrete
A baby wailing, a stray dog howling
The screech of brakes and lamplight blinking
That's entertainment
That's entertainment
A smash of glass and the rumble of boots
An electric train and a ripped-up phone booth
Paint-splattered walls and the cry of a tomcat
Lights going out and a kick in the balls
I say that's entertainment
That's entertainment
La la la la la, ah
La la la la la, ah
Days of speed and slow-time Mondays
Pissing down with rain on a boring Wednesday
Watching the news and not eating your tea
A freezing cold flat with damp on the walls
I say that's entertainment
That's entertainment
La la la la la
La la la la la
Waking up at 6 A.M. on a cool warm morning
Opening the windows and breathing in petrol
An amateur band rehearsing in a nearby yard
Watching the telly and thinking 'bout your holidays
That's entertainment
That's entertainment
La la la la la, ah
La la la la la, ah
La la la la la, ah
La la la la la
Waking up from bad dreams and smoking cigarettes
Cuddling a warm girl and smelling stale perfume
A hot summer's day and sticky black tarmac
Feeding ducks in the park and wishing you were far away
That's entertainment
That's entertainment
Two lovers kissing amongst the scream of midnight
Two lovers missing the tranquility of solitude
Getting a cab and travelling on buses
Reading the grafitti about slashed-seat affairs
I say that's entertainment
That's entertainment
La la la la la, ah
La la la la la, ah
La la la la la, ah
La la la la la
La la la la la, ah
La la la la la, ah
La la la la la, ah
La la la la la
La la la la la, ah
La la la la la, ah
La la la la la, ah