News of the World was a single by British group The Jam

The Jam

The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...

 released on 11 March 1978. It reached #27 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

. "Aunties And Uncles (Impulsive Youths)" and "Innocent Man" appeared as its B-side. The title refers to the then extant British tabloid newspaper, News of the World

News of the World

The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...

.

It is not included on any of the band's studio albums and featured the band's bass player Bruce Foxton

Bruce Foxton

Bruce Foxton is an English rock and roll musician who is best known as the bass player in punk rock bands The Jam and Stiff Little Fingers.-Biography:...

 on lead vocals. It was also the only Jam single to be written by Foxton, apart from the double A-side single When You're Young

When You're Young

"When You're Young" was released as a one-off single by The Jam. Released on 25 August 1979, it charted at number 17 in the UK Singles Chart. The B-side, "Smithers-Jones", is widely considered to be Jam bassist Bruce Foxton's finest song-writing moment and also appears - with an orchestral...

/Smithers-Jones

Smithers-Jones

Smithers-Jones is a song written by Bruce Foxton for recording with his fellow bandmates in The Jam.Smithers-Jones differs from the majority of tracks by The Jam in that it was not written by guitarist vocalist Paul Weller. "Smithers-Jones" was originally recorded as a straightforward rock take for...

 (Smithers-Jones being written by Foxton), and Funeral Pyre

Funeral Pyre

"Funeral Pyre" is The Jam's thirteenth single released on 6 June 1981. Backed by the B-side "Disguises", a cover of a Who track, it reached #4 in the UK Singles chart....

 which was written by all three Jam members: Weller/Foxton/Buckler.

The video for the single was filmed on the roof of Battersea Power Station

Battersea Power Station

Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Battersea, South London. The station comprises two individual power stations, built in two stages in the form of a single building. Battersea A Power Station was built first in the...

 in London.

The song is used as the theme tune for the British satirical

Satire

Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

 panel game

Panel game

A panel game or panel show is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Panelists may compete with each other, such as on The News Quiz; facilitate play by guest contestants, such as on Match Game/Blankety Blank; or do both, such as on Wait Wait.....

 Mock the Week

Mock the Week

Mock the Week is a British topical celebrity panel game hosted by Dara Ó Briain that launched in 2005. The game is influenced by improvised topical stand-up comedy, with several rounds requiring players to deliver answers on unexpected subjects on the spur of the moment.It is made by independent...

.