By Cindy Rodriguez
Boston Globe Staff

Backstage in England, the transformation begins. Framingham native Glenn Matto buttons a white oxford shirt, slips into a tight-fitting black suit and knots a thin, black tie. He's no longer in the advertising department of a major food store chain. At this moment, he's Bruce Foxton, the bass player for an '80s British punk band called the Jam.

And when he and band members Barry Pugatch and John Sullivan walk on stage anywhere in the United Kingdom, the crowds scream in adoration. After concerts, fans search for broken guitar strings and picks — memorabilia. They ask Matto, Pugatch, and Sullivan to autograph programs, posters, even their T-shirts. "People would bring items and ask us to sign them," Matto says. "I'd say, 'Are you kidding?'"

Their tribute band calls itself All Mod Cons, named after the Jam's third album — a reference to rental ads abbreviating "all the modern conveniences," such as heat and electricity. All Mod Cons have sold out concert venues throughout England, including the Marquee in London, packing nearly 1,000 people into an 800-capacity hall, the largest crowd there since 1988. Yet, when they return to Boston, people often ask, "What's the Jam?" "Only the best band in the world," Pugatch replies.

The Jam dominated British music for six years, recording eight albums, beginning in 1976. They played a punk-mod-pop blend, with lyrics that preached individualism and nonviolence, and railed against class division. They rejected the spiked hair, leather-clad look of punk bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash, instead choosing closely cropped hair and dark, mohair suits. In 1993, when Polydor released another greatest hits album (in addition to the previously released "Snap"), it soared to No. 5 on the British charts.

For thousands of fans, the music of the Jam lives on through All Mod Cons. In the words of one fan writing from England, All Mod Cons is "Brilliant. I'd even go as far as saying it's better than the real thing. When will the band be gigging again?"

Pugatch recalls an incident at one hall, where a kid got his nose broken in the mosh pit. After the show, the band stopped in to check on him. As he was holding a cloth against his nose to stop the bleeding, he saw the band, perked right up, and declared, "It was f—ing brilliant. F—ing brilliant."

Matto says the band is likely to tour again this spring, playing shows in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales in two week's time. But for now, the three lads relax and work their day jobs, booking a few gigs in Boston when nightclub managers call — an odd twist, considering they each had a harder time when playing their own music in other bands.

"In Boston, it seems you have to beg booking agents to get a Tuesday-night gig," says Sullivan, a history teacher at Belmont High School. "When we go to England, we have an agent, roadies, drivers, and the best equipment. When we come home, we have to move our own gear, pack it in a car, set it up, then you play for 40 minutes, and you reverse the process getting the equipment back home again. It’s a whole lot of work for little (if any) pay. After our experiences in the UK, we have no desire to play a weeknight in Boston. So we generally don't."

When he returns from the road, Sullivan mentions the concerts to students, but no one believes him. "I told them I was touring in England and they said, 'Yeah, sure.' They're like, 'All Con what? A tribute to the Jam? Pearl Jam?' It's too much to explain."

Pugatch, owner of Blue Chip Productions a full-service video production company, grew up in Framingham, just like Matto. They both graduated from Framingham North High School, where they started playing music in a band called The Loading Zone. In college, when Pugatch went to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Matto went to Framingham State College, they played in different bands. Then in 1989, after years of separately playing weeknight gigs in Boston bars, Pugatch and Matto formed All Mod Cons — just for fun. They've had two other drummers before Sullivan, who joined in 1995.

Throughout all these years, Matto has practiced in the basement of his parent's ranch-style house in Framingham. Concert posters hang on the walls of a 10-by-14-foot room, where the three Mod Cons still rehearse.

Upstairs, George Matto turns up the volume on the TV. To him it's like nothing has changed. His son is still playing music he doesn't understand. "Since high school, I've been telling him to turn down the volume," says the elder Matto, a 68-year-old who prefers Big Band and swing music. "They don't practice here as often as they used to — thank God."

Before their next United Kingdom tour this spring, the trio will practice more often, pogo dancing as they sing with a southern British accent. "The neighbors have no clue," Matto says. "They hear us banging away and they have no idea that we've toured England a half-a-dozen times."

As for the future, Pugatch explains, "We'll probably keep playing as long as people keep wanting to hear us." Matto adds, "Right now we're mulling over offers from Canada and more of the US. It's a whole wide world out there, so maybe it's time to diversify."

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