About Me
FANZINE.
Weller first burst onto the national music scene in 1977 with his first band, The Jam, which he had formed four years earlier in Woking with his friends Steve Brooks (lead guitar), Rick Buckler (drums) and Bruce Foxton (rhythm guitar). Weller himself took lead vocal duties and bass guitar. When Brooks left the band, Weller and Foxton swapped guitar roles.Although The Jam emerged at the same time as punk rock bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash, The Jam better fit the mould of the so-called 'new wave' bands who came later. Also, being from just outside of London rather than in it, they were never really part of the tightly-knit punk clique.Nonetheless, The Clash seemed to take the most notice of the band. Joe Strummer even supposedly had a conversation with Weller and suggested he write songs about things that affected him, as well as songs that involved society and politics. The Clash were also suitably impressed by The Jam to take them along as the support act on their White Riot tour of 1977. The Jam went on to be far more successful in the singles charts, than The Clash in the UK.The Jam's single "In the City" took them into the UK Top 40 for the first time in May 1977. Although every subsequent single had a placing within the Top 40, it would not be until the band released "The Eton Rifles" that they broke into the Top 10, hitting the No. 3 spot in November 1979.From then on their blend of pop melodies and politically conscious lyrics made them hugely popular, and in 1980 they hit number one for the first time with "Going Underground". A popular story has it that hitting the charts at all was in fact an accident for "Going Underground": it was supposed to be a double A side with "Dreams of Children", but a mistake at a French pressing plant meant "Going Underground" was given 'A' status on the label. Whether this is true or apocryphal is not known, but whatever the case, after "Going Underground", The Jam - and Weller in particular - were UK superstars.Weller was strongly influenced by 1960s bands such as The Kinks, The Small Faces and The Who. However, that did not mean that he was averse to finding inspiration in the works of many other artists: the Jam's second number one single, "Start!" lifts the bass line from The Beatles' "Taxman", for example. The group's third chart topper, "Town Called Malice", which found renewed fame on the Billy Elliot soundtrack (2001), has a bass line taken straight from one of Martha Reeves & the Vandellas' less-remembered hits, "I'm Ready for Love."By the early 1980s, The Jam had become one of the biggest bands in Britain. They became the only band other than The Beatles to perform two songs ("Town Called Malice" and "Precious") on one edition of Top of the Pops (the feat would later also be equalled by Oasis and Manic Street Preachers). The Jam even had one single, "That's Entertainment", reach No. 21 in the UK singles chart despite not even being released in that country - it got there purely on the strength of the huge number of people buying import sales of the German single release. Weller, however, was eager to explore other musical avenues he felt he could not follow with The Jam. Later Jam songs such as "The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had to Swallow)" - often described by critics as "a Style Council song pretending to be a Jam song" - were written in a more melodic, soulful style.In 1982, Weller announced that The Jam would disband at the end of the year. Their final single, "Beat Surrender", became their fourth UK chart topper, going straight to No. 1 in its first week, which was still a rare achievement at the time. Their farewell concerts at Wembley Arena were multiple sell-outs. Their final concert took place at the Brighton Centre on the December 11, 1982.[edit] The Style CouncilAt the beginning of 1983, Weller collaborated with keyboard player Mick Talbot to form a new group called The Style Council. Weller brought in Steve White, who was only 16 at the time, to play drums. White has been playing with Weller ever since (apart from a two year break in 1989-1990).The Style Council played a whole range of musical styles, from outright pop to jazz, soul and the occasional ballad. The band was at the vanguard of a jazz/pop revival that would continue with the emergence of bands like Matt Bianco, Sade, and Everything But The Girl, whose members Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt contributed vocals and guitar to a Style Council song, "Paris Match".However, the Style Council were not completely untouched by the spirit of The Jam - indeed, one of their early singles "A Solid Bond In Your Heart" was originally written and recorded during The Jam era, this earlier version later turning up on that band's Extras compilation. "Walls Come Tumbling Down!" did well in North America, appearing with "The Internalionalists" on the Live Aid album and getting airplay on some college radio stations.
The Style Council's 1988 album Confessions of a Pop Group.
The Style Council's 1988 album Confessions of a Pop Group.Although the Style Council were never as commercially successful as The Jam - they never had a No. 1 single - that did not stop Weller from greatly increasing his public profile in the UK. He appeared on 1984's famous Band Aid record "Do They Know It's Christmas?" (although his major contribution was probably to mime the unavailable Bono's part on the Top of the Pops performance of the song) and the Style Council were the second act to appear in the British half of Live Aid at Wembley Stadium in 1985.In December 1984, Weller put together his own charity ensemble, the Council Collective, to make a record ("Soul Deep") to raise money for striking miners. The record featured the Style Council plus a number of other performers, notably Jimmy Ruffin and Junior Giscombe. In spite of the song's political content, it still picked up BBC Radio 1 airplay and was performed on Top of the Pops, which led to the incongruous sight of lyrics such as "We can't afford to let the government win/It means death to the trade unions" being mimed amid the show's flashing lights and party atmosphere. Weller also rapped for the first (and, so far, only) time during the song.The Style Council were only marginally more successful internationally than The Jam had been, with "My Ever Changing Moods" providing them with their first of only two singles to ever make the US Billboard Hot 100, the other being "You're The Best Thing". As the 1980s wore on, the Style Council's popularity in the UK itself began to slide, with none of their singles even reaching the Top 20. The Style Council's death knell was sounded in 1989 when their record company refused to even release their fifth and final studio album, Modernism - a New Decade, although this did eventually have a limited vinyl run and appeared on The Complete Adventures of the Style Council, retrospective CD box set.[edit] Solo career
Weller performing at V-Fest.
Weller performing at V-Fest.In 1989, Weller disbanded The Style Council and disappeared from the public eye for a couple of years, before returning to prominence as one of the major influences of the mid 1990s (beginning in 1991 as The Paul Weller Movement and later simply as Paul Weller). With his long term drummer and friend Steve White in tow, Weller successfully joined the 'Britpop' movement that gave rise to such bands as Oasis and Blur. Oasis in particular cited The Jam as a major influence.[citation needed] Weller even appeared as a guest guitarist and backing vocalist on Oasis' hit song "Champagne Supernova". During this time Weller's music was also marketed among the emerging Acid Jazz scene. Such tracks include "Here's a New Thing", and "That Spiritual Feeling" (which was recycled from the then-unreleased Modernism sessions).Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher also appeared on Weller's album Stanley Road, providing guitar and backing vocals on the cover of Dr. John's song "I Walk On Gilded Splinters". Weller was an important influence in the development of Ocean Colour Scene, and members of that band, particularly guitarist Steve Cradock, who has been a regular fixture in Weller's band since the early 1990s, except for 99-2000 when Ocean Colour Scene had reached their peak and guitar duties went to Matt Deighton of Mother Earth. Weller went back on the road, performing Jam and Style Council covers, under the guise of The Paul Weller Movement, eventually releasing the single "Into Tomorrow" on his own Freedom High record label. His first solo album, the self-titled Paul Weller, featured photography from Nick Knight. The album was financed partly from the sale of his West End-based recording studio, Solid Bond. The difference between his last work, the house music workout Modernism - A New Decade and this solo album four years on were astounding; the self-titled album saw a return to a raw guitar sound, featuring samples and a funk influence, with shades of The Style Council sound. The album also featured a new producer, Brendan Lynch.Fans and critics hail Wild Wood as one of Weller's finest albums. Recorded deep in the English countryside, it had the sound and style of the new "get out of the city" Weller, a man matured and married with children.However, his role was not that of a mere influence: his own 1995 album Stanley Road took him back to the top of the British charts, and went on to become the best-selling album of his career. The album was named after the street in Woking where he had grown up. It marked a return to the more guitar-based style of his earlier days. The album's major single, "The Changingman", was also a big hit, taking Weller back into the Top 10 of the UK singles charts. The album also featured a second popular single, the ballad "You Do Something To Me". The album also featured "Wings of Speed", inspired by the famous painting The Lady of Shalott.Heavy Soul, the follow up to the million-selling Stanley Road saw Weller twist his sound again. The album was more raw than its predecessor; Weller was now frequently playing live in the studio in as few takes as possible. The album failed to top the chart, mainly because a limited edition was deemed to have too many 'freebies' included to be chart-eligible. The issue was that the images featured in the booklet of the main release were separate in the limited version. This would also include a small but often unrecognised use of Gil Scott Heron's "Lady Day & John Coltrane" on the track "science"New Jam and Style Council 'best of' albums took his earlier career back into the charts, including a reissue of "The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow") and his own solo 'best of' collection Modern Classics was a substantial success in 1998.In 2000, he released his fifth solo studio album, and seventh solo effort overall, called Heliocentric (as well as the Modern Classics compilation, there had also been the 1994 live album called Live Wood). There were rumours at the time that this would be his final studio effort, but these proved unfounded when he released the No. 1 hit album Illumination in September 2002, preceded by yet another top 10 hit single "It's Written In The Stars". Between these two albums he had also released a second successful live album, 2001's Days Of Speed, which contained live acoustic versions from his world tour of the same name. The LP included some of his best-known songs from his solo career and the back catalogues of his Jam and Style Council days. Weller had again found himself without a record contract and the tour provided him with the opportunity to view his works as one back catalogue.In 2003, Weller teamed up with electronic rock duo Death in Vegas on a cover of Gene Clark's "So You Say You Lost Your Baby" which featured on the album Scorpio Rising.In 2004 Weller released an album of covers entitled Studio 150. It debuted at No. 2 in the UK charts and included Bob Dylan's, "All Along the Watchtower". The album also contained the singles "The Bottle" originally performed by Gil Scott Heron, "Wishing On A Star" by Rose Royce, "Thinking Of You" by Sister Sledge and "Early Morning Rain" by Gordon Lightfoot. This was a limited edition, coloured vinyl only, double A-sided 7", along with a cover of The Beatles' "Come Together". There was live concert film featuring the material, and accusations followed that perhaps Weller's handlers where trying to "pull a Rod Stewart" on his image.His 2005 album As Is Now featured the singles "From The Floorboards Up", "Come On/Let's Go" and "Here's The Good News". Weller released a double live album titled Catch-Flame! on June 12, 2006, with songs from both his solo work and his career with The Jam and The Style Council.In late 2006, the album Hit Parade was released. This collected together all the singles released by the Jam, Style Council and Weller during his solo career. Two versions of this album were released: a single disc with a selection from each stage of his career, and a four disc limited edition, which included every single released and came with a 64- page booklet. However, the album did not include the new "Wild Blue Yonder" single, which was released on the same day. A new album is due to be released in early 2008. Paul Weller's song catalogue is published by BMG Music Publishing.
