Paul Weller

[Scott]

What a voice

[Scott]

and still f*ckin cool

[Tim W]

Prefer his ex. Dee C Lee

[Nibs]

You'll get no argument from me mate.

On a day when my beloved blues let me down and I think my weekend has been ruined, I can listen to some songs from his back catalogue (surely the most prolific of any british artist - bar none) and things are good again.

The bloke will always be my hero.

[Guest bigjockknew]

Went to see him last year in Newcastle, he was fantastic. I've been a fan since his very early days. I wouldn't say he's got better but different and equally as good, although at times his head must be up fis arse - 22 dreams, theres was a couple of nightmares in that alone. He has set the standard for me for three decades.

My son is 14 and last night was practising on gis guitar. He had only his acoustic guitar with him and was looking for ideas to play. He learned the Butterfly Collector and Dreaming of Monday and he loved both tunes. Its great to see him appreciate music like this. He has Thats Entertainemnt down to perfection as well. I got married in February and had a string quartet play You;re the Best Thing. Brolliant memeory of the day.

Bit of a Wller fan - never ever lets you down and always picks you up. Setting Sons is my favourite album.

[mad_mac]

Love the Jam, but to be honest never really follow Weller when he went solo, although I've been told I should.

I picked up a CD set a few years ago, it the Jam Live at the BBC. There was a bonus cd in there with the Jam closing down the famous Rainbow in London. Sounded like a hell of a send off, and te other 3 cd's are great in there too.

[Tim W]

Saw the Jam in Amsterdam around 80/81 they were crap.

[just]

Saw The Jam's last night at Wembley. They ripped the roof off. Never been to a concert before or since with as much raw energy and atmosphere. Absolutely incredible.

[clubhappy]

Any gig i do, regardless of the age group, 'A town called Malice '' ALWAYS takes the roof off . It has an intro that gets an immediate reaction .

I was a big Style Council fan , completely different sound and it showed Weller's versitaility . 'Speak like a child , Long Hot summer, Shout to the top , Your the best thing, all brilliant and Weller for my money is one of the best songwriters in music history.

[Nibs]

Saw The Jam's last night at Wembley. They ripped the roof off. Never been to a concert before or since with as much raw energy and atmosphere. Absolutely incredible.

That must have been the Saturday night Just? I think they did three nights at Wembley Arena - Thursday, Friday and Saturday and I was at the Friday one. Late in the day, they added an extra date - Saturday 11/12/1982 at Brighton - my 19th birthday - I couldn't get a ticket and got totally hammered that night - the most pissed I have ever been in my whole life.

But the Wembley gig is still the best gig I've ever been to - as you say the energy and atmosphere was incredible - just glad I was there. And funnily enough on the day I attended that gig - 03/12/1982, a certain Michael Essien was born. That does make me feel old!

[just]

The soundtrack to my youth. Right here.

"let you think you're king, but you're really a pawn".

Genius

[bjd]

wasnt Tea Bar Boy in one of the Jams videos ??? i seem to recall locating a still of him as a nipper in one of them! was about two years ago though.

great claim to fame.

[mad_mac]

that sounds familiar BJD. I remember that too, but can't remember if it was TBB in a Jam song, ir if it was someone else in a Smith's video

[bjd]

that sounds familiar BJD. I remember that too, but can't remember if it was TBB in a Jam song, ir if it was someone else in a Smith's video

It was definitely a Jam video. I watched about 6 videos on youtube trying to find a 5 year kid! Im sure it was Tea Bar....

I was briefly in a Wonderstuff video shot in Birmingham , though thats not nearly as cool.

[Peckham Blue]

Early Jam pretty good, never liked anything else.

[MKBlue]

One of the bands, along with the The Clash and Specials that make me feel like I grew up in a great era musically, shame Chelsea were crap during the same period.

Weller is still the boss.

[Deacon Blue]

I still consider All Mod Cons to be the high point of Weller's and The Jam's career. From the evocative beauty of Fly:

The way that sunlight flits across your skirt,

Makes me feel i'm from another world

To touch your face in the morning light.

I hope you're always gonna be around.

Pure poetry.

To the menace of Down In The Tube Station at Midnight:

They smelt of pubs and wormwood scrubs

And too many right wing meetings

My life swam around me

It took a look and drowned me in its own existence

The smell of brown leather

It blended in with the weather ...

Throw in for good measure, the social commentary of In The Crowd, cynicism towards the music industry (All Mod Cons/Didn't We Have A Nice Time), the wistful "It's Too Bad", the hymn of love that is English Rose, the frustration of Billy Hunt and even a cover of a classic Kinks song, this album is a bona fide masterpiece from start to finish.

[Nibs]

I still consider All Mod Cons to be the high point of Weller's and The Jam's career.

this album is a bona fide masterpiece from start to finish.

Agreed. Greatest album of all time and still gets regular playing from me!

Only bands worth anything are the ones that learnt their music education the right way and had to go from gig to gig in the back of a Ford Transit until they made it.

From the Early Days..........

[bonetti]

Seeing him in May in London - looking forward to it

[MKBlue]

Good shout Deacon, probably my favourite album of all time. Honourable mentions for Setting Sons, Our favourite shop, Wildwood and Stanley Road.

There's a review of the new album on the NME site along with a vid of the new single, sounds pretty good.

http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=140...p;tb=1&pb=1

Hope the link works, otherwise it'll have to be a cut and paste job.

Carefree.

Edited February 12, 2010 by MKBlue

[onemanwent2moan]

Yeah, Weller is still cool. I saw the Jam countless times but hated the camp TSC with a passion. Most of his solo stuff sounds good but is forgettable. Unless it's my age. If I hear the first few bars of any Jam song, I know the song, the words, which album. If a solo song comes on, I may figure out it's him.

Mod Cons and Down in the Tubestation... fave album and song. Followed closely by Sound Affects and Entertainment

[Nibs]

Seeing him in May in London - looking forward to it

You'll have to let us know how it went Bonetti?

If it's tomorrow night, you'll have to shout out Happy Birthday. The grumpy old mod is 52 tomorrow!!!

[paulo]

I am really liking the Leo Zero mix of new single No Tears To Cry.

[Mr Chelsea]

The Jam were, and still are my favourite band ever, i was fortunate to see them on there farewell tour at bingley hall, still one of the best nights ever, i was only 15

i have spoken to bruce foxton quite a few times on an internet chat room, when he played for SLF

theres quite a few on here say All Mod Cons is the best jam album, for me its the 2nd best, Setting Sons imo without a doubt is there best album

i also like the weller solo stuff, from the floorboards up blew me away, awesome track

[Hutch]

i used to love the Jam but don't listen to them much nowadays. i was never too impressed by Weller's solo stuff. it's undeniably good music but doesn't quite grab me.

it's a matter of taste, but i actually prefer the Style Council, dismissed earlier in this thread as "camp" which i can only think refers to some of the clothes worn by Weller and Mick Talbot rather than the actual music:

if you're into this stuff, Tracie's solo album, recently released on CD is also well worth checking out.