“No one told Miles Davis or BB King to pack it in. John Lee Hooker played literally up to the day he died. Why should pop musicians be any different?” — Paul Weller
The above quote tells you all you need to know about Paul Weller. Raised in the typically British town of Woking, Weller became fascinated with music and its transformative power from an early age, indulging his intrigue in a cornucopia of different sounds before eventually excelling as one of the punk scene’s most potent members. “When I told my mum I was going to play my first gig when I was 14, she couldn’t believe it,” Weller once said, “Cause I was painfully shy at that time. But I just done it, put my head down and got through it. And I suppose there’s still a little bit of that, even though it’s many years later and I’ve been doing it for a long time.”
Weller’s is a career that most musicians would kill for. Not only did he create one of Britain’s favourite bands in The Jam, a group packed full of gut-punch power-pop brilliance as well as tunes that still shine today, but he also successfully started a new group in The Style Council and achieved a stunning solo career, all while pushing forward creatively at every opportunity.
That last bit may sound like a given. After all, shouldn’t that be what all musicians are trying to do? Evolve? However, the truth is, look through most of rock’s legacy acts and you’ll find a hefty dose of repetition. Stars may speak of their desire to push the envelope and not re-tread on the paths they had already worn down, but the reality is that so many find themselves stranded on the same islands they had anchored on years prior. Not so for Weller.
Look through his albums, and you will find a consistent pattern of Weller pushing his artistic integrity to the very edge whenever he can. It has given him not only the due respect he deserves but also some killer tunes. Below, we’ve picked out ten of our favourites from Paul Weller’s long career.
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/paul-weller-10-best-songs-with-and-without-the-jam/
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