Similar to many bands I discovered back in the day, I just happened to come across Paul Weller on MP3.com as he was listed as an influence for a lot of my favourite bands at the time (I subsequently ‘happened’ to come accross his entire collection on audiogalaxy, man that site was awesome). Hard to believe I had no idea who he was considering The Jam, The Style Council and his solo material have made it to the UK Top 10 more than 15 times since 1978.

Not many artists can manage such dramatic transitions in their sound and still be successful. The Jam were an integral part of the punk phenomenon and at the height of their fame, Weller decided to disband and take a route of ingenuity by experiementing with many different styles (soul, jazz, funk, rap and rock) and formed The Style Council. Moderately successful, they released a few chart topping tracks like “Long Hot Summer” and “Walls Come Tumbling Down!”. TSC disbanded in 1989 after their popularity began to slide in the UK. Weller disappeared from the public eye for a couple of years, before returning to prominence as one of the major influences of the mid 1990s and hasn’t stopped since.

It’s easy for me to say I like or love alot of bands, but rarley do I say I respect an artist. Paul Weller is a man I respect.

I had the pleasure of seeing Paul live at Massey Hall back in 2005 and I gotta say, if you like Britpop, you must check him out. If you want a taste, here’s a recording of an entire acoustic show in Amsterdam with Steve Craddock thrown in to give it a little more Mod flavour.