Paul Weller- The Paul Weller Creation and Continuum Discussion

I too have come (back) to the party late. I have been meaning to pick up "Fly" for ages and this thread has finally led me to plunk down on Amazon for it (couldn't resist the new copy for under $17.00 ... this seems to be getting more pricey these days.)

I used to be a big Weller fan coming on board around the time of Setting Sons and sticking through with The Style Council through "Internationalists" (as I knew it here in the US) and then somehow I drifted away. I didn't get into Weller solo until a few years ago just before 22 Dreams when I picked up the deluxe Wildwood and have been playing catchup and trying to buy as much as is easily possible since then. There is A LOT of material so I am still trying to not be overwhelmed by it.

I have been listening to his debut a lot lately so this is going to be a fun thread to follow right off the bat.

 

Mate, we're doing the singles so there's an opportunity to savor the headlining tunes, the b-sides and live material on the singles much more than if we just did the Debut Album ,Wild Wood and Stanley Road Deluxe Editions and Fly On The Wall by themselves. This way, the tunes can get their proper due and a spotlight can be placed upon them in the most appropriate of ways. As I had intimated to DJW before if there is a mega post like the Paul Weller , Wild Wood or Stanley Road Deluxes there will be ample time for posters to reflect upon the album (resulting in possibly two posts that week). I want to give posters the ability to take an important album like that and dissect it in a fashion that allows thoughtful reflection. And as in The Style Council Thread I will have further interviews that will hopefully shed light on Weller as an artist.

 

Of course. I was expecting this. Looking forward to it.

 

So... we're getting to the first single this week, maybe?

 

Hut, you are psychic,sir. And you are correct at the same bloody time! Be seeing you into tomorrow, quite literally speaking,mate.........

 

Excellent!

 

most...

 

Most excellent! Bill & Ted right? Spicoli said that in Fast Times as well,didn't he?

 

it's lost in the dimming of time in my brain, its from something like the ones you cited...(really it was a shameless bump to get this tread back to the top).

what is most galling mr. Butch is I have it on good authority that someone circulated the BBC show from 5th December to various members in here and NO ONE has commented about this show yet....

 

Rock on mate, the floor is all yours! Give it all you've got. I included that show as one of the featured shows so I'm not to blame. You mean to tell me that a certain someone circulated material that was......better keep mum before I get into trouble here!

Actually, there wasn't shame involved in the Spicoli reference, it was intuitive thinking. The marriage of most and excellent just popped into my mind as a response. I wish it was far more Machiavellian than that but it wasn't. Then again, it was a bump indeed!

 

I have commented a bit; but I keep my copy since around 2005... this show was kinda public domain back then (until it was released recently)

 

I commented on it as well. No matter the show was "circulating" as you claim LF in certain circles. And that person who circulates any material should be careful though as the bootleg police will be on the prowl! Don't say that I didn't warn anyone, especially one who commits such a compromising act!

 

Wow, four pages already and not even a release discussed! We're gonna hit some big numbers with this thread...

 

we are discussing that BBC show which was released in the digital box set...don'tcho have that Hut???

 

Talking of the BBC show, I was listening to them earlier (at last), found them very good, especially liked the arrangement of Ever changing moods and Man of great promise.

 

@ DJW, one can talk about any of the shows if you have heard them from 90(there are a few in circulation BTW) or the Francis interview for the time being. The concert was released officially BUT many years later! And I know for a fact that Wellermaniacs have heard some of those other shows. My euphemism for the live file is the circulation file. It's code, you don't have to be a genius to figure out what that means. I'm curious how my pal, Heliocentric feels about some of the shows from 90 in greater detail.........

 

Even though the band would become even better(an example will be provided in the next installment of the Live File), this was a tight unit indeed. Though not as tight as the group that had been woodshedding for quite awhile at that point. And any musicians knows ,that with time ,familiarity comes with the people you play with.

 

Uh-huh....... oh -yeah

 

There are some hints of where he was going in 90 with just a little bit of dubiousness. Contrary to popular belief, he was somewhat active during that period, let's now forget Slam Slam as an example. So Paul was still into house at this point as well oddly enough.

 

I love the version of Work To Do played on the early tours. Perhaps this a bit of a "fanboy" comment but I've allways been grateful / appreciative of Weller and Vaughan Toulouse for putting me on to an awful lot of great music. As the old quote goes "learning is a journey, not a destination" and so is a love of music.

Going back to Eddie Pillar's comments it make sense to assume that TSC influenced that scene. After TSC's demise a fair few of my friends moved over to Acid Jazz and Rare Groove, so perhaps some cross-fertilisation was inevitable. Even if Eddie is spot on, TSC and acid jazz where certainly comfortable bed fellows.

Perhaps I'm jumping ahead a little - but as awkward as some of the early gigs appear, Weller sounds a whole lot more comfortable than during latter day TSC.

Btw Butch - nice stills from the MTV broadcast.

For those of wondering whats out there - http://members.multimania.co.uk/pwla/

My old friend must have gone to an awful lot of gigs with a notepad

 

1990 was the first of the live files. They will be going on til 2010! Since Paul was so dynamic in a live sense I wanted to highlight some of the stuff he's done live and on tv. I wanted to mix things up a bit on this thread. As Weller and his band are so dynamic and enthusiastic in a live sense I felt that I had to cover this element of his career in greater detail.


Eddie's a pretty cool guy but we definitely differ on how TSC influenced the acid jazz movement. One of my brothers heard Brand New Heavies for the first time and said kind of brazenly that they sound too much like The Style Council!


With respect to later day TSC, Weller was hardly playing guitar OR even playing live for that matter,mate. Even though he was still holding on to house a bit during this nascent phase of his career ,it became quickly apparent that this new found path would reap dividends! But that took hard work and determination,my friend....

 

this is really on target Helio....Weller has also turned me on to so many styles of music and dozens of artists I might not have discovered otherwise...I can't even begin to count them all...

 

Excellent idea. You guys stateside as well have been treated to some great live sessions over the years. I'll probably forget by the time we get to the year, but the bizzarrest PW interview / Radio show appearance I've ever heard was in the US.

Butch, any ideas of the one I'm talking about?

 

It's really that chameleon factor that he posses in spades. There are other artists like Bowie and Neil Young who have a similar wandering and some might even say meandering muse! The twists and turns that he's taken have been intriguing. BUT he still doesn't like country or heavy metal. Though he's kinda/sorta dabbled in C & W to a muted degree .

 

He's appeared on the famous FUV in The Bronx,NYC (the college radio station)several times as well. That's were he gets most of his support in America from: college radio. If it wasn't for them, he'd be almost a total unknown in some sense here. Do you remember any of the tunes he played?