Paul Weller Fan Podcast

It’s a huge honour to be able to bring you this podcast chat as I’m joined by The Jam legend, Bruce Foxton. A man whose bass lines, and style of playing, are amongst some of the most recognisable on the planet. Often identifiable after just a few notes. Down at the Tube Station at Midnight, In The Crowd, The Eton Rifles, Funeral Pyre, Pretty Green, Going Underground... I could easily go on...We he...

This is a chat full of wonderful memories and curveballs that I know you’re going to love, as I’m joined former political editor of The Sunday Times - David Cracknell. David is not only a huge Paul Weller fan who has been inspired by our podcast subject for so much of his life but he’s also taken Dee C Lee to Prime Minster Questions and here’s the thing - he played piano on a single by Gabrielle a...

On this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, my special guest is the multi-award-winning British songwriter and musician, Paul Barry. Paul formed his first band The Questions whilst at high school in Edinburgh in the summer of 1977 and a few years later, the band were supporting The Jam and signing to Paul Weller's Respond Record Label before hitting the road with their own shows and as part of...

On this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I’m joined by another absolute legend of the music industry - this fella has undoubtedly been one of the best TV and Radio pluggers in the business - Nigel “Spanner” Sweeney. We're talking U2, Rolling Stones, Simply Red, The Cure, Depeche Mode, UB40, Erasure, Robert Palmer, Bros, East 17, Jamiroquai, Elvis Costello, Janet Jackson, George Michael, Mas...

When I first started this podcast, I created a wish-list of potential guests. You would too right?.It's fair to say that Billy Bragg was one of those early entries in my notebook. A musician, author, broadcaster and left-wing activist who fronted the 1980s Red Wedge movement with, among others, Paul Weller. He'a also pretty active as a gigging musician, touring the world, and so tying him down to...

From growing up in Long Island, USA to picking up the sticks aged 4 to guesting with the Mercer Ellington orchestra at just 13 years old, to playing with Chuck Berry and then coming to London in the 1980s - it's fair to say that Jo Ruocco has had a pretty incredible journey in life. Her connection with Paul Weller kicks in with the final stages of The Style Council's 4th studio album Confessions o...

My guest on this episode is the absolute legend that is Gered Mankowitz - he is the photographer who created the enduring and defining image of the rock star as we know it today. Inspired to take up photography by the comedian Peter Sellers, Gered opened his first studio in 1963. Finding himself at the centre of Swinging London, he soon established himself as one of the most prominent music photog...

My guest on this episode is David Pottinger - a young Modernist from Middlesbrough and one of the fellas behind the brilliant Move on Up Blog. The website was created with his childhood best friend Graham Barber, with a desire to contribute to the scene and write about their passions of football, clothing and music. We chat about his love of The Jam and Paul Weller and his crazy Summer of 2015, an...

A different kind of episode this week with The Jam drummer, Rick Buckler. This recording was taken from a Q&A event in August 2022 at St Peters, Brighton for the This is the Modern World exhibition... Rick was one-third of the powerhouse sound of The Jam along with Paul Weller and Bruce Foxton. The band had 18 consecutive UK Top 40 singles from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 198...

Steve Pilgrim - drummer, singer & songwriter joins me on this episode of the podcast. Another huge talent from the Paul Weller band. Paul is quoted as saying on Steve: " One of the great understated modern songsmiths. I love Pilgrims voice, his lyrics, his sense of melody. I hope people get to hear his music, it’s really something special” Ex-The Stands, Cast, John Power and John Head, Steve joine...

On this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I chat to an incredible folk musician who is celebrating her 30th career anniversary in 2022. Eliza Carthy MBE is, without doubt, an innovator and leading light of England's folk scene - an amazing solo artist, band member, singer, songwriter and fiddle player. Eliza rose to prominence in the mid-1990s both as a solo artist and a member of Waterson-C...

My guest on this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast is Olly Ball, Photographer for The Style Council album cover Our Favourite Shop. It is the band's most commercial successful album and undoubtedly one of the best album covers in Paul''s 45 year career. An immediate commercial and critical success on release with a sleeve that so many fans spent hours, day and weeks figuring out, pouring over...

In this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I am joined by musician, bassist, bandleader and songwriter Yolanda Charles. As a professional bassist for 30 years, she has played with the likes of Mick Jagger, Dave Stewart, Robbie Williams, Sinead O’Connor, Hans Zimmer, Squeeze, and of course, Paul Weller. We'll hear how a chance encounter via Jonathan Ross led to Yolanda joining the Paul Weller...

In this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, we hear the incredible story of Red Wedge from its co-founder, Annajoy David. The podcast is packed full of tales of collaboration and a shared passion for fashion and politics that all kicked off with Paul Weller hearing a radio interview with Annajoy from a CND rally in the early 1980s. Paul was inspired to reach out and a tight friendship and an i...

For Episode 104 of the Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I am joined by Guy Barker - a multi-award-winning composer, band leader and trumpet player who also happens to be one of the most in-demand arrangers in the world right now. As you'll hear during our chat, Guy has played with so many absolute legends including our podcast subject - Paul Weller via The Style Council. In the 1980s, Guy played on TSC si...

My latest podcast guest is the first lady of London Soul, P.P. Arnold and what an honour it was to chat with Pat on the podcast. There have been so many 'pinch-me' moments on this audio journey - and this is right up there for me. P.P. Arnold's story is that of a rich and varied life. From her early musical origins in powerhouse church gospel, the talented singer's career began when she joined the...

For Episode 102 of the Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I am joined by journalist, editor and broadcaster Claire Mahoney - an active member and influential promoter of the Mod scene with a passion for music, fashion, art and culture. We'll hear all about her teenage discovery of The Jam, and a love affair that has lasted a lifetime. Claire has written extensively about the mod scene and made regular appea...

Over the past 55 years, musician Danny Thompson has been a bandleader, sideman, group member and composer. Best known as a double-bassist, he has worked with the very best including Richard Thompson, John Martyn and Nick Drake, along with great jazz men such as Humphrey Lyttelton and Tubby Hayes as well as Rod Stewart, Roy Orbison, and Kate Bush. In recent years, he has also played with our podcas...

So here we are - Episode 100 of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast - who would have thought it? Firstly - thanks to you for your support , your shares and your thoughts - its all helped to get us to number one on iTunes and to grow listeners to the podcast over the past 18 months. Thanks to my wife and family for letting me do this thing - evenings, weekends and holidays spent creating something I hope i...

Chris Bangs has been a pioneering and inspirational figure in the British underground dance scene and helped to light up the burgeoning black music dance scene of the early eighties. Towards the end of the 80s, Chris really hit pay dirt as a musical trend-setter with the invention of Acid Jazz genre and as a producer and artist responsible for many early recordings on Eddie Piller's Acid Jazz labe...

In 1979, twelve-year-old Den Davis went to see The Jam play at Manchester Apollo and his world changed forever. As we hear on this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, a few months later when Den started a Sunday morning paper round, he struck a deal with the shop to save every magazine and paper that mentioned The Jam, and Den would deliver the papers for free. It didn’t matter to Den if they...

As much as I love talking to the musicians, the singers and the songwriters, the producers and engineers, the music industry promoters, tour managers, road crew, band members, journalists and others, who have worked and collaborated with Paul Weller, this podcast was always intended to be a voice for the fans to share their memories of The Jam, The Style Council and Paul Weller… So many of these f...

What a blast to be joined by singer, songwriter, musician Debsey Wykes on this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast. In 1978, she formed the British post-punk pop-band Dolly Mixture with guitarist, Rachel Bor and drummer, Hester Smith. We'll hear about their journey from complete amateurs to John Peel sessions, to supporting The Jam in the Summer of 1980 and signing to Paul Weller's Respond Reco...

In this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I'm joined by Phil Veacock - best-known as the main arranger, musical director and tenor saxophonist of Jools Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. Phil has multiple connections and credits with Paul Weller with arrangements and performances on every Weller album since 2017's A Kind Revolution, right through to 2021's number one LP, Fat Pop (Volume 1...

Nicky Weller joins The Paul Weller Fan Podcast for a bonus episode to share the latest news regarding the This Is The Modern World exhibition in Brighton this Summer. It promises to be the biggest ever collection of previously unseen The Jam & The Style Council memorabilia, launches in its spiritual home of Brighton on Saturday 30th July 2022 and runs through until Monday 31st August 2022. Expect...