For thirty years, John Weller managed the career of his son Paul, through the salad days and success of The Jam in the Seventies and early Eighties, the ups and downs of The Style Council and Paul’s re-emergence as a solo artist in the Nineties. Theirs was a unique father-son relationship in the music industry, built on John’s unwavering belief in Paul’s talent and shared values like hard work and pragmatism.
John could be blunt, and once refused to have lunch in a record company’s executive dining room, remarking to the managing director: “I didn’t come here to eat, I came to do business.” But his bark was worse than his bite.
John’s success was all the more remarkable since he started in his forties after years working in factories, on building sites and driving a taxi. When The Jam signed to Polydor in February 1977, for a £6,000 advance and a six per cent royalty rate, John admitted he didn’t have a bank account and asked for cash instead of a cheque. A&R man Chris Parry duly we…
wow its great!!
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not bothered so much with the record,(ok its a bit dull) its just that bloody awful haircut hes been sporting fot the last 3 years. And for someone known for his style i find it rather strange that hes been wearing that same old black tshirt for as long as crap 70 s barnet. still the greatest english songwriter since Lennon and Mc cartney split
Top tune with great beat and the always changing Weller sound. Can't wait to hear the whole Kicks album. This one and Around the Lake are something special, but quite different from the WUTN stuff. Tha Modfather rules!
ReplyDeleteI really set myself up not to like this - what with Weller going a bit wanky with Pretty Green, designing Mini's & Fred Perry's and all that old bollocks! But I Love this vid, Love the song - a serious subject but tongue-in-cheek too. Weller at his songwriting best - hope the new album has a few more corkers like this on it
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