Paul Weller News!

Paul Weller October 29: The Powerstation, Auckland British legend Paul Weller found himself in a bit of a jam last night. Does the man known as the Modfather play his greatest hits or mix up his new music? Given that this was his first appearance in New Zealand, there really was only one answer - the punters wanted the 34-year drought broken with a flood of familiarity But Weller ignored that too much during this 90-minute Kiwi debut. He started superbly and finished very strongly, belting out the snappy anthems that made his original band The Jam so influential in the late 70s and early 80s. In between things fell a bit flat with Weller guilty of being a little self-indulgent in playing tracks that seemed to be lost on the capacity crowd. Given his peculiar absence from these shores - noted by Weller early on the night: "It's been a long time but we finally got here." - the man who transposed punk with a cool edge, should have read his audience better. T...

Video interview with legendary English singer-songwriter Paul Weller. FaceCulture spoke to Weller about relearning old songs, time travelling, the latest album Wake Up The Nation, safe time, music industry, his deceased father, bass player Bruce Foxton, No Tears To Cry, and lots more.

Thursday, November 4 , Paul Weller formed two influential bands — The Jam and The Style Council — before striking out on his own as a solo artist. He will plug in with his band when he returns to Morning Becomes Eclectic for a rollicking session at 11:15am pst. Morning Becomes Eclectic Is Broadcast Live!  Listen HERE!

Image & Review By: redgrevillea (Ross) 1986 was the year my love of a certain songwriter-musician flew into high gear. I was 16 years old in May 1986 when my sister bought me Paolo Hewitt's The Jam: a beat concerto. I was immediately captivated with this biography: the photos, the story, the easy-to-read though poetic and incisive style of writing, and ultimately, Paul Weller. I became a huge Jam fan, totally obsessed, and in varying degrees I remain so to this day. Here was a man who seemed to grow up with similar experiences to I and who looked so good and wrote such magnificent songs, who had such power and force of expression, and an acutely good musical ear. Paul Weller, along with John Lennon, was my man. I never dreamt I would see Paul Weller perform live. By 1986 the Jam were dead and the Style Council were moving into making album statements away from live performance; it had been the Council's tour of Australia in 1985 that awakened me to Weller's prev...

A really nice collection of photos from Paul's performance at the Enmore Theater in Sydney can be found at the following LINK. Gig Review by Ginger Ninja, 25th October, 2010 Paul Weller could be doing the nostalgia circuit right now, along with the Eagles, the Rolling Stones and countless others, churning out the same twelve 30-year-old songs for audiences lusting after their distant youth. The kind of stasis that comes with that sort of gig, though, is completely at odds with the restless and creative man that broke up the Jam at their peak. Burning with the kind of energy that’s sorely lacking in many contemporary songwriters, Weller still commits every ounce of himself to every chord. His latest album, the incendiary Wake Up The Nation, was a furious testament to this, and that record’s thunderous rock shaped tonight’s set – each song, regardless of its earlier form, was delivered with room-levelling force. Even Shout to the Top, the original glossy and fey even for a Styl...

Set List & Vids Courtesy Of Kenny Smith! Cheers!! NEW SONG! "Paper Chase"

Image by Dave Hogan Two additional performances have been added to the Sun "Biz" Session Paul did last month. Wild Wood No Tears To Cry

Paul Weller is scheduled to appear on the US television show, Jimmy Kimmel Live on Thursday November 4th !

Images Courtesy Of  HarvieKrumpet! Cheers!!

Courtesy Of KennySmith! Cheers!!!

Set List Image Courtesy Of Kenny Smith! A Few Notes: 1: Wake up the Nation wasn't the last song of the first set, but the first song of the encore 2: Come on/Let's Go was dropped from the first encore 3: A third encore was done, and the band played 'Town Called Malice'

Note: This interview is different from the one previously posted.

PRS are exhibiting works from 25 leading songwriters including Sir Paul McCartney, Sting, Gary Barlow and Paul Weller . Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Tim Rice, Julian Lennon* and Annie Lennox are just some of the famous songwriters that have penned original lyrics from their most famous hits for the ‘The Art of the Song’ campaign. Set up by PRS for Music the campaign has asked some of the UK’s best songwriters and composers to donate lyrics from their greatest hits to be auctioned off at Bonhams in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust. The exclusive launch party exhibiting the works for the first time is taking place on November 10th and we have two pairs of tickets to give away. The works will not be exhibited publicly so this will be the only chance to view in person lyrics including; Rod Temperton’s original Thriller lyrics never before seen in public, Sting’s - Message in a Bottle, Duran Duran’s - Girls on Film, Sir Tim Rice’s – ‘Don’t Cry for me Argentina’ and Chris Rea’s original lyrics ...

Tears For Fears’ 1989 single, Sowing The Seeds Of Love, yielded the line; “Kick out the Style/Bring back The Jam”, crudely vocalising the sense of importance Paul Weller’s first band – The Jam (’76-‘83) – had for working class Britain. While his later blue-eyed soul project, Style Council, the ones who would be ‘kicked out’, went on to greater success here in Australia, The Jam’s baton was picked up by earnest newcomers Billy Bragg and Elvis Costello. By the end of the ‘80s that Tears For Fears lyric coincided with the finish of what many Brits deemed a welcome end to this less honest/confronting side of Weller. Although The Jam weren’t seen as punk heroes or gods of mod, it was enough that they had the balls to sing out about how shitty the UK class system had become at the time. Now, after two decades of growing success as a solo artist, the man they called the Modfather is at last acknowledging his roots on a potent new album called Wake Up The Nation. Talking today from his Lon...

Paul Weller has revealed he doesn’t yet know whether his good friend Noel Gallagher will feature on his new album after the former Oasis leader joined him in the studio for an informal jam recently. In an interview with NME, Weller talked up Noel’s talents on drums, but hasn’t yet decided what will make the final cut on the follow-up to his Mercury-nominated ‘Wake Up The Nation‘. “If you’re referring to Phil Collins he came down and did a few tracks,” he said. “Nah, Noel just came down as a mate and jammed for a few hours as a mate. Whether he makes the album or not we’ll see. He’s a very good drummer, people don’t realise he’s a good all-round musician.” Weller also said he believes the album is some way off completion, and expects a delay before the new year due to his touring commitments. “I haven’t finished the record, I’ve started it, done eight or nine tracks, maybe a few more than that,” he explained. “It’s going the right way, but I don’t know when I’ll finish it because I...

Modfather Marches On Tony Moore October 20, 2010 - 6:11PM Sydney Morning Herald Paul Weller at the Tivoli is not a greatest hits package from his two previous bands, the Jam or the Style Council. If that's what you wanted, you might be disappointed. But there are plenty of tribute bands that will let you relive the Jam's past. If instead you want to sweep through some of the best rock and soul to emerge from England in the past 30 years, Paul Weller is still very much your man. He remains the Modfather. Emerging on stage at 9pm dressed in the ever-impressive pin-striped, grey suit, the man judged by NME as the coolest man in rock played well over two hours, including two encores in a set that concentrated heavily on his newest album, Wake Up the Nation. Weller appears determined not to be considered a walking back catalogue and played a handful of songs from his very early glory days. You did get these absolute gems from his days as the Jam's singer song...

The NME Cool List 2010 6. Paul Weller . The secret to his cool is simpler than the leg-hugging cut of his cloth – ‘Wake Up The Nation’ was one of the best, most exciting albums of 2010. Photo: Phil Wallis/NME

The onetime 'spokesman for a generation' has made a clean break with the past and is hitting the road with new enthusiasm, writes Dave Simpson. It was the 2007 Glastonbury festival and Paul Weller was pondering three decades of success. He felt restless, dissatisfied with much of his output in the first decade of the new century. He was still touring his album of two years earlier, As Is Now, which he liked but which hadn't found the wide audience he wanted. For the first time since Polydor refused to release the Style Council's house music album in 1989, Weller questioned his relevance. Where once people had hailed his guitar classicism as the inspiration behind Britpop, they now called his music ''Dadrock''. He was nearly 50. Worse, he hadn't written a song in two years. ''I felt creatively empty,'' he says. ''I realised I couldn't take the 'Weller sound' or whatever you wanna call it any further.'...

Part A that was missing from previous post. <p><p><p><p><a href="http://video.theaustralian.com.au/1615106261/Paul-Weller-EXCLUSIVE">VIDEO: Paul Weller EXCLUSIVE</a></p></p></p></p> Part B <p><p><a href="http://video.news.com.au/1615885938/Paul-Weller-EXCLUSIVE">VIDEO: Paul Weller EXCLUSIVE</a></p></p>

Set List Courtesy of Noah W. Cheers! Paul Weller Fremantle Arts Centre October 15, 2010 Australia 1. Moonshine 2. Fast Car/Slow Traffic 3. From the Floorboards Up 4. 7&3 Is The Strikers Name 5. 22 Dreams 6. Into Tomorrow 7. Sea Spray 8. That's Entertainment 9. Have You Made Up Your Mind 10. Andromeda 11. No Tears To Cry 12. Aim High 13. Shout To The Top! 14. Trees 15. You Do Something To Me 16. Broken Stones 17. Pieces Of A Dream 18. Pretty Green 19. STaRt 20. Come On/Let's Go 21. Porcelain Gods 22. The Changeingman 23. Black River 24. *Band Intros* 25. Art School 26. Whirlpool's End RAY PURVIS, The West Australian October 18, 2010, 9:30 am Friday night in Fremantle and, by all reports, 52-year old Paul Weller was on his honeymoon, having tied the knot in Italy a couple of weeks ago. But spruced-up like a bridegroom in a snappy dove-grey double-breasted suit and white shirt the iconic Modfather was here to do other business on only his second tour of Australia ...

BRITISH music icon Paul Weller kicked off his Australian tour in Fremantle last night with a rousing show that echoed the sentiment of his latest album Wake Up The Nation. While he is best known as the angry young front man in ‘70s mod and punk outfit The Jam, the 52 year-old, who is often coined The Modfather, was regarded as a key influence on the Britpop movement that spawned bands such as Oasis and Blur. Speaking backstage at Metropolis Fremantle ahead of the show, Weller openly expressed his concerns about Facebook and instant celebrity culture, some of the key themes of his Mercury Prize nominated new album. “We’ve always had trash TV and that’s ok as well if its just entertainment but I’ve noticed on a cultural level that people accept the second and third best,” he said of internationally franchised singing competitions like The X-Factor. “I think for any kid – young kid – who aspires to be a musician or a singer or an artist of some kind. For that to be your standard i...

When The Modfather Gets A Wake-up Call Michael Dwyer October 14, 2010 - 7:30PM From: The Sydney Morning Herald Paul Weller's rage may have cooled dramatically but creatively he's on fire. SOPORIFIC has never been Paul Weller's style. Those Jam singles still bristle like broken bottles. Never mind their chic lemon pullovers, even the Style Council spiked yer latte with potent leftie dissent. Nor was nodding off an option during Weller's Heavy Soul '90s — a decade in which, by rights, the former Red Wedge advocate should have been strumming the confessional acoustica of the elder statesman. So when he chooses to call his 10th solo album Wake Up the Nation, you have to wonder what more incendiary stuff he can possibly have up his sleeve. Advertisement: Story continues below "People ask me why I don't write overtly political songs any more but, if I did, they would be the same language, the same words and songs I wrote 20 years ago," he says....

PAUL WELLER Supported by WIDOWBIRDS SUN 24 OCT @ 7:00PM Price $79.90 (Over 18's Only) Bookings (02) 9550 3666 SPECIAL INTIMATE CLUB SHOW TO WRAP UP WELLER’S SYDNEY SHOWS ON SALE 7 OF OCTOBER 10AM Wind up the weekend on a total high with Paul Weller and his band as they end a trio of Sydney shows with a final, extraordinary performance in the intimate surrounds of The Metro. Weller returns to the stage, as he did in 2008, with band members guitarist Steve Cradock, bassist Andy Lewis, drummer Steve Pilgrim and Andy Crofts on keyboard. In April of this year, Paul Weller released his 10th solo album Wake Up The Nation, the 14-track offering drawing reviews as Weller’s best to date and includes two tracks featuring The Jam bassist Bruce Foxton. Don’t miss your last chance to catch the living legend that is Paul Weller. Ticket Info HERE

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Bard Reputation: Pop stars pick their favourite poets. To celebrate National Poetry Day, Dave Simpson talks to musicians about the joys – and occasional tribulations – of setting verse to music. Paul Weller I wasn't taught poetry at school, but after I left I got into Liverpool beat poets such as Brian Patten and Adrian Henri. I related to their use of grand images next to a rainy, shitty street in the suburbs or city. Songs such as God and Trees [on Wake Up the Nation] started out as poems. Down in the Tube Station at Midnight was originally a poem, until the Jam's producer said it would make a great song. People have said that the Jam turned working-class kids on to poetry. Around the time of All Mod Cons people started sending me stuff they'd written in their bedrooms, which normally they'd be too embarrassed to tell anyone about. Some of it was great, so we published it. One fan sent me the Shelley poem The Mask of Anarchy and we used it on the cover of Sound A...

From NME: Paul Weller was the surprise guest at a memorial concert for string arranger Robert Kirby yesterday (October 3). Kirby, who worked with artists including Nick Drake, Weller and Elvis Costello, died last year aged 61. Weller performed 'With Time And Temperance' from his album 'Heliocentric' – which featured Kirby's arranging – at the event, held at London's Cecil Sharp House. Speaking about Kirby, Weller said he was "a great man", adding: "[We] made great music together and fell off many barstools together!" With strings conducted by Harvey Brough, the memorial also saw performances from Vashti Bunyan, Teddy Thompson, Ben & Jason and Steve Ashley.

From Spinner.com Congratulations to Paul Weller, who is reported to have married girlfriend Hannah Andrews during a low-key ceremony in Capri, Italy, last week. The Modfather got engaged to Andrews, nearly 30 years younger than him, in April this year, as reported in Spinner. The couple tied the knot in a low-key gathering with just a handful of guests, The Sun reported. "Paul didn't want a public wedding," a source was quoted by the paper. "He and Hannah agreed to just invite a select few family and friends. They didn't want to make a big deal about it." A backing singer, Andrews performed on Weller's 2008 album '22 Dreams' and his subsequent tour. His previous relationship, with partner Samantha Stock, ended just before Christmas 2008. Last month, Weller told The Sunday Times that he did not feel he had to defend the age gap. Quoted at the Post Chronicle Web site, he said, "As far as I'm concerned, she could have been 34 or...