I think for many I know (what I call the younger generation) he was the one to make you aware of the mod/ivy scene, him and Kevin Roland et al.
Ok, he's a bit Paul Calf these days, but he still does the odd good tune. His track last year Starlite was like a lost style council track.

I have got to agree with all, Weller is a generational thing.
The Jam & SC were part of my adolescence so will always have a nice place in my memories and a relevance to me. PW does look like a Tranny now in my opinion( no offence to any trannys out there).

Last edited by Armchaired (2012-11-14 03:30:18)

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/paul-weller-i-only-spend-money-on-clothes-and-music-0t2r0np7j&ved=2ahUKEwjr8ZaF-LH6AhWFlosKHft9CeQQFnoECA0QAQ&usg=AOvVaw0yakY3InrBChGsWdVi1lKb

I actually read the article on the JS Facebook page where it has been photographed

Thanks Robbie - I see he is modelling ‘Paul Weller for Sunspel’ clothes there, but he does give JS a quick name-drop in the article. I can’t say I get much out of what he is wearing there. He bemoans what men wear at the moment and comments that he regards tracksuits as being for training (gym) for training, then he’s got one on in the photos. He would look a whole lot better if his hair was a bit shorter, he’s starting to look like Iggy Pop.

Facebook is good for keeping in contact with friends and family, but I rarely post anything on there myself. I glance at the headlines on BBC News and read the odd story but so much of it is slanted and alarmist that I bother less and less. The news now seems designed to keep the population in a permanent state of anxiety.

Last edited by FlatSixC (2022-09-26 02:41:08)

Bit disappointing to see his view on the price of trainers in that piece: "I was in Selfridges and every pair was £400 - £800"

I don't begrudge him any money he's earned, and don't really expect him to take his kids to JD Sports for their gear, but it does rather smack of someone that's not quite as in touch as he would have been at one time.

I also have to disagree with his views on how everyone dresses. I recently visited Rome and was knocked out that I didn't see one person in joggers. Hardly even baggy jeans/ T shirt. PW I've seen plenty of times in a tracksuit.

Facebook I came off years ago. Don't miss it at all. Instagram I think is pretty good, despite all the sponsored stuff. Although I do limit it as much as I can to like minded fellas and clothes/music. It wouldn't interest me at all to be kept in touch with what my cousin's having for dinner.

Until I met The Mrs I never once watched or read the news and couldn't have been happier (don't know if that's down to her or The News). She insists on putting it on at 10 every night and spends her life in a permanent state of anxiety (don't know if that's down to me or The News)

I wouldn't wear anything he is wearing in the photos.

Weller was my idol in my teens. Seeing The Jam live was a glorious thrill. The Style Council provided guidance on many matters sartorial and musical. I sold the man Bass Weejuns and button-down shirts in J.Simons. And then...? Well I got older and my personal taste more confident, but more pointedly Mr.Weller went into a slow but steady decline in all matters sartorial and musical. The man who once talked of shunning pop and rock culture, and was capable of writing music of surprising range and originality, became trapped and was ultimately rendered rather ridiculous by the constant need for some pseudo-modernist notion of reinvention. Ageing is tricky for all of us, but for a pop star who always made a fetish of youth culture the slide of the body and its loss of appeal must be utterly unbearable. He could have grown old and cultivated a 'tight-lipped and cool' persona - a good haircut, low key stylish threads, some great new songs now and again. But he clearly was never quite clever enough, or confident enough. His public appearances now make me shudder and I feel rather embarrassed for him. I suspect he knows he has discarded all that made him the man to watch.

Robbie - I also flirted with the idea of monkey boots some years ago. I actually bought some from Dr Marten. The Mrs gave me the 'you've gone too far this time' look. My sister in law asked why I was wearing 'special' shoes. I looked down. Then looked in the mirror and immediately relegated them to a box in the loft where they'll sit until my son discovers EBay.

TRS - Can't help but agreee with all that. I didn't come across him until '86, so I could and still do enjoy The Jam and TSC on their own merits (although TSC win out for me). And I did enjoy his earlier solo look and sound.

Having gone through the Weller fanatic/posters on bedroom wall stage, it was a sad day when it dawned on me that I was buying his stuff knowing I'd probably never listen to it more than once before adding it to the pile. Yes. That need for constant reinvention under the guise of 'modernists always look forward' hasn't done him many sartorial favours over the last decade or so. RG is right, He'd only to look to Charlie Watts as a shining example.

There was a time in the Eighties that Weller with the Style Council caught up with the changing aesthetic that was happening in many large cities.
Looking back with the benefit of hindsight what I thought was fresh and new at the time was in fact a rehash of previous styles. The weejun, collegiate cardigan, LaCoste polo, deck shoe, 501, Burlington socks, Russell sweatshirt, chinos thing was being worn by a number of forward thinking guys.
Weller with the Jam on Top of the Pops playing guitar in an apron was a joke. Foxtons  increasingly silly hair style was laughable. All that angst and pogoing around felt so out of touch with what was going on. Black music was again at the cutting edge.
Yes, the Jam were selling records by the truck load but so was Adam and the Ants.
The Style  Council though looked great at the beginning.It was timeless and elegant.
It’s  funny how the tables have turned. Recent photos of Mick Talbot show him to be the sharper dresser.