Paul Weller: 10 great records, from The Jam and Style Council to his best solo albums 

In advance of Paul Weller's gigs in Cork and Dublin, music aficionado and Irish mod-store owner Eamon Flavin chats to Richard Fitzpatrick and selects his pick of the English musician's finest moments

As well as his solo material, Paul Weller has made classic records as part of The Jam and the Style Council.

1. All Mod Cons, The Jam (1978)

 “On All Mod Cons, Paul Weller evolved from his punk aggression into social anger and observation of what was going on. That's where you had “A” Bomb in Wardour Street – “A” for anarchy. When the album came out in late ’78, Weller hit a real sweet spot in Ireland. Dublin was socially deprived. Unemployment was high. There was a lot of frustration. He was a working class, angry young man, very socially aware, talking about the working classes. His lyrics resonated.

 The album speaks about ordinary people; it was empowering at the time. Weller was trying to give the system the two fingers by not letting the system trod him down. That's where the mod, clean living, sharp look came from. All Mod Cons was a step change from the black suits of earlier albums In the City and This is the Modern World. All Mod Cons was sharp, much more mod-looking.

Essential Track: Down in the Tube Station at Midnight 

2. Setting Sons, The Jam (1979) 

 

Setting Sons is amazing. If you listen to the lyrics, it was Weller going against the class system, challenging privilege and class inequality. The Eton Rifles is one of the most famous tracks off that album. He was describing the social elite, all going to Eton, about how the social elite used working class people to fight their wars for them. He was Woking working class. There was a strong anti-war message in that album. On the cover, you see soldiers carrying each other. When you listen to Little Boy Soldiers, it’s about the futility of war, about working-class people forced to do their duty, going to the front and coming back in a box, “with a letter to your mom / Saying find enclosed one son, one medal and a note / To say he won”.

Essential Track: Down in the Tube Station at Midnight

3. Sound Affects, The Jam (1980)

It wasn't his first, but Sound Affects was the first album involving Paul Weller that I  got exposed to. I got into the whole mod thing from my brother. He was an early mod in Dublin. I was 13-14 at that time. The album blew my mind when he started playing it. There were two hit tracks off it – That's Entertainment was renowned. But Start! was a real mod anthem of that album. It was so clean, so crisp. 

Essential Track: Start!

4. The Gift, The Jam (1982) 

A soul-inspired album, almost Motown-esque. Just Who Is The 5 O'Clock Hero? and Precious – a really interesting track, real jazz funk – are on that album. Trans-Global Express too. But the top track off The Gift is obviously Town Called Malice. It had an incredibly strong message about working class life in early ’80s Britain, full of anger and energy.

Essential Track: Town Called Malice 

5. Our Favourite Shop, The Style Council (1985) 

 Arguably Weller’s most political album, which was outspoken against Thatcher. It’s a phenomenal album. You had The Lodgers on that album. Walls Come Tumbling Down was the outstanding track, an anthem of how people can overthrow the system.

 The Style Council were totally against Thatcher and her economics. They were trying to promote social solidarity. It was giving people optimism as to how they could buck the system, take it over and go against Thatcher. Lenny Henry  does the spoken word on The Stand Up Comic’s Instructions. He's playing to the crowd, trying to justify the racism that goes through pubs and clubs, which Thatcher was encouraging: “And keep’ em laughing don't let it stop / Or the truth might catch up and spoil the plot.”

 I saw The Style Council in the Hammersmith Odeon around that time in the mid ’80s. I moved over to London. Weller was unbelievable live – the energy. He had a presence on stage.

Essential Track: Walls Come Tumbling Down

 6. Café Bleu, The Style Council (1984) 

 The style of Café Bleu was groundbreaking. It was Weller’s bold invention after the end of The Jam. This was the step change into the Style Council. He moved towards much more soulful, jazzy and European influences. He embraced a French look, coolness personified. It elevated Weller's style perception tenfold. He was cool in The Jam, but this took it to another level when he had the polkadot scarves, the French crop haircut. Everything about it was fantastic.

 The ’80s was all about emigration and leaving. My Ever Changing Moods was the anthem everybody knew off that album. It captured the uncertainty about the future, which a lot of Irish people latched onto. Tracey Thorn [from Everything but the Girl] did lead vocals on The Paris Match. My favourite off Café Bleu was Headstart for Happiness. It was genius how he constructed it. A track that lifted people, it certainly lifted me.

Essential Track: Headstart for Happiness

7.  Paul Weller (1992) 

This was Weller’s first venture into the solo arena, when he moved on from Style Council. Throughout his career, his lyrics are what blew my mind. I got the sense in his early days he didn't realise how good he was lyrically. The lyrics he wrote were so profound, beyond a young man's intellect.

 If you can put it on a scale, he went from an angry young man with The Jam to being very politically aware and being really, really cool. He matured and mellowed out. And then the depth of music and the orchestration on his solo albums – like on Paul Weller – is incredible. The track off that album that does it for me is Above the Clouds. It’s the musical mastery of that track.

Essential Track: Above the Clouds 

8. Wild Wood (1993) 

An unbelievable album. It’s the complexity of the orchestration. It's a solo masterpiece, one of the best British albums in the ’90s. For Weller, it marked a more personal and spiritual direction. Sunflower, the opening track on the album, is amazing. Wild Wood, too, is a classic track.

Essential Track: Sunflower 

9. Stanley Road (1995)

 I loved the messaging and lyrics in Stanley Road, the likes of Broken Stones. The Changingman was the biggest track off the album. There was a narrative optimism about that track people latched on to. It was the mid ’90s. Ireland was starting to come out of recession. You Do Something to Me was the track I loved from a personal level. It was a romantic love song, a break away from the Weller I loved passionately, who was all about revolution messaging and going against the system. This love song showed his softer side, which stood out for me. Of course, I was courting at the time as well – that would have had something to do with it!

Essential Track: You Do Something to Me

10. 22 Dreams (2008) 

Several solo albums later, 22 Dreams really brought me back into him. It brought back the rawness of him. It was such a different sound, a heavier sound. The electric style of that album stood out. He had Noel Gallagher on that album – he featured on Have You Made Up Your Mind.

Essential Track: 22 Dreams

• Paul Weller plays Live At The Marquee in Cork on Friday, June 19; and Fairview Park, Dublin, on Sunday, June 28 

Eamon Flavin: Rebirth of Cool 

Eamon Flavin outside the Rebirth of Cool store in Temple Bar. Picture: Moya Nolan

Eamon ‘Flavo’ Flavin has been a huge fan of Paul Weller since the 1980s.The proprietor of the Rebirth Of Cool clothes shop in Temple Bar, Dublin, he has been involved in the mod scene in both Ireland and the UK since the 1980s. Also a vinyl collector and clubnight promoter, he has arranged a number of DJs to play on the cobblestones in front of the shop on the day of Weller’s gig in Dublin.

“It should be a great buzz as everybody starts to get  in the mood for the gig," says Flavin. "It’s been great serving both the old crew, and the new crop of youngsters now on the scene. Mod gets in your blood – It’s a way of life!”