Episode 180: Paul WellerHello and Welcome to Episode 180 of the World's First Paul Weller Fan Podcast... I'm Dan Jennings and ten years ago I gave up my life's dream and career as a radio presenter with one big regret... Never getting to interview my hero... the legendary singer-songwriter and musician - Paul Weller... This podcast exists purely to solve that issue... Welcome to the final episode of Desperately Seeking Paul.... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 179: Claire Moon - Artist Manager - Paul Weller Over the course of the past 3 years, we've discovered so much more about how Paul Weller has built one of the most prolific and influential careers in British music, and in this episode we get to peek behind the curtain. Artist manager Claire Moon opens up about her professional journey, leading up to that first fateful meeting with Paul at V2 Records and how she later became his manager - overseeing the business operations at Black Barn...

Episode 178: Charles Rees - Black Barn Studio Manager & Engineer + Composer, Producer And so the countdown begins... with our final 3 podcasts in our Desperately Seeking Paul series... On this episode, I take a trip into Black Barn Studios for an unforgettable conversation with Studio Manager & Engineer, Composer and Producer, Charles Rees.  From assistant engineer on Heavy Soul in 1997 to becoming studio manager at Black Barn, AKA Paul Weller HQ in 1999 - Charles has played a key...

Episode 177: Simon Halfon - Graphic designer and Film Producer on The Style Council, Paul Weller Solo & The Jam On this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, we hear from graphic designer and film producer, Simon Halfon to discuss his incredible porfolio of work with The Jam, The Style Council and Paul Weller solo... We find out about his love of The Jam - and how he first met Paul Weller in 1979 following a gig in Bridlington when he and his mates stayed up with the band drinking and...

Episode 176: Joe Connor - Film Director, Screenwriter, Photographer & Musician... On this episode of my Paul Weller Fan Podcast, we cross to Cape Town where we find multi-award-winning Film Director, Musician, Screenwriter and Photographer - Joe Connor on his latest top secret shoot... Our discussion kicks off with the creation of his brilliant Sky Arts Wild Wood Documentary - a 2023 film that features the story behind the 1993 Paul Weller masterpiece as it celebrates it's 30th...

Episode 175 : Chris Pope from The Chords On this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I am joined by Chris Pope - Songwriter, Musician and one of the founding members of The Chords. We take a journey through the bands formation at the tail end of 1978, after original singer/guitarist Billy Hassett and his bass playing cousin, Martin Mason, advertised for musicians in NME. Chris got the job and the band were soon into live gigs and studio recordings. Their style was a combination of punk...

Episode 174: Ben Gordelier - Musician, Producer, Drums/Samples/Percussion for the Paul Weller band... What a delight it is to have Paul Weller band member - Ben Gordelier - join me on my podcast. Ben chats about his discovery of music, love of The Beatles and Laurel & Hardy, being "brought up in a music rehearsal studio" and working as a drummer and producer since his early teens... even going on his first European tour at the age of 16!... Since 2012, Ben has been playing drums,...

Episode 173: Simon O’Brien - from The Style Council fan to Weller Tour Crew… On this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, we meet Simon O'Brien and hear his a journey from The Style Council fan in his teens to joining Paul Weller tour security in 2000. We talk Red Wedge, the Paul Weller Movement, and being In the right place at the right time for the Heliocentric tour with a band on fire... You'll hear stories on Paul, John Weller, Kenny Wheeler, and unforgettable gigs across the UK -...

Episode 172: Dylan White - Legendary Record Plugger On this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I am joined by legendary record plugger, Dylan White. Dylan has worked in the music business for over 30 years now... UK Radio & TV Music Promotion, Consultant and Artist Management.  A multi-award-winning record plugger since the early 90s, he has promoted the music of Oasis, U2, Fatboy Slim, Travis, Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode, Suede, Primal Scream, The Libertines, Portishead, Billy...

Episode 171: All Mod Cons - The World's First Tribute to The Jam... Barry Pugatch and Andy Cook share their story... On this episode of the podcast, we hear the story of Barry Pugatch and Andy Cook - two fans of The Jam who ended up bringing one of the original tribute bands from the US to the UK for sell out performances in the 1990s. All Mod Cons were created in Boston, New England, USA in 1989 with Barry as Paul Weller on lead vocals and guitar with his pals - Glenn Matto (Bruce Foxton)...

Episode 170: Robert Howard / Dr. Robert - The Blow Monkeys On this episode of the Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I am joined by Singer, Songwriter, Multi-instrumentalist and Producer, Robert Howard, aka Dr. Robert of The Blow Monkeys. We take a journey through his youth and his discovery of punk, politics and The Jam whilst living in Australia in the 1970s... He returned home in 1981 and formed the band, leading to so many fabulous albums and singles - their debut Limping for a Generation, that...

Episode 169: Carleen Anderson - Singer, Songwriter, Composer, Producer, Arranger, Writer... My latest podcast guest Carleen Anderson really needs no introduction. A genuine world class artist... She's such a huge talent in her own right and another to enter Paul Weller's orbit during the solo years - providing us with some very special moments on record and live. Throughout her solo career, she’s been featured alongside a multitude of established artists from a wide array of musical genres -...

Episode 168: Sam Molnar talks Wake Up Woking, Wild Wood at Woking Hospice and a 50 year friendship... On this episode of the podcast, we chat to Sam Molnar and hear his incredible connections with Paul Weller from The Jam to now... We'll discover how he's become Sammy Carpet to the Weller family... how he created Wake Up Woking and an incredible homecoming gig in 2010... which featured live music from Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Steve Brookes and Paul's first gig in his home-town for 30...

Episode 167: Keiko Egawa... Super-fan stories from Tokyo to London and beyond... On this episode of my Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I am joined by Keiko Egawa - a Japanese super-fan who has been to hundreds of gigs over the past 40+ years - seeing The Jam sixty-nine times, The Style Council sixty plus and Paul Weller solo over one-hundred and fifty times... We'll hear her story from discovering The Jam through In The City as a teenager growing up in Tokyo, to travels to London for her first live...

On this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I am joined by music journalist Adrian Thrills. Adrian became a fan of The Jam from 1976 - pre-Polydor record deal - seeing them at the 100 Club, upstairs at Ronnie Scotts, The Marquee, Red Cow in Hammersmith and at many more gigs... Together with his friend, Shane McGowan, Adrian did one of the very first interviews with the band for own 48 Thrills fanzine (One of the original punk fanzines that launched in '76). As a friend, and journalist,...

On this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, we hear the incredible story of Reaction - a Mod-influenced band from Burton-on-Trent, formed in November 1980 by Bruno Gallone. It was a real delight to hear Bruno's incredible story from creating the band before he could even play an instrument to their first gig a few weeks later at the Guild Street Mod night in Burton.... What came next sounds too good to be true... but yes it actually happened.... on this podcast chat we dig in to the quite...

With the 40th anniversary of the release of Introducing The Style Council (Sept 1983), it seemed fitting to spend an episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast revelling in the enduring magic of this iconic band. To commemorate this milestone, we have the privilege of diving into the heartfelt stories of two unwavering super-fans, Brenda Taylor and Karen McBride. Their journey into the world of The Style Council began against the backdrop of the early '80s when Brenda, already a devoted fan of...

Episode 163 - Billy Sullivan - Singer, Songwriter & Musician talks Paper Dreams Solo Debut, The Spitfires supporting Paul Weller, a love of The Jam and more.My special guest on this episode of Desperately Seeking Paul - The Paul Weller Fan Podcast is the hugely talented singer, songwriter and musician - Billy Sullivan. His story takes us from a love of music as a child through to the formation of The Spitfires in 2012 and building a cult fan base on their own terms through hundreds of...

On this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I am joined by the award-winning stand-up comedian, broadcaster and podcaster, Ian Stone. A huge fan of The Jam and Paul Weller since discovering the band in 1977 via John Peel's late night show on Radio One, Ian published his first book in 2020 – To Be Someone – a memoir about one teenager’s obsession with The Jam… Paul Weller commented “I really liked this book. I’d forgotten how shit it was in the seventies”… We dive into his memory band...

In the realm of music enthusiasts and vinyl collectors, few names command as much respect and admiration as Keb Darge. The legendary out-spoken Scotsman has left an indelible mark on the world of music with has an uncanny ability to unearth rare and forgotten musical treasures. Over the past 40-plus years, he has been heavily involved in the northern soul, deep funk, rockabilly, and sixties garage scenes.  On this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, we hear the true story about his...

In the dynamic world of music, a few trailblazers stand out, reshaping the industry with their audacious ideas and unshakeable passion. Andy Macdonald - the maverick behind the Go Discs and Independiente record labels - is undeniably one such luminary. With a knack for spotting raw talent and an unwavering commitment to artistic authenticity, Andy is one of the most successful UK independent music entrepreneurs of the modern era. In this World Exclusive Podcast conversation, we discover how...

On this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I chat with Bob Manton and 'Just Jeff' Shadbolt from Purple Hearts. Formed in 1978, they were a mod-influenced band that blended elements of post-punk, new wave, and mod revival, creating a distinct and energetic sound that resonated with a wide audience beyond the confines of the mod scene. We talk about their discovery of The Jam as punk loving teenagers in Essex, to the creation of their first band The Sockets and an original punk rock opera...

Part of the music industry for nearly 50 years, Kevin Metcalfe takes a break from enjoying his recent retirement to join me on this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast. Kevin is an industry legend. A sound mastering engineer with an impressive repertoire of all kinds of artists and all types of musical styles under his belt. This fella has played a key role on hundreds, if not thousands, of singles and album releases over the years including David Bowie, Adele, U2, Queen, ELO, Depeche...

On this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I am joined by songwriter, musician Chris Free. He was one half of the duo A Craze who were signed to Paul Weller’s Respond record label in the early 1980s. We chat about his love of punk including The Jam and The Clash and his first band The Users, to meeting Lucy Barron, forming A Craze and getting signed to the project. The band played on the Respond package tours, on line ups featuring Tracie Young, The Questions and Vaughan Toulouse. They...