He was the reluctant spokesperson for a generation
as the lead singer in The Jam, turned us on to Bluenote
Jazz and cappuccinos via the Style Council and as a
solo artist since 1991 has dabbled in everything from
experimental funk and psychedelic jazz to acoustic folk
and pastoral soul rock.
His recording legacy is peerless – six albums with The
Jam and four number 1 singles, four LPs with The Style
Council plus an un-sued ambitious soulful garage house
project ‘A Decade Of Modernism’, six on his own including
one offs as The Council Collective, King Truman and
The Smoking Mojo Filters. 2002’s ‘Illumination’, his
last album, saw Weller experiment with Simon Dine of
Noonday Underground culminating in the Top 20 single,
‘Its Written In The Stars’. This, Studio 150’ is its
astonishing follow up – a 12 track LP made up entirely
of cover versions ranging from the household famous
– the disco groove of Thinking Of You’ by Sister Sledge
– to the wilfully obscure – the northern soul of Nolan
Porter’s If I Could Only Be Sure’ – taking in such diverse
cuts as Neil Young’s Birds and Bob Dylan’s All Along
The Watch Tower’ along the way. Of course Weller is
no stranger to the cover version – The Jam released
their cover of the Kinks’ David Watts’ as a single.
They also tackled The Who’s So Sad About Us’ and Disguises’
and Curtis Mayfield’s Move On Up’. The Style Council
covered Anita Baker’s Angel’ and Joe Smooth’s Promised
Land’ and as a solo artist Weller’s B Sides are literally
littered with them – Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s
Ohio’, Traffic’s Feelin’ Alright, Etta James’ I’d Rather
Go Blind’ – so why an LP full of them? “I’d been talking about recording a covers album for a very long time.”
He explains. “Initially I had the idea to record a selection
that resembled a compilation tape that you’d give to
a friend of all your favourite songs. But I was worried
that there would be too many disperate and diverse sounds
that just wouldn’t hang together so instead I decided
to cover songs that weren’t particulily my favourite
but ones I could reinterpret, play around with and make
my own”
