When I ran a Twitter poll a while ago to find out what people’s favourite Sound Affects track was, the outright winner was a song considered by many to be the finest song lyrically Paul Weller has written in his entire career. I am of course referring to That’s Entertainment. Even people who aren’t too familiar with The Jam know this song. It is a poetic masterpiece. A montage of images… a snapshot of 80s Britain.
The story of how Paul wrote That’s Entertainment in ten minutes after arriving home from the pub one night is well documented. What is not quite such a well-known fact is how Paul was inspired by an earlier poem that he featured in a Riot Stories publication called ‘Mixed Up Shook Up’. That poem is called ‘Entertainment’ and it was written by Paul Drew.
In a bid to see the world I moved from North Devon to South Devon in 1977. In Plymouth I used to perform at a café called Maxim's off Drake's Circus and Tavistock Place where some students from the Poly and College of Art went. On Sunday nights, downstairs from the café itself, people would come and sing with guitars or more often recite a few poems. I was one of the part-time poets and after a few nervous performances became one of the regulars. That's how the poem Entertainment came about. I decided to move back to North Devon, tail between legs, before embarking on I knew not what. The interim between that and the what (college in Yorkshire in 1981) was sitting on my bed reading, going to the pub, making 'music' and going for an occasional job interview. My now late friends Maz and Kev and I recorded songs on a reel-to-reel I'd borrowed which we then copied and sold. It was the post-punk time of the cassette d-i-y boom and the NME was championing this homemade movement in a column called Garageland where we, and similar people all over the country, could advertise their wares for free. With every tape we made and copied we gave away a magazine called Contempt. This consisted mainly of music and book reviews and scatter gun humour, much directed at our local Conservative MP Tony Speller, a target of an earlier fanzine of ours, Speller Mistakes. We gave away a badge with the first issue.
One of the later editions of Contempt featured a poem by Paul Weller, which he sent to me at my request in reciprocation for ones I had sent him, a couple of which appeared in a Riot Stories volume he printed and later in his December Child series.
I recollected seeing an advert from him in the NME for poems and I submitted a few including Entertainment. He liked Entertainment and sent me a nice xeroxed letter with a handwritten request to use the title for a song he'd written, which we know now of course as That's Entertainment.
There was something about "If you have any objections" or "Hope you don't mind me using..." or words along those lines. It was a nice gesture and whenever his song appears on the radio, or more often as a backdrop to an advert or a lazy storyline on a TV soap, it reminds me of way back when. A guilty pleasure of mine is occasionally looking at Jam biographies in Waterstones or Borders and seeing what the latest version of the story of That's Entertainment is. I usually come out of it quite well, given the fishing in the dark aspect of it. The Bard of Woking obviously always comes out of it Weller.Pictured below are:(1) The lyrics to That's Entertainment Paul Weller sent to Paul with the letter requesting to use the title. (Check out the handwritten "La, la, la’s"! ♥♥)
(2) The original typed version of Paul Drew’s Entertainment poem
(3) A poem Paul Weller contributed to Contempt magazine.
(4) A Melody Maker review of Sound Affects referring to Entertainment.
This reflected the view Paul expressed in several interviews carried out during his time with The Jam. I know when he started Riot Stories it was very much with a view to providing a platform for young unknown creative people. What I didn’t know until very recently however, was he also funded a printing and distribution service for fanzine writers.
Another poet who featured in ‘Mixed Up Shook Up’ was Mark Stowe. He became involved in the aforementioned project, which was known as 'Youth Kick'.
I was delighted to make a connection with Paul Hitch - creator of 'Freeze Frame' fanzine. He told me how he used the services of Youth Kick to print his own fanzine. Pictured below is an acknowledgement that featured in one of his 'zines.
Paul told me he remembers going into a little terraced house in Birmingham to pick up a box of freshly printed copies. The guy who handed him the box had just come off the phone with Paul Weller.
Paul thinks Mark is the face in the top left hand corner of the cover of ‘Mixed Up Shook Up’. It would be great to hear from him or anyone who knows him.
Smash Hits was a magazine a lot of teenagers were talking about in the late 70s when it was first launched. Many of our punk and new wave heroes found their way on to the front cover. Buzzcocks, Poly Styrene, The Clash, Siouxsie, Ian Dury and of course The Jam - to name a few. It was a mix of posters, often tongue-in-cheek interviews and other snippets of information. But what most people will no doubt remember Smash Hits for the most is the song lyrics. No genre was off limits. You’d find Boney M sitting alongside of Status Quo and Buzzcocks; Racey sitting alongside of Queen, Thin Lizzy and The Clash.
Colin Skene is in possession of an extensive collection of Smash Hits and has kindly shared lyrics to some songs you might just recognise.
Many fans of The Jam were introduced to the wonderful world of the music of the Small Faces as a result of Paul Weller naming the band/Steve Marriott as a major influence. One of my own personal favourite cover versions is 'Get Yourself Together'.
Although Steve Marriott sadly died in 1991 I’ve often wondered if he ever got to listen to any of The Jam’s material.
Someone who got to ask the man himself that very question is MarkWilliams. I’ll hand over to Mark to tell the story.
I was lucky enough to meet Steve Marriott in 1985 when I went to see him play at the Bierkeller in Liverpool.
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| The influence Steve Marriott had on Paul Weller's style is plain to see. Photo by Tony Gale |
Steve arrived with the other two members of the Packet Of Three. He stood there listening to the support band's soundcheck.
He told a couple of funny Weller stories. Apparently Paul used to write to him in the 80s asking for tee shirts Steve wore in the 60s. He said: “Fack me, I’ve no idea where anything is. My dad probably wears them now when he’s doing the gardening!”
Shame they never met...
Marriott also said he hadn’t heard that much by The Jam, because he’d been living in the US, but what he had heard, he really liked. He wondered why Weller never came to see him at his live shows.
Marriott was superb that night, he did a few Small Faces tunes (I definitely remember him doing All Or Nothing, maybe Tin Soldier, too). He had an incredible voice, really great blues guitarist too, playing his trusty Gibson. He also spoke quite candidly about his time in the US.
He had a drink afterwards in the hotel bar with a lot of Liverpool mods, happily giving autographs and chatting away. I saw him live once more in Liverpool, at the Hardman House Hotel. It probably wasn’t too long after that he tragically died in the fire.
There’s a saying about it not being a good thing to meet your heroes, but that wasn’t true as regards Marriott, he was a lovely guy.”
Here's a video clip of the Paul Weller movement playing 'Tin Soldier' at the Brixton Academy shortly after Steve passed away. Paul dedicated the song to him.
One of my favourite single photo covers by The Jam is ‘News of the
World’. Seen below is a copy Steve Hinders had signed by all three members of the band and John Weller.
The photo was taken by Martyn Goddard. It shows the band walking down
The photo below, also taken by Martyn shows the band tucking into their breakfasts in nearby Frank’s café.
Theres a really interesting story revolving around the photo on the Rock Tours of London website.
I did a double take when I came across a post on Twitter where Colin Blair shared a photo of an incredible tattoo he has on his arm of Paul Weller. The tattoo was the work of his gifted son in law - Tommi. Just check out the likeness!
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| I'm loving this cushion shared by Cole Rayner |
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| Tee shirt worn by Simon at the Deeside Leisure Centre gig on the Setting Sons tour. |
Radek Plichta is the editor of a music blog cernejpudink.cz . He is based in the Czech Republic. I was intrigued when he posted a series of comments on one of my (many) tweets about The Jam. He spoke briefly about life behind the Iron Curtain during the punk explosion.
Following a text exchange, he kindly offered to send me more detailed information, which I've copied below. I hope you will find it as fascinating as I do.
It wasn't until the autumn of 1979 that Radek got to listen to The Jam's music for the first time. The first album he bought by the band was 'This Is The Modern World'. He managed to purchase a copy in January 1980 at an unofficial meeting of Prague audiophiles. These meetings were often broken up by the secret police.
The only way young people could get to read any fanzines in the midst of the punk explosion was if they knew someone who had travelled to Western Europe, the UK or the US and brought one back.
What I found rather touching was that despite all the restrictions imposed upon the young people in Czechoslovakia at that time, the first time Radek heard The Jam in 1979 was through a John Peel show one of his friends had recorded on a cassette tape. Despite the fact that we all lived in very different worlds, he was probably feeling the same excitement we did here in the UK when we first listened to a new band playing on one of those amazing "Peel sessions".
The three images below were provided by Paul Bazley. This is memorabilia in a class of its own!
And check out his Weller Rickenbacker inspired Vespa!
Paul is also heavily involved with a Cheshire football club with a difference - Barnton AFC. He has helped to put together some match day programmes based on iconic The Jam single covers. If you'd like to read more, take a look at this website. A small selection of programmes are pictured below.
Kenny was at the same show. He too said it was a great evening. The Q&A session was with Eddie Piller. Rick shared lots of information. He spoke about the split and how he didn't see it coming. He and Bruce were called to a meeting by John Weller, then Paul informed them The Jam was to be no more.
If you read the last scrapbook you may recall seeing a series of exclusive photos of Paul and Bruce sent to me by Tony Beesley. They were taken by the late Kristan James Melik at Queens Exhibition Hall Leeds on the Setting Sons tour in December 1979.
The book the photos are due to appear in is called 'Revolution', and has now been published. Tony has provided some more details for anyone who is interested. It looks like yet another excellent read from Days Like Tomorrow books.
More loft treasure in the form of David Moore's scrapbook. There were 40 pages in total. It was almost impossible for me to pick a handful to post, but here goes. What a pose for the centre spread of 'Photo Secret Love' magazine!
And Ian found some wonderful flyers tucked away inside his equally wonderful Jam Pact Spring Tour 1979 booklet.
Birmingham 81 shared some awesome photos from a gig The Jam played at Bingley Hall in Birmingham in March 1982.
Drew Hipson is a lifelong fan of The Jam/Paul Weller. He is also the editor of All Mod Icon magazine. Endorsed by Paul Weller himself, this glossy publication covers all stages of his career, from the very early days to recent times. To view available titles check out the All Mod Icon Magazine store
I don’t mind admitting I know virtually nothing about expressions such as Chat GPT and AI other than through snippets I’ve heard in the media and from my sons. However one of my Twitter followers is much more switched on than me and managed to produce this song. I'm hearing echoes of London Girl in the background. What do you think?
Martin Brook remembers how he painted The Jam's logo on the wall of the new youth club he went to back in the day. Sadly he doesn't have any photographic evidence, as was so often the case in the pre-mobile phone days. He does, however have photos of a series of tickets plus a guest pass for the Leeds Queens Hall gig on the Solid Bond tour. Apparently his dad worked as a crane driver, helping with the stage set up and managed to get hold of the pass for him. Coincidentally, I was also at that very same gig. It was the first time I saw The Jam live.
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| 1977 poster courtesy of Johno |
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| Poster for 1982 Amsterdam gig from Dik Tatort |
Next up is a story from entrepeneur, musician and author Paul Hopfensperger, about something of a life changing experience. I will hand over to Paul to give you the details...
I had been a huge fan of The Jam since early 1978 when This Is The Modern World was released having been introduced to them by my best friend who taught me to play the guitar, David Harris, a fabulous musician who sadly passed away aged 38. I was a member of The Jam Fan Club and I used to look forward every month to my letter from Paul Weller’s sister, Nicky Weller about the latest Jam song, album, tour, literally any snippet of information I could possibly get. Paul Weller was my absolute idol and everything in my life revolved around The Jam. I used to get my suits made by the same tailors used by The Jam in “Carnaby Cavern” and paid for by my dear mum Vera who accompanied me with the cash! Jam shoes were from “Shelley’s” in Carnaby Street, and accessories were from “Johnson and Johnson” in The Kings Road, Chelsea. All shops used by Paul Weller. Life was timeless, days were long, we were young!
The first time I saw The Jam was on November 18th 1978, at The Great Yarmouth ABC on the All Mod Cons tour. I was only 15 and our bass player in our band “The Teazers”, Lee Jacobs and I were driven the 55 miles there by Lee’s dad and we were right at the front near the orchestra pit. When Paul Weller burst on stage with the opening riff of All Mods Cons followed by To Be Someone, I just stared at him unbelieving that he was no more than ten feet away from me. I remember vividly him looking at me and nodding. I can still see it to this day in my mind. At the end of one song, he flicked his “Gibson Heavy” plectrum up into the air and it landed in the orchestra pit. I pointed to it asking a bouncer to give it to me, but he just put it into his own pocket. I was furious! The next one I saw land, I made no mistake. I jumped over the barrier into the pit, grabbed the plectrum and was picked up and hurled over the barrier back into the crowd! I did this three times and came home with three of Paul Weller’s plectrums which I still have to this day. However, during the third flight through the air back into the crowd, my blue “Jam trousers” from Carnaby Cavern (exactly the same style and colour as Paul’s suit and Bruce’s Jacket on the News of The World single cover) were ripped along the seam from knee to knee! It was a draughty rest of the evening in the gusset area I can tell you, but it was worth it - I had three of Paul Weller’s plectrums.
On December 2nd 1979, the then drummer in our band, Nigel Stemp and a few other friends had tickets to see The Jam at The Rainbow in Finsbury Park, London supported by The Vapors. After shopping in Carnaby Street, it was about 2pm so we decided to walk from Oxford Street Tube Station to The Rainbow by following all the tube station signs! It seemed like a good idea at the time, but we had no idea how far it was. After many hours on foot, we arrived at the Michael Sobell Sports Centre in Finsbury Park looking for The Rainbow and I had worn a huge hole in the bottom of my Jam shoes from the 4+ hour walk! Suddenly, we were spotted by a group of leather clad bikers, and we all ran like hell! I didn’t stop until I reached The Rainbow totally out of breath. They didn’t catch us and boy what a concert! Girl on The Phone was the first track after a deafening introduction by The Jam’s manager and Paul Weller’s dad, John Weller.
Saturday January 2nd 1982, is a day I will never forget. The drummer in the second line-up of my band The Teazers, Pete Hawtin (16) drums/backing vocals, one of our roadies, Simon Williams (16) and myself, Paul Hopfensperger (18) guitar/lead vocals, were on our way back to Bury St Edmunds from Camberley in Surrey where we had gone to meet some friends, we had met skiing in December 1981.
On the way back from Camberley, I had a brainwave. From various sources in the media and Nicky Weller’s fan club info, I knew that Paul Weller lived on The Maybury Estate in Woking, but that was it. I suggested that we divert slightly to Woking and go and try to see where Paul lived and had grown up. As we found The Maybury Estate, my heart was racing. For four years I had been such a huge fan of The Jam, and here we were driving into the estate where he used to live. As we drove around, all the houses looked similar, and I had no idea which number he lived at. Then suddenly, I saw that one of the houses had all brand-new windows and front door, and there was a large Mercedes parked outside. I guessed that it just had to be the one. Hesitantly, we got out of my car, a gold Mk2 Ford Escort, walked to the front door and knocked. A man opened the door, and nervously I asked if Paul Weller lived here. “Not any more boys” said John Weller, Paul Weller’s dad! “He lives in London now. Come on in and have a cup of tea”. He said. I honestly couldn’t believe it! I was being invited into Paul Weller’s house talking to his dad and having a cup of tea at his kitchen table! Living the dream or what?
I remember walking in the front door and to the right there were stairs with gold and silver discs from The Jam. It was incredible. We all sat around the kitchen table he made us a cup of tea and he chatted to us about where we were from, our love for The Jam, and our band. Then came the moment which I have never forgotten and have regretted for the rest of my life! “How would you like to support The Jam at Leicester, De Montfort Hall?” said John Weller. “We haven’t got a support band and I’d be happy for you to do it” he said. I honestly couldn’t believe my ears. Had he really asked us that? Was he really asking our little band from Bury St Edmunds who he had never even heard, to support The Jam, the biggest band in the country? A band who had gone straight in at number one in the UK charts with Going Underground less that two years earlier. Really? I stuttered and came up with all the reasons in my head why we shouldn’t; I couldn’t get the time off work, I had college work to do, how would we get all our kit to Leicester, etc. But the biggest reason was that we looked like The Jam, we dressed like The Jam, we played songs by The Jam. We would be ridiculed by the audience for being The Jam mark 2 who would be followed on stage by – The [real] Jam!
After much discussion, we declined the very kind offer, but he said he would get in touch and ask us when The Jam played nearer to Bury St Edmunds. Just before we left, he gave us all a T-shirt, mine was a Down in The Tube Station at Midnight one which although is very well worn, I still have to this day. Exactly 11 months to the day later, on December 2nd 1982, I saw The Jam live at Wembley on The Beat Surrender Tour after which the band split. I would never get another opportunity like the one I had turned down.
As we drove back to Bury St Edmunds on that fateful day, and over the past 41 years, I thought to myself “What if I’d said yes to this? How would my life have been different?”. I still think this every day. It was my dream to support The Jam, and I had been given a once in a lifetime opportunity by John Weller to fulfil my dream. However, through probably unwarranted fear I had said “No” to the biggest opportunity of my lifetime.
I have used this life lesson to seize every opportunity given to me ever since, and now I teach people to NEVER Negotiate with Your Dream!
First up - some adverts for gigs The Jam played in 1976 and 1977.
The story of how Steve ended up being invited into the Weller household to have tea with the family, when he came over to the UK in September 1979 is documented in this post. Whilst at the house he managed to get a snap of the fan club room I'm guessing was occupied by Paul's sister Nicky (who ran the fan club). I can almost picture her sat at a desk filling all the stamped addressed envelopes she'd been sent by eager fans, some of who have shared their letters and fact files etc 40+ years later here on this blog.
And finally, some entries from the diary Steve kept during the above mentioned trip to the UK. He speaks about meeting poet, school friend of Paul’s and former member of The Jam - Dave Waller among other things.
The song Steve refers to in the final snippet is 'Burning Sky'. Paul had written the song the night before. I can only imagine what it must feel like to know you were one of a handful of people to hear a song so many of us grew to love via Setting Sons before it had been transferred to vinyl. Now doesn’t that make your spine tingle?
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