Paul Weller – ‘gloriously chippy’ – as seen by friends, family, fans and collaborators

Paul Weller – ‘gloriously chippy’ – as seen by friends, family, fans and collaborators

Author: Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold November 13, 2025 Duration: 34:45

Dan Jennings’ podcast ‘Desperately Seeking Paul’ is so successful he’s used 250 of the interviews in a best-selling oral history. ‘Dancing Through The Fire’ has voices from right across the spectrum – family members, band members, writers, pluggers, label bosses, collaborators and famous fans. He talks to us here about …

 

… Weller’s real name and when he changed it by deed poll

 

… a theory about bands formed in towns not cities

 

… the handbrake turn from the Jam to the Style Council – one minute the intense young man cutting out his press clippings, the next espadrilles, singing in French and “nibbling Mick’s ear on the River Cam”

 

… Weller’s “very English” need to be heard and respected - but not loved

 

… the role of his manager father in the Jam’s success, the days when the family phone number was in the Fan Club ads

 

... how Noel Gallagher engineered a Bono/Weller photo op

 

… Paul’s glorious chippiness – Band Aid, the pop press, “offering a journalist out for a fight in Victoria Park”

 

... John and Paul Weller and echoes of Only Fools And Horses

 

… when the Jam played ice rinks and swimming pools

 

… the cab-driver gossip grapevine

 

… cutting 1.5 million words to 250,000 and the book’s biggest revelations and surprises.

 

Order a copy of Dancing Through The Fire here: https://geni.us/dancingthroughthefire


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There’s a particular kind of conversation about music that happens between friends who’ve spent a lifetime immersed in it-not as distant critics, but as participants in the culture. That’s the atmosphere you’ll find in Word In Your Ear, a podcast from Mark Ellen, David Hepworth, and Alex Gold. With a collective eighty years of writing and broadcasting for titles like Smash Hits and Mojo, and shows from "The Old Grey Whistle Test" to VH-1, they don’t just recount history; they unpack the stories behind it with the ease of a shared laugh. This podcast grew naturally from their work on the late, great magazine The Word, where they began recording over thirteen years ago, building a dedicated following who found something genuinely special in the mix. Each episode weaves together music, commentary, history, and interviews, moving seamlessly from deep-dive analysis of a seminal album to a frank chat with a surprising guest, all delivered with the warmth and wit of a late-night chat. It feels less like a formal show and more like you’ve been invited to pull up a chair in a room where the anecdotes are plentiful and the expertise is worn lightly. The result is a consistently engaging listen that treats music not as a museum piece but as a living, breathing part of our lives.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Word In Your Ear
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