EP151 - David F. Ross - Author - shares his love of love of The Jam, The Style Council and Paul Weller solo...

On this episode of The Paul Weller Fan Podcast, I am joined by Scottish author, David F. Ross.

David is an architect by day, and a hilarious social-media commentator, author and enabler by night.

His debut novel The Last Days of Disco inspired by The Jam's 1979 classic album - Setting Sons - became an international best-seller in 2015...

"The Jam were my first favourite band, and you never really forget your first love."

We learn all about his discovery of The Jam in the late 1970s, and the influences and connections that remain in play to this day.

The thrill of live performance being one example. David has seen Paul Weller on stage in one incarnation or another on close to thirty occasions. His very first gig was seeing the band when he was fifteen at Glasgow Apollo on 8th December 1979 - and he went on to see them live at Newcastle City Hall, Hammersmith Odeon, and even The Magnum in Irvine!....

The lyrics and words that Paul used in those songs that still mean so much to David and so many others to this day. An example being "That's Entertainment" - a song that David has described as "The greatest song in the English language. Paul Weller captured much of that humdrum, everyday boredom of teenage life in Thatcher’s Britain in The Jam songs of the late 70s and early 80s. It’s a brilliant evocation of those times, and I can identify absolutely with every line."

David's own writing owes an embryonic debt to Paul Weller, and to Setting Sons in particular. "I find that complex blend of youthful working-class hope coming apart at the seams of adult and mid-life pressures very relatable. It’s a powerful canvas on which to play out dramatic ideas about people and relationships, and one I return to regularly."

The Style Council... pop innovation...

Paul, Mick, Dee, Steve and the music created with honorary councillors a plenty also meant so much to David in the 1980s to now. A connection formed through the great songs again but also the image, the fashion, the sophistication, their core values, and, of course, the more overtly political approach to the lyrics... the power of words once again...

"...The Style Council weren’t given the credit for pop innovation and chameleon diversity that the songs deserved, especially those on those first two scintillating LPs."

David saw TSC on numerous occasions live including the very last night of the Glasgow Apollo, 16th June, 1985. (and in Manchester the night before - because "why not?").

"Still sounding essential and indispensable...

As you would expect, Paul Weller's solo years have been, and continue to be a huge influence on David - both personally and in his career as an author. Writing a fabulous blog on Paul's 2023 Hamburg gig he remarked... "In the early 90s, at the dawning of Weller’s solo career, it happened again. Marriage, kids, emerging personal and professional responsibilities; all relatable touchstones beginning to work their way into his lyrics just as they became catalysts for my own altered priorities."

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