''Paul Weller'' is the debut solo album by the English singer-songwriter

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...

, released in 1992.

Background

After disbanding

The Style Council The Style Council were a British musical ensemble, band formed in late 1982 by Paul Weller, the former singer, songwriter and guitarist with the punk rock/New wave music, new wave/mod revival band the Jam, and keyboardist Mick Talbot, previousl ...

and leaving

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

in 1989, Weller formed The Paul Weller Movement in 1990, releasing a single, "Into Tomorrow", on his own Freedom High record label, in October 1991. Its success - reaching #36 in the UK chart - led to Weller being offered a new record deal with

Go! Discs Go! Discs was a London-based record label, launched in 1983 from offices in Wendell Road, Shepherd's Bush, by Andy Macdonald and Lesley Symons. The pair founded the label after Macdonald left his job as press officer at Stiff Records, and Sym ...

. Recorded over the two years before the album's original Japanese release, this album represents something of a return to Weller's musical roots, with "Into Tomorrow" and "Uh Huh Oh Yeh" in particular being heavily influenced by 60s R&B. According to Weller, "'Uh Huh Oh Yeh' – and, after it, the '' Stanley Road'' album – was me revisiting my roots. I hadn't been down to

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

in a long time. That was the first time, in the early '90s, when I was finding my feet again." The album as a whole retained some of the funk influences displayed by The Style Council, particularly on "I Didn't Mean To Hurt You" and "Remember How We Started". However, the explicit political leanings of The Style Council are abandoned, with the lyrical themes visited on the album being much more personal.

Release

The album entered the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

on 12 September 1992, reaching number eight and staying on the chart for seven weeks. Before the UK edition of the album, it had already been released in Japan on 29 April 1992. The track listing differs from subsequent releases, and the running order is altered. The track "New Thing" (a different recording of "Here's a New Thing" from the "Into Tomorrow" single) was replaced by "The Strange Museum" on all other versions. Until 2009, "New Thing" was unique to this release. In addition to "Into Tomorrow", included on the album, two further singles were released from the album - "Uh Huh Oh Yeh", on 15 August 1992, reaching #18, and "Above The Clouds" on 10 October 1992, reaching #47. A deluxe edition of the album was released on 26 October 2009 and reached #88 in the UK Album Chart.

Track listing

All songs written by

, except where noted.

Personnel

* Steve White - Drums, Percussion * Jacko Peake - Saxophones, Flute, Backing Vocals *

- Guitar, Vocals, Bass (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11), Keyboards, Percussion * Dr. Robert - Bass (12), Backing Vocals (3,8) * "Brother" Marco Nelson - Bass (9) *

Dee C. Lee Diane Catherine Sealy (born 6 June 1961), known as Dee C. Lee, is a British singer. Born to Saint Lucian parents, she grew up in south east London. Early in her career, she was a member of the British band Central Line under the aliases Dee Sea ...

- Backing Vocals (3, 5, 11, 12) * Camelle Hinds - Backing Vocals (4, 12) *

Carleen Anderson Carleen Cassandra Anderson (born May 10, 1957) is an American singer and musician. She is known for her work with the Young Disciples and numerous collaborations. Her distinguished solo career began in 1992. She is the acclaimed composer, writer ...

- Backing Vocals (12) ;Technical *Chris Bangs - co-producer on "Above The Clouds" *Martin "Max" Heyes, Paul Gomersall, Robin Black - engineer * Nick Knight - photography

References

Paul Weller Official Site

Info on the original Japanese edition
{{Authority control 1992 debut albums Go! Discs albums Paul Weller albums