Why did Paul Weller, An Artist With Such An Excellent Body of Work Never Make it In The USA?

I'm not sure of the exact population of the United States (330,000,000 ish?) but there are a lot of them. Surely a few have to be Weller fans!

 

well, yeah, obviously I was exaggerating a bit.

 

He has had very little radio play here in the UK since the Stanley Road days. Gets the odd play when he’s got a new single out but you’re much more likely to hear an old Jam or Style Council tune, however his hardcore fan base is large enough to ensure at least top 5 albums and sell out gigs in 2 to 5 thousand capacity venues.

 

Of course they are. He’s British.

 

His voice is fine for fans like me,but isn't commercial ,Like the song "She Threw It all away" ,one would think it would be a hit ,and his voice s pretty great ,but at the Bridge he goes into some "punk like" vocal

 

Paul Weller doesn’t talk like that either. It’s a poem, written by a 20 year old. I don’t know what’s hard to understand about it.

 

Which means for most UK acts, even doing badly in the US/Canada selling above or below even a 100, 000 units is still doing numbers that equal success in the rest of the world, particularly the UK, Europe, Australia, NZ, etc.,

 

Meaning unlike the Clash, Zep, Stones, etc., going directly to the source of blues, soul, rockabilly, etc., Weller came to Soul, etc., thru British subcultures: Northern Soul, Mod, etc.,

 

By the time of the Jam’s breakup they were doing 1500-2500 seaters in the US probably selling in the range of 100-200, 000 units which would mean big success in the UK.

 

Limited view here. One, Americans are almost completely unaware of Paul Weller. I’ve never heard his music that I am aware of. I listened to the song linked in this thread, “The Lover” just to see a little of what he is about. What did I think? It was terrible. Melodically boring. Repetitive. Uninteresting. Maybe he has some music I would like, but generally speaking if he had some music that was so good that it appealed in spite of limited airplay, or exposure, it probably would have gotten through the cracks into my ears by now. Perhaps someone would have put his music into a movie or tv show that would have caught my attention, or something similar. Somebody in my life would have buzzed about “you’ve got to heat this great Paul Weller song!” It hasn’t happened. Does that mean anything? I’m not sure, because again I’ve only heard one song. I could be way off base and he might be great. Did that one song make me want to hear song number two? No. For me personally, that is enough for now. If someone introduces me to some great Paul Weller later, I will listen to it, but I’m not expecting that to happen. As for success in the US, I would like to say the cream rises to the top, but there is so much garbage that has been successful in the US charts that that view is hard to support. So I will say that to be successful in the US charts your music needed (doesn’t apply as much now) to be accessible. It needed to be perceived as appealing to a large number of people to make it to radio. People in radio power must have decided at some point that Mr. Weller’s music didn’t fit that criteria.

 

I’d love for Paul to cut an album in Nashville, would give him a kick in the pants playing with some session pros, writing tight and accessible with a nod to airplay.

 

If you want to know why Paul Weller's never made it big in the US, the answer's in that suggestion right there!
Possibly the worst idea I’ve heard since someone said “Paul, how d'you fancy duetting on the next Little Mix single?”

 

I'm not clear on your premise here. The Sex Pistols and the Clash were far more British, applying much thicker English accents and we loved them. The Beatles may not have amplified the accent but were loved for being British as were most of the U.K. artists for whom they opened the gates. The Shadows, on the other hand, couldn't get arrested in the U.S. but were far too polite in comparison to our Ventures with their overdriven Mosrites. I liked the Jam and thought the Style Council were quite good at Live Aid, but didn't have enough of an edge to drive me to buy their records. I never thought about them much after that which is too say I think it's more about having that certain difference that makes us in the U.S. notice the artist than any aspect of being British. It is indeed a loss for us but we have differing subjective opinions on the degree of that loss.

 

I’d like to think Paul wouldn’t blanch at playing with good players, and you need to expand your understanding of Nashville and the musical diversity nexus it serves for all musics across the US and worldwide. The players, studios, publishers, rentals, instrument stores, etc., that have disappeared elsewhere worldwide are all there, doing well with diverse music and players. Any serious musician would find much to love, and even some of his fans if they got some knowledge and opened their minds.

 

As with The Jam.

 

I would have to say that of his solo career, his first solo cd and Wild Wood are my favorites. I like Stanley Road. His covers album was a nice departure . Then after those albums it’s been selected tracks that I have enjoyed. I guess it’s been difficult to pin him into a box as far as style is concerned. Saw him live at the Fillmore in 02/03 and he was great. But honestly, have always enjoyed his Jam/TSC output the most as well as his first 4-5 years of solo output.

 

I’ve been to Nashville, thoroughly enjoyed it and heard loads of great music by musicians in the right place for them. My point is that I have everything by both Paul Weller and Margo Price (among others) in my collection. But I don’t want Weller to record in Nashville any more than I want to hear Margo's cover of Down in the Tube Station at Midnight!

 

Definately a limited view: "I listened to one song out of a 40+ year career and i didnt like it, he sucks. And if radio hasnt given him a chance, than its not worth my time".

 

Ah ok I see what you mean, yes makes sense I guess.

 

Nashville ain’t just Country, and Country nowadays is more rock and roll than rock. Paul could use a good kick to get out of his mid tempo plod. Or even do an excellent acoustic album with world class players. Margo could acquit herself quite well with any of Paul’s tunes.

 

Style Council never made a dent in the U.S. and the only time most Americans ever heard of them was Live Aid

 

And how would any of this be any different than Weller’s other trend chasing albums? It seems you may have a bias against Nashville and the the US. Need to open the boxes your preconceptions are stuck in.

 

Maybe he’s just a niche artist with songs not that many people want to hear.

 

What recent song is an example of "mid tempo plod"? Also, True Meanings is a recent acoustic album.

 

I'm American and have been a Paul Weller fan for some time, but also wonder why he isn't more well known here. I'm not buying into the idea that Weller is "too British" for American audiences, especially given the lengthy list of Brits who are beloved in the Colonies. That said, timing is everything in life, right? Breaking up The Jam just as they cracked America certainly didn't help raise Weller's profile (The Clash didn't hesitate to open The Who's 1982 stadium shows) and his next band - the Style Council - played all of two gigs here in their entire career, despite landing a couple of decent sized hits right out of the gate. Maybe the band's label wouldn't support a full American tour, who knows?

Yeah, it sucks Ed Sheeran fills our stadiums and Paul Weller still struggles to find an audience, but life ain't fair. On the other hand, Weller has the creative freedom to do whatever he damn well likes regardless of if Americans like it or not. He's been successful enough to keep making well regarded albums and avoid the 80's package tours that fill American music sheds ("One night! One stage! Culture Club! Thompson Twins! Paul Weller of The Jam! ).

...and I'm still listening to the Guv'nor.