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

The Jam came over to the US five times, but the longest they stayed was a month, so they were never going to break in the US that way. He's just never cared enough to do it, whatever part of his career he's been in. He has his success at home and it's clearly enough for him. Was glad to see him four or five years ago when he came over, but I'm not sure I'd go again as I don't care that much about most of his solo career, and he barely plays any Jam material.

 

As with some others, I think the idea of Weller being “too British” is a bit of a red herring. He may be geared more to a UK audience but the domestic topics and references aren't laid on so thick as to be alienating - I mean, he’s not exactly Half Man Half Biscuit.

 

I fully agree. Paul Weller s/t; Wild Wood and 22 Dreams are keepers. The rest… either MOR bloke rock in the post WW days, or just not as repeatable. Having said that I am still to listen to Fat Pop. Now his live shows are great. I saw him at the Royal Albert Hall. Great energy and a great number of middle aged men in mod haircuts in the audience. It was a good gig.

 

But he really isn’t that big in the U.K. either. He isn’t a household name like Weller and The Jam.

 

The Jam are still one of my favorite bands since I first heard This Is The Modern World. As an American I didn't always get what he was singing about but who the f*** cares? The music was fantastic, great songwriting and to me Bruce Foxton was probably one of the most underrated musicians I can think of. I didn't care much for the Style Council and I like some of his solo material. Although like any other older performer he doesn't have that edge anymore. I liked the angry Weller. Not touring much in the US was a mistake I think. I only got to see them once myself and that wasn't till '82. To his credit he was true to himself and did what was good for him and I still regard him highly as a musician.

 

I would say because music is subjective all the way around. Whether an artist is "great" or not is just an opinion, and whether people like an artist's work, its popularity, is collective opinion as well.

Weller, like a million other musical acts, just never struck a popular chord in the USA with his music. It didn't compete well on our charts. The USA is certainly open to British musical acts, as some of the most popular acts ever in the USA have been British.

 

I think it was inescapable, really. Paul Weller plays to Brits, not Americans, and he always has. That’s OK.

Most of the Jam’s musical references (mod culture, early Who and Kinks singles, northern soul) meant next to nothing to the youth of America, so there wasn’t much for American kids to grab a hold of. Paul’s lyrics were filled with Britishisms (tube stations, ‘all mod cons,’ News of the World, Elton, Wardour Street, corner shops, details of class inequalities in the U.K., etc) that weren’t part of the American vernacular and didn’t carry any meaning for kids over here. The Jam were also pretty unrelentingly serious, and Americans tend to like a sense of ‘party’ to their pop music. Even today, as much as I love Paul Weller, you rarely get the sense that he and his band are really letting loose.

The Style Council were described in the recent documentary as having a ‘European sensibility’ which also would get lost on most American kids. Although, as an American kid myself, my first awareness of Paul Weller came from the video for My Ever Changing Moods, which I loved at the time.

Now, of course, some Americans do love the uniquely British angle you get from Weller’s music, and that’s a selling point for them.

You can’t please everyone. But, if you want to please everyone, it’s probably best to at least try to please everyone.

 

He doesn't fit in one of the terrible genre categories that exist on US radio.

 

I too don't get the lack of awareness here in America for Paul Weller. Saw him a couple of times at Town Hall in NYC doing -not even with a full band, mostly stripped acoustic shows. Two thoughts on that, first not investing in a full band tour kind of means Paul has made up his mind that the rewards and time required to build an audience might not out weigh the costs of touring a full band. Remember NY is a big city and the diversity of the area (+easy access from the suburbs) should fill seats (and Town Hall is not that big). Alas I remember one of the shows having some empty balcony seating. However the other thing is because they were primarily acoustic shows, they had a really great intimate feel. So yeah, you get Paul Weller in all his mod splendor, it just won't sound like the albums do.

 

He's always had support from NPR/World Cafe and college radio. He's clueless what to do with it.

 

One would think Weller should have a better connection in Canada. Did he get radio airplay there? How has his success been?

 

No airplay here in Canada. I'm a big fan. Only hear The Jam A Town Call Malice on the radio a couple of times. No Weller solo for sure on the radio. I'm in Montreal.

 

See, my phone is set to American English and even it doesn’t know Eton, which it apparently autocorrects to ‘Elton’.

 

Ignored? that's overstating it quite a bit. He hasn't been ignored.

 

Plus, American audiences prefer oldies acts, especially on bands the mainstream missed the first time around (the Replacements, the Pixies etc). If he did a reunion tour with The Jam or Style Council, he would greatly raise his profile in the US. Kudos to him for not being desperate to take the easy way out.

 

In order to be ignored, one must be recognized first. Better than 99% of people on this continent have never heard of Weller.

 

Bands such as Styx, Doobie Brothers, Journey, Foreigner and Foghat were huge in America but almost unknown in Europe.
One would reasonably think that Americans have bad taste, but it would be unfair. America gave us jazz, rock and roll, soul, Motown, The Beach Boys...

 

"Down in the tube station at midnight....I fumble for change, and pull out the queen smiling, beguiling....I put in the money and pull out a plum....wormwood scrubs and too many right wing meetings"

Its great stuff....but quite British in focus.

 

guy's been on a major label in various guises for over 40 years, always gets press/good reviews. 99% is a laughable number but whatever ... if you enjoy being wrong, go for it

 

Taste in music, be it considered good or bad, is subjective.

 

Why are highly commercialized US acts always bad taste but highly commercialized non US acts like Abba, Queen, McCartney/Wings, Cliff Richards, Boney M, George Michael, etc., are not? Double standard.

 

Good point. Of the acts you mentioned I literally can't stand the 1st 2, & don't care a bit about the rest, but many of them are revered around here, for reasons that escape me by & large. But, if a comment like the one you quoted is used in conjunction with those acts, their ardent defenders often come with brickbats at the ready...

 

I saw the videos for “Shout To the Top” and “My Ever Changing Moods” on MuchMusic a handful of times, but that’s it.

 

I'm kinda surprised too, tbh.

When I made my first trip to the UK (in 1995) You Do Something To Me was all over the radio, and I loved it.

 

Huh? Foreigner "almost unknown in Europe"? That's a bit of a stretch, isn't it? "Agent Provocateur" was a UK number 1. So was the "I Want To Know What Love Is" single.