Paul Weller performs 'That's Entertainment'

Paul Weller is one of the coolest rock stars ever, a man whose enjoyed three stages of stardom over a 30-plus year career as the leader of The Jam and Style Council, and currently as a solo act. 

Even in his 50s he remains fashionably cool and fresh, all the while mining the best mod, soul and R&B influences from the 1960s and '70s. 

As leader of The Jam, Weller was one of my childhood heroes. Sadly, I never saw them perform live and, unlike most rock stars, Weller rarely performs tunes from his band days. So it was nice to see him pull out one of my favorite Jam songs, "That's Entertainment," during this recent appearance on "The Jimmy Fallon Show." 

The backstory behind "Eton Rifles"

I just stumbled across an illuminating Sound On Sound magazine piece on the making of The Jam’s “The Eton Rifles” punk anthem from way back in 1979.

The Jam on "Top of the Pops," performing 'The Eton Rifles' in November 1979I recall buying the album “Setting Sons” from which it came the week it was released. I also recall “Eton Rifles” being my second least-favorite song on the album (the “Heatwave" cover never won me over). For me the song was too provincial for a teenager to understand, and this overly long sentence from Richard Buskin's story bears that out:

“Inspired by a news article that Weller read about unemployed demonstrators on a socialist 'Right to Work' march being heckled by what he later described as 'a bunch of tossers' from the prestigious Eton College, 'The Eton Rifles' encapsulated all that was best about The Jam: Foxton's pumping bass, Buckler's powerful drumming, a catchy refrain and Weller's hard-edged vocal delivery of sardonic lyrics — in this case, dealing with class war and opening with the typically colloquial 'Sup up your beer and collect your fags, There's a row going on down near Slough.' ”

The rest of “Setting Sons” is superb, and remains a favorite of mine to this year. Years later, my lack of love for “Eton Rifles” hasn’t changed much, but I enjoyed reading Buskin’s backstory into the making of the song.

Key surprises for me:

• Producer Vic Coppersmith-Heaven buying pieces of corrugated steel and bringing them into the studio to draw a harder edge out of the guitar sound.
• Paul Weller’s dad, of all people, championed bassist Bruce Foxton’s song “Smithers-Jones.”
• The album was completed a mere five weeks before its release. These days -- a world of digital freedom -- record companies seem to take ages before letting songs hit market.
• Classic Jam songs like “Down in the Tube Station and Midnight” and “Going Underground” were struggles to complete.