Me and Bobby G: Weller and Gillespie at the GQ Awards
TOM OXLEY; STEVE RAPPORT/GETTY IMAGES; DAVE BENETT/GETTY IMAGES FOR HUGO BOSS UK
“PAUL’S been a hugely important figure in my life, way back since 1977 when I first saw The Jam on the This Is The Modern World tour, then later when they were touring All Mod Cons in 1979 at Strathclyde University. There’s actually a photo of me when I was 18, just about to speak to Weller after that Strathclyde gig, which surfaced in a book called 16 Years: Gigs In Scotland 1974–1990. The first time he would remember meeting me, though, would have been in 1992, in a rehearsal room on the Caledonian Road in North London. I was friends with Marco from Young Disciples, who was in Paul’s band, so Paul was there with Steve White, also rehearsing – and we all ended up jamming together, this funky thing. I started singing ‘People Get Up And Drive Your Funky Soul’ by James Brown, from the Slaughter’s Big Rip-Off soundtrack. I thought I was gonna impress Paul Weller! It was around Screamadelica time and we loved the fact that he was treating us as his peers.