Theories, rants, etc.
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IT’S BEEN 30 YEARS SINCE PAUL WELLER first appeared on the cover of MOJO – 30 years which he’s filled with 15 solo albums, six live solo albums, eight Jam live albums, one Style Council album and one Style Council live album, plus plenty of box sets and deluxe reissues for good measure. Factor in his 18 years of ferocious productivity before 1995, and that’s a lot to choose from when you’re trying to construct a Top 50 of Weller’s greatest songs.
“Have I even got that many?” he jokes, in a meaningful new interview that sits at the heart of this first MOJO of 2025. But as we canvass the extended MOJO family for their favourite Weller, Jam and Style Council songs, check in with his peers and accomplices (not least Noel Gallagher), and even press the man himself to reveal a few favourites, a picture emerges of an artist with a ridiculously overstuffed back catalogue, but a pathological fear of resting on his laurels. “So many of my heroes have drifted off to have a more complacent view of the world,” Billy Bragg tells us. “Paul’s not done that. He’s a genuine artist.”
The countdown starts on page 60. And hopefully this time, the public gets what the public wants…