This is the Modern World

Paul Weller, originally uploaded by Theresa K.

I remember the first time I heard about The Jam. I was shopping in the Westwood Blvd. location of Rhino Records where my friend Gary Stewart worked. I got all my good music tips from Gary. Anyway, he turned me on to a single called "In the City" by a band he told me I would LOVE...and he was right. The Jam combined just about everyting I was interested in musically at the time, from the Sex Pistols to the Small Faces, the Kinks and the Who and American soul and R&B.

I bought the album when it came out, bought their next album when it came out soon thereafter, saw them play a few months later when they came to the States, and they came back six months later and I saw them again. I never missed them, in fact. Nor have I missed any of Paul Weller's solo tours.

This photo with Paul Weller rocking out in the foreground was taken at the long-gone Starwood club in West Hollywood, as was this photo from the soundcheck:



It gives me great pleasure to tell you that in addition to Paul Weller's esteemed solo career, Bruce Foxton continues to make music. He plays in The Casbah Club with Simon Townshend (the Who) and Mark Brzezicki (Big Country) -- if that's not a good enough musical pedigree for you, then you have to wait til you die, go to heaven and hear half the Beatles play with Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane...