Paul Weller has a new compilation, which covers his work at the BBC, out and he’s been talking to them about being a grandad and an unexpected cover that’s on the album, Weller At The BBC Volume 2.
As indicated by its title, it’s a successor to Volume One, which came out in 2008. This one covers various sessions and live performances he gave on the Beeb’s various networks in the years since. There’s plenty of material from his recent albums, plus the odd Jam and Style Council number, and a few covers.
One of those is a version of Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For from the Barbie soundtrack. Not the sort of thing Weller would normally take inspiration from, but as he explained: "I heard it so much around my house because my youngest daughter loves Billie. I really love that song."
"I thought the melody was so beautiful and I really liked the lyrics, it was very clever. I just thought that could be a nice one to cover, and I knew my daughter would be thrilled as well."
He also cast his mind back to his very first gig, back in the early 1970s: "We did a little Wednesday night around the Woking Working Men's Club and we sang to maybe 10 people who were all old boys who complained about the noise.”
"It was a big deal for us because it was the first time we'd ever played some of our own songs. They were totally disinterested until after the bingo and then they had had enough to drink to get up and have a little jig about."
Once British rock’s archetypal angry young man, Weller is now a 67 year old grandfather, though not a ‘cool’ one, he points out. "I'm just another granddad around. I love to see that continuation in life and the next generation going on. I'm very lucky.”
