Having watched the documentary and listened to the music, it’s quite tangible, the joy. It was something he was incredibly proud of and he’s always said he had a lot of fun in that band. “I don’t think his feelings have ever changed.

The Style Council’s anthology is out now (Picture: Press) What’s his take on the band now? 40 odd years later he’s still making records that are going to number one.” There aren’t many artists that have the faith in themselves to walk away from something as successful as The Jam, but his career speaks for itself. If he feels it’s time to change and do something different, he does it. I don’t think he’s ever changed on that front. Commercially it was incredibly bold, artistically I don’t think it’s anything that people who have followed Paul’s career would be surprised at. “The fans were not happy, and there are fans that are still not happy now about that decision 40 odd years later. Even though Paul has changed over the years there has been that soulful element ever since.” How did The Jam fans take to the new direction? The soulful element was what The Style Council really brought out in Paul, not that The Jam weren’t a soulful band, but that’s the thing that has remained quite constant. “The influences you can hear in The Style Council have probably endured in Paul’s music over the years maybe more than The Jam have. It was a big shift for Weller at the time, but it’s been embedded into his music ever since. I was 18 and Paul was 25 and already had The Jam under his belt, it’s quite incredible really.” It’s so experimental and brave, considering not just the diversity of the record but the age that we all were. I can really hear that coming out, so from Latin and bossa nova to swing and a London attempt at a go-go influence with a rapper, and one of the best songs I think Paul’s ever written, ‘Headstart To Happiness’, all on one record. I remember there was a rap track with a guy called Dizzy Heights and the drum parts and the fills are really influenced by the go-go music of the time, Chuck Brown And The Soulsearchers and The Junkyard Gang. “We weren’t standing up as jazzers but the influences were really quite diverse. We felt that the modern jazz quartet combined classical music and swing and we kind of combined pop music and swing.” So your first album still feels unusual? It reminded me a lot of the music we were listening to, in things like ‘Dropping Bombs On The White House’, which was our attempt at doing a swing tune. Steve: “The thing that struck me listening back to the record was how many diverse influences there were on that first album especially. We’ve kind of remained friends over the years, which is lovely.” Paul and Dee have a relationship because they have children so they’re in touch all the time and Mick lives literally five minutes from me. Mick’s been playing on some of Paul’s stuff and before lockdown we had a lovely Sunday lunch with Dee, so we’re all still mates. “Not so much recently for obvious reasons but we’re all still very much in touch for various things. “I see Mick quite a bit and I see Paul quite a bit, I see Dee,” White tells NME. Lee, went on to make six albums in the 1980s and have numerous hits including ‘Walls Come Tumbling Down!’, ‘My Ever Changing Moods’, ‘You’re The Best Thing’ and others, all gathered onto this 37-track album. The band, completed by drummer Steve White and singer Dee C. There’s a colourful history to look back on.Ĭo-compiled by Paul Weller, the album and film look back to one of the most daring moves of the post-punk era, when Weller controversially split The Jam at the age of just 24 and formed a soul-pop band alongside Mick Talbot of Dexy’s Midnight Runners in 1983 – inspired by Blue Note jazz, northern soul, Latin grooves and Gallic pop. As The Style Council release a new greatest hits album ‘Long Hot Summers: The Story Of The Style Council’, alongside a Sky Arts documentary on the band, drummer Steve White is in reflective mood.

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