Paul Weller’s songs of the period 1978- 1982 are the most believable reflection of Britain at street level that has been committed to song. While the history books will document in fairly mundane style what occurred during those years, Weller imbued his songs with an emotional and cogent insight that left all of his contemporary’s way behind. 

 

It is no surprise to me that Weller adored Geoffrey Ash’s book “Camelot And A Vision Of Albion”; the book detailing how the potential glory of humanity has been lost over the centuries. Similarly, Weller’s writing of the period displays a sharp and fierce patriotism, a love for his home land which is continually frustrated at how Britain has never fulfilled the potential as set down by its celebrated visionaries. 

 

The Jam’s Sound Effects album of 1980 finding Weller’s writing at its zenith, the look of the band was similarly assuming a timeless maturity. Derek D’Souza caught the lightning of the period, and his photographs are the quintessential record of The Jam at their finest. For a brief moment in Weller and The Jam’s career, an alignment of poetry, music and imagery converged, creating some extraordinary pieces of art. Thankfully, Derek was there to capture it as it unfolded. With Paul Skellett’s amazing artistic and design skills, this is an extraordinary project to be involved with.