[Albion] Was Paul Weller a Thatcher supporter in the 1970s?

Goldstone Rapper said:

I'm hoping NSC's mass army of Jam fans can give me the definitive answer to this. Obviously, he became staunchly anti-Thatcher in the early 1980s. However, before that, I know that he announced that The Jam would be voting Conservative. I seem to remember hearing that the words made it into sleevenotes of a Jam record, but I don't know if this is true.

So, was it a joke? PR stunt? Or some early political dabbling, before Weller had fully calibrated his values?

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simon swagbag said:

Punk was still art school, middle class, trendy. The Jam had been playing in Woking for a few years, honing their style. They had little in common with the punks & probably wanted to piss the liberals off & distance themselves.

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simon swagbag said:

Well, you've got to remember how young he was.
He wasn't joking, neither was it a PR stunt.
They were starting to play gigs at punk venues. Punk was still art school, middle class, trendy. The Jam had been playing in Woking for a few years, honing their style. They had little in common with the punks & probably wanted to piss the liberals off & distance themselves.
Put this against the backdrop of violent, discontented Britain at the time & Weller, like the majority, wanted change.

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Gwylan said:

Not sure about that. The Sex Pistols were solidly working class lads, so were The Damned. It could be applied to The Clash and The Buzzcocks perhaps but I certainly don't recall it as being particularly middle class. Don't forget there were some right-wing punk groups around then too: the obnoxious Screwdriver and Chelsea with their anti-union anthem, We've got the right to work.

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simon swagbag said:

Cook & Jones yes, Lydon no. Matlock? Don't know.
I'm only going from documentaries & articles though, I wasn't on the scene.
I did got to Rat Scabies' dad's house once. Middle/upper class eccentric!

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kevtherev said:

He probably did pre 79 and deffo didn't post 79...It's called being anti establishment, sells records and gets your name in the papers. But when your young, as I was in the early 80's you will buy into anything your fed. When you get older you see it all for what it really is, propaganda.....I think it's great all the musician's who made million's in the 80's singing and doing anything anti Maggie.....They are probably all sitting in their million pound houses tonight with their feet up, counting the zero's on their bank statements.....oh the irony!!!!!

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kevtherev said:

He probably did pre 79 and deffo didn't post 79...It's called being anti establishment, sells records and gets your name in the papers. But when your young, as I was in the early 80's you will buy into anything your fed. When you get older you see it all for what it really is, propaganda.....I think it's great all the musician's who made million's in the 80's singing and doing anything anti Maggie.....They are probably all sitting in their million pound houses tonight with their feet up, counting the zero's on their bank statements.....oh the irony!!!!!

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kevo said:

As above, he said it possibly as a joke or to shock people who thought he was a socialist but songs such as Eton Rifles easily give away their real political affiliations!

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The Large One said:

Why is it ironic?

You can be anti-Maggie and have a few quid.

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kevtherev said:

Ironic,,as in most of the things people sang about, slagging her off about, was at the very period where they made their millions...Isn't there some sort of irony in that

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