David Corio

Paul Weller

Paul Weller performing with The Jam
The Rainbow, London, UK
(June 7, 1981)

Paul Weller Rainbow Theatre, London 7 June 1981

The Jam were at the height of their popularity when I took this photo of Paul Weller. I like the line of plectrums stuck on his microphone stand.
The show was sold out and the Rainbow was packed with sweaty parka-wearing mods in their mid-teens. The Jam were by then past their creative peak and the band split up the following year. They had a unique pop sound that integrated influences from the sixties but were accepted by the punk movement as one of their own because of the incredible energy they generated.
Paul Weller is regarded as one of the quintessential working-class English performers in the same mould as Ray Davies and Ian Dury.

Paul Weller