“We were very buoyant when we entered the studio,” he told Lois Wilson, “a lot of the material had been written up front. Bands were back and it was the right time for me – it was the most complete thing I’ve ever done.” It was one of those records where everything came together you had the songs which are always at the heart of it, we had the right studio, a great sleeve and it was a boom time for music. I was conscious that there were a lot of sweet tunes like You Do Something to Me and Times Passes so I wanted to add a darkness to the album. I remember playing the demo to friends and they were saying ‘take it off’. In an interview in 1998 with Paul Lester, Weller said of Stanley Road, “I was really surprised at the success of the album because it was quite dark.
Paul has also had 24 hit albums with 1995s Stanley Road being the most successful with 87 week s on the chart and from it, let’s talk Broken Stones. Incidentally McCartney has had 98, Elton John has 87, Glee – 100, Elvis – 119 and Cliff – 134, and so he’s up there with the best but still a way to catch up. Paul Weller is the man in question and his tally to date is 73 hits and that doesn’t include guest appearances. This man had 18 hits with his first band in five and a half years, then 17 during the following six years and then a solo career which began in 1991 and has so far racked 38 hits. Paul McCartney would be the obvious name, but it’s not this week choice. Very few musicians have success with one band, success with another and then as a solo artist.