Desperately seeking Paul Weller and finding him: The incredible story behind Dan Jennings' new book on his idol The Modfather
Dan Jennings talks to Contact Music about how his dream to meet and interview Paul Weller led to the creation of the Desperately Seeking Paul podcast and his book Paul Weller: Dancing Through the Fire – The Authorised Oral History, which has been personally approved by The Modfather himself.
For the past six decades, Paul Weller has been a major part of the musical landscape of the UK.
From the social commentary and passion of The Jam to blue eyed soul with The Style Council, then being anointed the Godfather of Britpop in the '90s and now very much the elder statesman of British rock, few artists have had a career as vital as Weller.
In 2025, 18 albums into his solo career, Weller is still making music that demands to be heard, whilst selling out tours without resorting to becoming a heritage act.
Weller's incredible life and career has now been chronicled in new book Paul Weller: Dancing Through the Fire – The Authorised Oral History, a book that would never have been written if it weren't for one Weller fan's passion for his music and a life goal he hadn't achieved.
Former local radio DJ Dan Jennings had one regret in his broadcasting career - he never managed to secure an interview with the man who he watched on Top of the Pops and was inspired by as a normal working class kid.
Five years ago, Dan - now working in project management - decided he was going to do something about it.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Dan came up with the idea for a podcast which he thought other Weller fans would dig. The Paul Weller Fan Podcast: Desperately Seeking Paul was born. His mission - interview The Modfather.
Despite his determination to make the podcast, Dan didn't think it would last more than 20 episodes.
"It’s all been mad, really," he said. "You try and retro fit these things. When I started it I don’t think I seriously thought I would get to interview Paul. It was just a silly thing. I thought I would talk to some fans for a few episodes. Most podcasts don’t find an audience, you get 20 episodes and then they just kind of fizzle out. I thought it would be a lockdown project, and it would disappear because nobody would notice it. I certainly didn’t think I would get Paul, I didn’t think I would get most of the people I spoke to. I just thought it would be a geek-off between fans. Then it went mad."
But it didn't fizzle out. The Weller fan community got behind the podcast and Dan found himself getting interviews with those individuals who have existed in the same orbit as Weller; bandmates, family members, friends, celebrity fans such as Lenny Henry and Jonathan Ross and his many collaborators.
Although his mission was to meet Weller, Dan found his conversations were chronicling the rocker's extraordinary musical journey, one which starts off like the plot of Sylvester Stallone's Rocky film as The Jam are formed and top the charts before Weller goes on to have second, third and fourth acts.
He said: "I realised I had a massive hit list to work with, of people who are on your list of that you want to get. I then realised that there are so many peaks and troughs and the story arc is the interesting thing, as much as the music. So it's not like you're just kind of constantly talking about the same type of thing, that he made an album or a song.
“The creation of The Jam is quite a big chunk at the beginning. So you've got the people who made The Jam and that climb. It's like Rocky isn’t it? Kids creating music in Woking in clubs then getting to the top of the charts. Then that thing of Paul killing it off and p***ing off the rest of the band and the rest of the crew and the record label. Then creating The Style Council, you have that journey and that story arc again. Then his solo career. So there were so many tales to tell across a 50-year career of mostly great work. But there are these peaks and troughs."
Then, unbelievably, a "mad" chance meeting occurred between Dan and Paul three years ago in the Rotunda bar at Kings Place in King’s Cross, London.
Much to Dan's amazement, Paul told him that he was a listener of the podcast and making his dream come true told super-fan Dan that he would be a guest and fulfil his mission.
During that chance meeting Weller had some other words that would inspire Dan further. “The book idea came from Paul," he revealed. "I think he was impressed by the work ethic and the amount of people I'd spoken to, and the wealth of material and all these stories that had been unlocked. He was like, ‘It's incredible what you've done, you've got to turn into a book.’ That was mad in itself, to just bump into him like that.”
After the podcast episode with Paul aired and the book idea was made public, Dan was contacted by publishers keen to turn his series into a tome. But Dan didn't want to just present his interviews in print, as a Weller fan himself that wouldn't be enough.
He said: "When we did the episode all these publishers started getting in touch saying, ‘We hear you want to do a book...’ We could have just got it out in six months and just do transcripts of the podcasts. But I’m a fan and I think that would be crap, and as a creator I wouldn’t enjoy the process of that, it felt lazy. As a fan I think I'd feel like I was short changed."
Instead, Dan revisited over 250 interviews and created the story of Weller's life and career from the start until now. It truly lives up to its title as The Authorised Oral History.
But as Weller is one of rock's most prolific artists and has always reinvented himself and his music, Dan is certain there will be another chapter to tell.
He said: "The really interesting bit with Paul is the now. We've just had the covers album Find El Dorado and then Paul going, ‘I don’t know what’s next.’
“But something is always next and as a fan that's exciting. This is the complete oral history but in 10 years can we revisit the story? I'd say yes. If you think about the amount of stuff he’s done since 2015. We’ve had seven albums, the Mother Ethiopia EP, all that stuff in 10 years. What’s the next 10 years? That’s a book on its own, I think."
For now, Dan hopes his book will serve as a reminder and a testament to Weller being one of the greatest musicians to ever come out of the UK as he doesn't always get the respect he deserves, in the author's opinion, due to his deliberate shunning of the limelight.
“If he played the game he'd be up there in this country with people talking about him in the same way as they do with David Bowie and artists like that," Dan insists. “For whatever reason, he's never been comfortable with that kind of level of fame. So whenever he kind of gets to that point, he turns it off. The Jam got so big that he did a complete about turn and formed The Style Council. He just goes off in another direction. Stanley Road, another example. That kind of is to his detriment. But that’s how he's wanted it. But I do think he's not quite as appreciated as much as he probably should be for the quality of the work in this country. Hopefully this book shows why, actually, we should appreciate the quality of his work, the graft and the story."
Now the Paul Weller Fan Podcast: Desperately Seeking Paul has achieved its goal and Dan has written and released his book what's next? Will the Weller interview become an annual tradition? Is there another artist for Dan to track down? One thing is certain, the podcaster knows his family don't want to talk to him about The Modfather anymore.
He said: "Paul and I just catch up at the end of every year? Just check in. I’d love that.
“I genuinely don't know what's next. I think with the podcast you don’t want to outstay your welcome. There’s also a limit. With my family I’ve been talking about Paul Weller constantly for five years!
“Also, you want to challenge yourself as a creative. One of the ideas was another Desperately Seeking Paul. There’s Paul Simon, Paul McCartney. I could just continue that thing. I don't know if I know enough about them. But then there's also that thing that it doesn't matter, because you obviously learn along the way.
“I love the Arctic Monkeys, I love Stereophonics. But it's so time consuming. I have a day job in project management that's not this, and I have a young family that I've not spent as much time with as I should have.
"But there are other artists. I’m sure there’s something else, I just don’t know what it is yet."
Paul Weller: Dancing Through the Fire – The Authorised Oral History is available to buy now at Waterstones, Foyles, Amazon and independent bookshops across the UK.
