The guitar riff Paul Weller ‘borrowed’ from Electric Light Orchestra
Despite rising to prominence with The Jam during the peak of the punk rock revolution, Paul Weller always drew from a broader range of influences than his safety-pin-clad contemporaries. The songwriter was a disciple of the soul and R&B that defined the mod subculture, as well as the beat groups of the 1960s like The Kinks and The Small Faces.
Although he did not follow all of the punk trends, surely not even the individualistic figure of Paul Weller would be caught dead taking inspiration from the self-aggrandising world of progressive rock, would he?
If you were in a rush, and being slightly reductive, you could categorise Weller’s career into three parts: the adolescent anger of The Jam, the luscious soul of The Style Council, and the introspective mastery of his solo career. Everybody has their favourite Weller era, but his solo work is inarguably the most varied in terms of sound. A definitive highlight of that solo work comes with 1995’s Stanley Road, the Modfather’s magnum opus. Taking its title from the street where Weller grew up, the album is expectedly awash with self-reflection and contemplation.
Perhaps the greatest example of Weller looking introspectively is the track ‘The Changingman’, from Stanley Road. Dealing with the songwriter’s constant need for reinvention, and the various forms his music has taken over the years, the song is certainly a stand-out from the already incredible album. However, eagle-eared listeners might recognise that distinctive opening riff. After all, ‘The Changingman’ features a virtually identical riff to that of the Electric Light Orchestra’s debut single ‘10538 Overture’.
Of course, there are lots of songs that sound vaguely similar to each other, as a result of using the same chord progressions or similar lyrical themes. In the case of ‘The Changingman’, though, the riffs are irrefutably identical. Borrowing from a band as popular as ELO is bad enough, but it seems particularly sacrilegious given Weller’s punk pedigree. One of the main catalysts for the abrasive sounds of punk was a feeling of alienation at the overly complex progressive rock scene, of which ELO were firmly a part of.
In defence of Weller, though, it seems as though the track’s producer, Brendan Lynch, is the man responsible for the riff theft. Reportedly, the producer made the decision to ‘sample’ ELO’s infamous riff without asking permission from Jeff Lynne or anybody in the ELO camp. This could have led to an incredibly costly legal battle, but Lynch apparently agreed that the settlement would come out of his share of royalties on the track, not Weller’s.
During an interview with Paolo Hewitt, later published in the appropriately-named book, Paul Weller: The Changing Man, the songwriter was quick to distance himself from the ELO sample, saying, “I think the riff was Brendan’s idea, because he was using lots of samples and did a montage thing and out of that came the tune. I had the melody and some lyrics already written and we put the two together”.
Interestingly, there never seems to have been any legal recourse over the use of the sample, with the songwriters still officially listed as being Paul Weller and Brendan Lynch, without any mention of Jeff Lynne or ELO. In terms of genre, the two tracks are vastly different, but once you hear them both side-by-side, it will be difficult to think of one without the other.
