The Modfather

Paul Weller won the Outstanding Contribution award at the Brit Awards on Wednesday night, so I thought now would be a good time to share my Modfather story.

It was a Saturday morning in Dublin in the autumn of 98 and I made my weekly trip into town to look for some CDs. Back then I didn't have nearly enough money to buy everything that I wanted so I had to be very discerning with my choices & purchases. I went to the Virgin store on the Quays and was having a look through the sales rack when I came across The Jam's album The Gift. It was their last album and one of the few that I did not have yet. After I considered purchasing it for a few minutes (it was only 5 quid), I decided to leave it for another time. After all there was new music to buy and I had just recently bought All Mod Cons.

So, I left Virgin and walked across O'Connell Bridge towards my next stop. I was standing at the corner waiting to cross O'Connell St when I looked to my left and saw Paul Weller standing next to me! He was in town for a gig that night and must have just been out for a stroll. No one else seemed to be paying any attention to him and I immediately thought 'Fuck! If I had bought that CD I could ask him to sign it for me!' But since I didn't buy it and I didn't really know what else to say to him (without sounding like a total gobshite) I just waited for the light to change and crossed the street.

In retrospect, I suppose that I shouldn't feel too bad. Given his reputation for being incredibly moody he would have probably told me to 'fuck off' anyway. At least that's what I always tell myself when I think about missing such an opportunity.