Paul, the magpie

Paul Weller has always worn his influences proudly, a collection of badges that would adorn any parka or scooter. And he's never been afraid to borrow heavily from them either. Witness the descending guitar intro to The Changingman, for example, and then have a listen to 10538 Overture by ELO (themselves riffing on late-period Beatles, but that's for another post). How about the opening notes of Bullrush? Not a million miles away from Tin Soldier, is it, by Weller's ultimate touchstone, The Small Faces. And as for Start's Taxman-lite bassline, well, that probably wasn't all Bruce's own work, that's all I'm saying.

There are countless other examples, no doubt. When it comes to music the man is a fan, a historian, a curator, an aficionado ... and a magpie. Not just sonically either - sometimes, a turn of phrase must catch his ear. I've often wondered if the title from his piano-led ballad You Do Something To Me was plucked from this otherwise-unheralded early Kinks offering, a non-album B-side from 1964 that didn't even chart (just before they hit the big time with their next single...)

Anyway, you can bet that Paul heard this, and squirrelled it away in his music-fan's memory, maybe thinking, "Hmm, that's a good line." Or maybe it's subconscious? Either way, here's the very different source material.