| The Style Council | |
|---|---|
Mick Talbot and Paul Weller, 1988. |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Rock, New Wave, synthpop, Sophisti-pop, deep house, Avant-Garde, Jazz, Funk |
| Years active | 1983–1989 |
| Labels | Polydor (UK, Australia, Canada) Geffen (United States) |
| Associated acts | The Jam |
| Past members | |
| Paul Weller Mick Talbot Dee C. Lee Steve White |
|
The Style Council were an English band, formed in 1983 by the ex-The Jam singer and guitarist Paul Weller, with keyboardist Mick Talbot. The permanent line-up grew to include drummer Steve White and Weller's then-wife, vocalist Dee C. Lee.[1] Other artists such as Tracie Young and Tracey Thorn (Everything but the Girl) also collaborated with the group. As with Weller's previous band, most of this London based outfit's hits were in their homeland,[1] although the band did score six top 40 hits in Australia, and seven top 40 hits in New Zealand.
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The band showed a diversity of musical styles. Singles "Speak Like a Child" (with its loud soul-influenced style), the extended funk of "Money-Go-Round", and the haunting synth-ballad "Long Hot Summer" all featured Talbot on keyboards and organ. Near the end of 1983, these songs were compiled on Introducing The Style Council, a mini-album initially released in Japan, the Netherlands, Canada, and the US only. The Dutch version was heavily imported to the United Kingdom.
In 1984, the single "My Ever-Changing Moods", backed with the Hammond organ instrumental "Mick's Company", reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. The song remains Weller's greatest success in the US (including his efforts in The Jam and as a solo artist), while the group reached the peak of its success in the UK with the 1985 album Our Favourite Shop.
In December 1984, Weller put together a charity ensemble, the Council Collective, to make a record, Soul Deep, to raise money for striking miners. The record featured The Style Council plus a number of other performers, notably Jimmy Ruffin and Junior Giscombe. In spite of the song's political content, it still picked up BBC Radio 1 airplay and was performed on Top of the Pops, which led to the incongruous sight of lyrics such as "We can't afford to let the government win / It means death to the trade unions" being mimed amid the show's flashing lights and party atmosphere.
The Style Council took a more overtly political approach than The Jam in their lyrics, with tracks such as "Walls Come Tumbling Down", "The Lodgers", and "Come To Milton Keynes" being deliberate attacks on 'middle England' and Thatcherite principles prevalent in the 1980s. Weller was also instrumental in the formation of Red Wedge with Billy Bragg. However, he later said that this began to detract from the music: "We were involved with a lot of political things going on at that time. I think after a while that overshadowed the music a bit".
In 1986, the band released a live album, Home and Abroad, and, in 1987, The Cost of Loving was launched, followed later in the year by the non-album single "Wanted", which reached #20 in the UK Singles Chart. However, Confessions of a Pop Group, released a year later, sold poorly. This led to their record label Polydor rejecting their final album (Modernism: A New Decade), which was influenced by the house scene. A greatest hits album, The Singular Adventures of The Style Council, was released internationally in 1989; it included the non-album single "Promised Land", which had reached #27 in the UK earlier that year.
In 1989 members of The Style Council went under the name of 'King Truman' to release a single on Acid Jazz titled "Like A Gun". This was unbeknown to Polydor, and the single was pulled from the shops only three days prior to release. Acid Jazz founder Eddie Piller said "The pair offered to make a single for my new label, which I'd just started with Radio 1 DJ Gilles Peterson as a side project. Mick and Paul took pseudonyms Truman King and Elliott Arnold."[2]
The Style Council broke up in 1989.
| “ | .... it's something we should have done two or three years ago. We created some great music in our time, the effects of which won't be appreciated for some time. | ” |
Paul Weller - NME - March 1990[3]
The cover version of "Promised Land" (originally by Joe Smooth) was the only release which surfaced from the Modernism sessions at the time; however, the entire album was released in 1998, both independently and in a 5-CD box set, The Complete Adventures of The Style Council. After the split, Weller embarked on a successful solo career (which featured Steve White on drums, who had left The Style Council by the time Confessions of a Pop Group was released, having only played on a few of its tracks). Talbot and White released two albums as Talbot/White — United States of Mind (1995) and Off The Beaten Track (1996). Talbot and White then formed The Players with Damon Minchella and Aziz Ibrahim. White and Minchilla went onto form Trio Valore whilst Talbot went touring with Candi Staton in 2009.
All of The Style Council's UK releases (including singles, 12" maxis, albums, compact discs and re-issues thereof) featured the work of graphic designer Simon Halfon, who often collaborated with Weller to hone his ideas into a graphic form. Weller and Halfon began working together at the end of The Jam's career, and continue to work together to this day on Weller's solo material.
Since 2007, the song "Walls Come Tumbling Down" has been used as the theme song for the German TV series Dr. Psycho – Die Bösen, die Bullen, meine Frau und ich.
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [4] |
AUT [5] |
NLD [6] |
NZ [7] |
SWE [8] |
US [9] |
|||
| 1983 | Introducing The Style Council | - | - | - | 6 | - | - | |
| 1984 | Café Bleu
(US title: My Ever Changing Moods) |
2 | - | 16 | 6 | 41 | 56 | |
| 1985 | Our Favourite Shop
(US title: Internationalists) |
1 | 23 | 11 | 6 | 30 | 123 |
|
| 1987 | The Cost of Loving | 2 | - | 23 | 35 | 46 | 122 |
|
| 1988 | Confessions of a Pop Group | 15 | - | - | - | - | 174 |
|
| 1998 | Modernism: A New Decade
(recorded 1989) |
- | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Singles[1] | Australia | Canada | NZ [11] | U.S. Hot 100 | ||
| 1983 | "Speak Like a Child" | 4 | 29 | — | — | — |
| "Money Go Round (Part 1)" | 11 | — | — | — | — | |
| "Long Hot Summer" / "Paris Match" (Double A-side) [A] |
3 | 28 | 41 | 12 | — | |
| "A Solid Bond in Your Heart" | 11 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1984 | "My Ever Changing Moods" | 5 | 70 | 42 | 32 | 29 |
| "You're the Best Thing" / "The Big Boss Groove" (Double A-side) [B] |
5 | 17 | 97 | 7 | 76 | |
| "Shout to the Top!" [C] | 7 | 8 | — | 6 | — | |
| "Soul Deep" [D] | 24 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1985 | "Walls Come Tumbling Down!" | 6 | 19 | — | 15 | — |
| "Come to Milton Keynes" | 23 | — | — | — | — | |
| "The Lodgers" | 13 | — | — | 47 | — | |
| "Boy Who Cried Wolf" [E] | — | 38 | — | 21 | — | |
| "(When You) Call Me" [E] | — | 91 | — | — | — | |
| 1986 | "Have You Ever Had It Blue" | 14 | — | — | 33 | — |
| 1987 | "It Didn't Matter" | 9 | 48 | — | 48 | — |
| "Waiting" | 52 | — | — | — | — | |
| "Wanted" | 20 | 98 | — | — | — | |
| 1988 | "Life at a Top People's Health Farm" | 28 | — | — | — | — |
| "How She Threw It All Away" | 41 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1989 | "Promised Land" | 27 | — | — | — | — |
| "Long Hot Summer 89" (remix) | 48 | — | — | — | — | |
| Book: The Style Council | |
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