“Tired
of the constraints of the Jam, Paul Weller shocked fans and the wider media
world and broke up the most popular British band of the early '80s, at the
height of their success in 1982
Frustrated
by their musical direction, he wanted to explore more soulful, jazz and R n B
paths in his music. He formed a new band with keyboardist Mick Talbot and
created a loose collective of musicians, added according to the style of music
they were intending to produce, known as Honorary Councillors.
Using
American musical influences filtered through a fundamental European style,
which harked back to some of the early roots of Mod culture, the band created a
string of classic singles and albums.
2013 marks
the 30th anniversary of the formation of the band and their first hit singles.
This 6
CD set features all the band s studio albums individual packed (no booklets),
with rigid slipcase
The
albums:
1. Introducing The Style Council
An
extraordinary eclectic intro to the band - a round up of the first few British
singles and b-sides.
Features
the Jam-styled Speak Like a Child (UK no. 4 hit), the radical departure of Long
Hot Summer (UK no. 3 hit) and the hard-hitting political Brit-funk of
Money-Go-Round.
2. Cafe Bleu
The
official debut album released in March 1984, reaching number 2 in the UK album
chart.
An
eclectic and ambitious album combining classic pop with jazzy/beat
instrumentals and experimental theme throughout. Blue Note records were a big
inspiration around this time.
Features
top-5 hits My Ever Changing Moods and You re The Best Thing as well as
perennial favourite Headstart For Happiness - three of Weller s finest pop
songs.
3. Our Favourite Shop
Another
diverse collection for the second full-length album and an overtly political
statement from Weller - lyrical targets included racism, excessive consumerism
and the effects of self-serving governments!
No. 1 in
the UK - the only Style Council album to reach that spot.
Features
the top-ten singles Shout To The Top and Walls Come Tumbling Down, as well as
some of Weller s best songs - Come to Milton Keynes, Boy Who Cried Wolf and
Down in the Seine.
I had a
total belief in The Style Council. I was obsessed in the early years. I lived
and breathed it all. I meant every word, and felt every action. Our Favourite
Shop was its culmination. Paul Weller 2006
4. The Cost Of Loving
Released
in 1987, the album saw the group concentrating on a more extreme, urban-soul
style, influenced by soul music pioneer Curtis Mayfield and by the contemporary
House music scene of the time, including the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis sound.Includes top-ten hit It Didn t Matter.
Tracks
from the album were included in the band s surreal film Jerusalem.
5. Confessions Of A Pop Group
Probably
the band s most experimental and divisive album, with hints of Beach Boys,
classical music (Weller was listening Debussy and Satie, amongst others around
this time) and jazz influences.
Songs
such as the nine-minute title track and the Three Piece Suite of The Gardener
of Eden, an avant-garde mix of classical and jazz stylings, were new territory
for The Style Council, and an even more radical departure from the sound of The
Jam.
Straight
pop-oriented songs exist though the hit single Life at a Top People's Health
Farm, How She Threw It All Away and Why I Went Missing are regarded as lost
Weller classics.
6. Modernism: A New Decade
Motivated
by the underground club scene Weller chose another new direction for the last
album his take on the UK deep-house or garage scene.
Featuring
the gospel-tinged Promised Land - the band's final single, Sure Is Sure, which
went on to become a big bootleg dance hit throughout Europe and the
instrumental - That Spiritual.”
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