The Style Council

History

After the Jam broke up, Paul Weller started a new band in Woking, Surrey toward the end of 1982. He wanted a flexible lineup, so the group began as just him and keyboardist Mick Talbot. Weller picked Talbot because, as he put it, they both despised the rock myth and rock culture. Other musicians and singers would join in as guests. The Style Council played in many different styles. Their early singles included the soul-flavored "Speak Like a Child," the funkier "Money-Go-Round," and the synth-heavy "Long Hot Summer," all with Talbot on keys. These hit numbers 4, 11, and 3 on the UK Singles Chart. In late 1983, those songs appeared on a mini-LP called Introducing The Style Council, which came out only in the US, Canada, Japan, and the Netherlands. The Dutch version was widely imported into the UK. That November, "A Solid Bond in Your Heart" reached number 11. In February 1984, "My Ever Changing Moods" became their third Top 10 single, peaking at number 5. Their first full album, Café Bleu, came out a month later and entered the UK Albums Chart at number 2. It left off most of their earlier singles (except a different take of "My Ever Changing Moods") and had Weller singing only on some tracks. Guest vocalists and instrumentals filled the rest, blending jazz, soul, pop, and funk. This mix split critics and puzzled fans, but the album stayed on the chart for 36 weeks. Two more Top 10 singles followed: "You're the Best Thing" in May and "Shout to the Top!" in October. To support the album, the band toured the UK starting in March 1984, with Billy Bragg and the Scottish pop band the Questions as openers. They called these shows "Council Meetings." After a short European tour, they played four dates in Japan, where they became very popular. A video of those shows, Far East and Far Out, came out in September 1984. That autumn, they did a second "Council Meetings" UK tour, this time with DJ Vaughn Toulouse. They had planned to include a half-hour play directed by Tony Marchant instead of a support act, but it was canceled at the last moment when one of the actors broke his leg. After the UK dates, they played in Italy. In Bologna, ticket demand was so high that they had to quickly move to a larger venue.

Politics

In late 1984, Paul Weller formed the Council Collective, a group created to record the charity single "Soul Deep." The project was first intended to support striking miners during a lengthy industrial conflict, and later also helped the family of David Wilkie, a taxi driver killed amid the strike. Besides the Style Council, the track featured other artists including Jimmy Ruffin and Junior Giscombe. BBC Radio 1 played the song, and the group performed it on Top of the Pops as well as live on Channel 4's The Tube.

The Style Council’s lyrics were far more political than those of the Jam. Songs like "Walls Come Tumbling Down!", "The Lodgers," and "Come to Milton Keynes" directly targeted middle England and the Thatcherite policies of the 1980s UK government. In 1985, Billy Bragg convinced Weller to have the Style Council take a central role in Red Wedge, a youth-focused campaign tied to the British Labour Party. At the time, Weller’s politics were often described as those of a traditional British socialist.

Looking back in 1993, Weller said the Red Wedge experience left him feeling exploited by the Labour Party. He explained that before the Wedge, the Style Council had already done plenty on their own, raising significant money through benefit shows. But after the Wedge, they became so disillusioned that all that activity stopped, and they grew totally cynical about the whole thing. In an earlier interview, while acknowledging that popular music still had room for outspokenness, Weller stressed he was first and foremost a musician. He noted that during the Style Council’s 1980s run, their heavy involvement in political matters eventually started to overshadow the music itself.