5/9/2023 0 Comments The style council paul wellerWith the overtly anti-Conservative lyrics it has dated a little (and the Stand Up Comic's Instructions was always daft), but for the most part it stands as a clear musical vision by Weller, and has some genuinely touching songs such as A Man of Great Promise (set against an ironically up-tempo beat) about his old schoolmate Dave Waller who died of a heroin overdose three years previous.Īnd of course there was the hit: Walls Come Tumbling Down. It benefitted from the glorious presence of singer DC Lee (to whom Weller was later married) and dispensed with the faux-jazz gestures. ![]() Our Favourite Shop was the even more ambitious follow-up in '85, and debuted on the British charts at number one.Įven at the time however, the album looked and felt very self-conscious - from the sleeve with photos of the Beatles and other British icons to the slightly arch lyrics - but it also possessed a more coherent vision than Cafe Bleu, and a more cohesive soul sound thanks to a settled line-up around Weller/Talbot. The album - which had actually built on some diverse banner-waving singles - sold exceptionally well. That said, a mature audience - and that would include many Jam fans who had grown up during the lifespan of that seminal post-punk band - embraced it and were prepared to see where Weller might go with this project. Their debut album Cafe Bleu of early '84 exuded cool - but bewildered longtime Jam followers wondered where Weller had gone: he only sang on a few tracks, the blistering guitar rage of the Jam had been replaced by jazz licks and horns, and there were instrumentals scattered throughout. Scroll down to read the full track listing and pre-order it here.After six exhausting years in the Jam, singer-songwriter Paul Weller pulled the plug in October '82 and within months re-appeared with his keyboard-playing friend Mick Talbot as The Style Council, a group with a soulful, European attitude and some hard things to say about the political state of Britain under the Torys. All format details and track listings below. Over four albums and 17 singles, The Style Council made a stand and became the standard bearers of progressive soulful pop and social comment.Īs well as digitally, the album will be available on double CD and triple album vinyl: limited editions of both vinyl formats: black vinyl and a highly covetable colored vinyl version. In a quest for new sounds, the group travelled to realms previously unchartered for a pop group incorporating musical influences as wide ranging as Blue Note jazz and Chicago soul, Claude Debussy and Erik Satie, Chicago House and Jacques Brel.Īt the same time, as battle lines were drawn in a decade under Margaret Thatcher culminating in the miner’s strike of 1984-85, Weller’s lyrics spoke with the language of the activist and his state of the nation addresses were both fierce and eloquent. As their leader he had become a deity-like figure and for his fans, The Jam’s split was unimaginable.īut creatively restless and of inquisitive mind, Weller jettisoned them at their height to form a collective with an eventual core line-up of Weller with Mick Talbot, Dee C Lee and Steve White. In fact, at the age of just 24, he was already a musical veteran with six albums and nine Top 10 singles under his belt with The Jam. When Paul Weller announced The Style Council’s arrival in March 1983, he’d come a very long way. The album was remastered at Abbey Road Studios. Long Hot Summers features rare photos, an introduction by Paul Weller, a new essay by Lois Wilson, and sleeve-notes from ‘super-fan’, actor Martin Freeman. Scroll the page down for full tracklisting and format details. The album also features key album tracks and fans’ favourites such as “Headstart For Happiness”. ![]() Of course, it also Includes all the band’s classic singles –12 top-20 hits -including the debut single “Speak Like A Child” and “Long Hot Summer”. Long Hot Summers also includes two unreleased tracks – an intriguing demo of the top 5 single “My Ever Changing Moods” with strings, and the extended, 5-minute plus version of “Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse”. The release also ties in with a new Sky Arts documentary about the band, also out on October 30, featuring interviews with all key members, fans and collaborators. ![]() As well as the huge hit “Long Hot Summer”, the album also includes the band’s sterling debut top 5 single “Speak Like A Child” as well as other signature hits such as the languid “You’re The Best Thing”, “Ever Changing Moods” and dance floor filler “Shout To The Top”.
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