Weller, the one-time voice of a generation, split the band and sloped off to rethink his approach. In fact their following album MODERNISM: A NEW DECADE (1989) ★ did just that, incorporating house and garage to an extent that their record label Polydor ignominiously rejected the offering for veering too far into the dance-music realm, finally seeing the light of day as a footnote-release ten years later. Apart from a couple of choice tracks, the album just about sank the band. ![]() ![]() THE COST OF LOVING(1987) ★★, while a hit in the UK, was downbeat in tone, anaemic in melody, and the band’s increasingly political conscience did little to lift the mood.īy the following album, CONFESSIONS OF A POP GROUP (1988) ★★★, the band had lost interest in touring and the material was a confusing mix of jazz and classical influences, incorporating French orchestration over organic acoustic instrumentation like flutes and harps, at times drifting towards cocktail-hour muzak. Unlike many of their British post-punk contemporaries, the Style Council didn’t hesitate to move with the times, embracing heavily sequenced ’80s studio technology at times to the detriment of the material. The group expanded this obsession with the excellent OUR FAVOURITE SHOP (1985) ★★★★★, a UK #1 and a richer, more accomplished work full of tripping melodies that found the band on top of their game, tackling big societal and political issues set to confident melodies and sophisticated pop instrumentation. They swapped punk and mod for horn charts and organ licks on terrific early non-album singles ‘ Speak Like a Child‘ and ‘ A Solid Bond in Your Heart‘, and consolidated with their strong début album CAFÈ BLEU (1984) ★★★★. Lee (vocals), mixed social comment and European fashion with a wide range of musical styles including jazz, gospel, funk, and northern soul, melding with surprising harmony, and chops to match. While The Jam’s final tour hinted at a new direction with the introduction of a brass section and a Curtis Mayfield song in the live set, Weller and his new band-members Mick Talbot (keyboards), Steve White (drums) and later-on D.C. ![]() If it came as a surprise when The Modfather disbanded The Jam, it was nothing compared to surprise upon hearing the musical manifesto of the first handful of singles, and excellent videos, by the Style Council in 1983. The Press counts down the short-lived outfit’s five most essential songs. After breaking up The Jam in 1982, Paul Weller formed the Style Council, a radical and fearless departure that fused contemporary soul, effortless cool, and exuberant pop with political activism.
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