The Style Council were a British band founded in late 1982 by Paul Weller and initially consisted only of himself and Mick Talbot, who Weller said he chose because “he shares my hatred of the rock myth and the rock culture”. 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 synth-ballad “Long Hot Summer” all featured Talbot on keyboards and organ, and reached number 4, number 11 and number 3, respectively, on the UK Singles Chart. Near the end of 1983, these songs were compiled on Introducing The Style Council, a Mini-LP initially released in the US, Canada, Japan, and the Netherlands only. The Dutch version was heavily imported to the United Kingdom. In November 1983 the single “A Solid Bond in Your Heart” reached number 11 on the UK singles chart.
In February 1984, the single “My Ever Changing Moods” became the band’s third Top 10 hit on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 5. Released a month later, their debut studio album, Cafe Bleu, entered the UK Albums Chart at number 2. Excluding previous singles (except for a different version of “My Ever Changing Moods”) and vocals by Weller on several tracks, the album features guest vocalists and instrumentals, and mixes several genres, such as jazz, soul, pop, and funk; for these reasons, it divided critics and confused fans. Nevertheless, the album spent 36 weeks on the chart and was followed by two further Top 10 singles, “You’re the Best Thing” in May and “Shout to the Top!” in October.
In the UK, the group reached the height of its popularity with the release of Our Favourite Shop, which entered the UK album chart at number 1 immediately following its release in June 1985. Mixing different styles such as Latin music, jazz and funk, and largely featuring political lyrics, it was widely considered to be the band’s best work by contemporary critics. It notched up a total of 13 weeks in the UK top 40 (including a re-entry in October), of which three weeks were spent in the top 10. The preceding single “Walls Come Tumbling Down!” reached number 6 on the singles chart, while “Come to Milton Keynes” and “The Lodgers” reached number 23 and 13, respectively. A fourth single “Boy Who Cried Wolf” was released in the US and was a chart hit in New Zealand. Worldwide, it reached over one million sales. In 2015, Our Favourite Shop was included in a list of 50 albums released in 1985 which, according to the NME, “still sound great today”.
Together with “You’re the Best Thing” and “The Big Boss Groove”, two songs from the album—”Internationalists” and “Walls Come Tumbling Down!”—were played by the band at the UK Live Aid concert, where they appeared second in the running order at Wembley Stadium. The international exposure, however, did little to boost the group’s career, and future commercial success was largely confined to their home country. Following the live album Home and Abroad in 1986 the band released their third studio album The Cost of Loving to mixed reviews in 1987. It reached number 2 on the UK albums chart. The single from the album, “It Didn’t Matter” reached number 9 on the singles chart.
From this point the band however started to experience a critical and commercial decline. The 1987 single “Waiting” was the first of the band’s singles that failed to reach the UK top 40. In 1988 Confessions of a Pop Group became the first of their albums that failed to reach the top 10. It entered the albums chart at number 15 and dropped out of the chart a few weeks later. The singles “Life at a Top People’s Health Farm” and “How She Threw It All Away” also made brief chart appearances, peaking at number 28 and 41, respectively. The Style Council broke up in 1989. Regarding the break-up, Paul Weller said (in 1990): 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.
