Needle Time

  The Style Council - Money-Go-Round [TSCX 2 UK 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] In order to prove to the world that The Style Council were not just a post-mod/soul band (despite the sleeve), The Weller went politico-funk with the help of I-Level's Joe Dworniak on bass, Orange Juice's Zeke Manyika on drums and Wham! vocalist (and future Mrs Weller) D.C. Lee to back up Mick Talbot's Worrell-style keyboard trickery.  The results were this seven and three-quarter minute heavy funk work out, which most The Jam fans hated, so with limited airplay due to lyrical content, sales were disappointing and the single tickled briefly outside the UK Top Ten. Therefore, this was to be Weller's poorest selling single since the seventies, however I look back on this track with great fondness & respect, especially for that fabulous funky thumb-work by Dworniak. As with last week's  À Paris , this is my original UK copy, carefully cleaned and ripped for your high resolution listening...

  The Style Council - À Paris [TSCX 3 UK 1983 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] This twelve inch EP is forty years old in August this year! This is my original copy, bought at HMV in Manchester on the day of release ....the price sticker says I paid £2.79.  From becoming the voice of the young generation to fondling his own nipple on a River Cam punt, from  a council estate in Woking to foaming cappuccinos  À Paris , this record propelled the Bard Of Woking to the upper echelons of pop stardom. Long Hot Summer likely remains one of the key summer tunes for many, however The Paris Match has to be one his finest and most soulful compositions. A1 Long Hot Summer B1 Party Chambers B2 The Paris Match B3 Le Départ Needle Time will return next week.

  The Style Council - The Cost Of Loving [20MM 0557 JPN 1987 24-Bit FLAC] With an everchanging mode, Paul Weller put highlights in his hair, dumped the raincoat in favour of an all white dresscode and tried to go eighties soul. This was possibly the album which turned me off the Bard Of Woking after seven years of teenage adoration. I thought now might be a good time for a re-appreciation..... It Didn't Matter is a dour opener and a bad choice for a opening/launch single, then who is Weller trying to kid by collaborating with The Dynamic Three on the cliché ridden pop-rap  Right To Go - the message is strong by the execution is weak. These two tracks ruin this album for me, thankfully there is better to come. Heavens Above is classic Style Council and would have made a better pop single than the opening track - it charted in the US but was never released as a single in the UK. Fairy Tales follows in much the same vein, assisted by Curtis Mayfield it is one of the few trac...

The Style Council - Our Favourite Shop [TSCLP 2 UK 1985 24-Bit FLAC] It took just a year until the Weller/Talbot hit factory turned out their second album. Thankfully a slight change of direction gave us the more appreciable Our Favourite Shop which was a  story of life in mid-eighties Britain. Weller was back to his hard hitting social commentary style of song writing and everything briefly seemed okay. He was even confident to open with a Mick Talbot vocal track. The sleeve indicated a change in style too, although upon reflection TSCLP 2 owed more to Dell Boy Trotter and his choice of pin stripes than British fashion trends at the time. The album turned out hit after hit, Come To Milton Keyes and The Lodgers were followed by the huge Walls Come Tumbling Down! A personal favourite was always Boy Who Cried Wolf which was also a single outside the UK only. Lenny Henry's contribution on Stand Up Comic is both humorous and cringe-worthy. We don't totally escape from...

The Style Council - Café Bleu [TSCLP 1 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC] You could easily strip this album down to five tracks,  The Whole Point Of No Return , The Paris Match , My Ever Changing Moods , You're The Best Thing and Headstart For Happiness - the rest would qualify as filler or basic Weller b-sides (some actually were). The Mick Talbot instrumentals are okay, but they don't fit well with what was supposed to be a pop album. A Gospel is just awful and Strength Of Your Nature is a feeble attempt at uptempo Prince-type funky soul. I will say that Blue Cafe makes for lovely lounge music and Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse , the only composition by drummer Steve White, works as an imitation trad jazz piece.  The Paris Match reflects a true stroke of genius with Tracey Thorn's sultry vocals and Ben Watt on guitar - it's worth remembering that Everything But The Girl were still just a little indie duo on Cherry Red at the time. Remember all that Cappuccino Ki...

The Style Council - Introducing... [815 277-1 NLD 1983 24-Bit FLAC] Time for a little Weller, there was once a time in my life when the Bard of Woking could do no wrong and I bought everything in which he was involved. I look back on those times fondly, however let's be serious here, not everything post-Jam was faultless. Introducing ... was a mini-LP for all the non-UK markets compiling the band's first few singles. I'd guess it probably sold more in the home market on import, rather than among our continental cousins and the former colonies. It was quite expensive as an import (back then), but worth every penny for the splendid club mix of the angry yet funky Money Go Round -  driven by the wonderful rhythm section of of I-Level's Joe Dworniak on slap bass and Orange Juice drummer Zeke Manyika. Speak Like A Child was embarrassing in so many ways as it was no more than a meek attempt at northern soul, Long Hot Summer will always be a classic Weller single ...