The Style Council - headstart for happiness live, 1986

"What “Headstart For Happiness” showed was that, at the very least, Weller hadn’t run out of melodies that spoke to me, and while it was less musically dense than the rest of the record, it was at least an entry point for his music moving forward."

The Style Council - when you call me live, 1986

"The Style Council was an English sophisti-pop band fronted by ex-Jam leader Paul Weller. Starting in 1983, they placed twelve songs on the UK Top 20, including “Speak Like a Child,” “Long Hot Summer,” “My Ever Changing Moods,” “Shout to the Top!,” and “The Lodgers.” Their popularity peaked with the 1984–85 Polydor albums Café Bleu and Our Favourite Shop. After their ambitious 1988 release Confessions of a Pop Group, Weller disbanded the group to launch a solo career."

The Style Council - the whole point of no return live, 1986

“I was really into the Modern Jazz Quartet. I really loved the sophistication thing they had going. They’d done a record called Place Vendôme [recorded in Paris in 1966, with The Swingle Singers]. And thought, ‘What a great idea — to take us off and go and record in Paris.’ At the time, I was thinking about doing a run of these EPs: doing an Alpine record in Switzerland… and going to different European cities. It never came about: it was a shame, really.”

The Style Council - with everything to lose live, 1986

"The album captures the band’s energetic live set, featuring Paul Weller (vocals, guitar), Mick Talbot (keyboards), Dee C. Lee (vocals), and Steve White (drums), with Billy Chapman on saxophone adding to the soulful and jazzy vibe. The performance of "With Everything to Lose" showcases the band’s sophisti-pop sound, blending soul, jazz, and pop elements, which was characteristic of their live shows during this period."

The Style Council - shout to the top live, 1986

"The Style Council is rock’s most underrated band of all-time. Many of you will be scratching your heads at that statement. How in the heck can a man who grew up in Central Indiana, spent four short years in Southwestern Ohio, then moved back to his hometown, the one in which our said hero claimed to which he would never return, to raise his family, ever hear of the UK-centric and generally altogether European artist The Style Council?"

The Style Council - walls come tumbling down live, 1986

"One song that I heard probably for the first time in 20 years was 'Walls Come Tumbling Down' (1985) by The Style Council. The Style Council lasted 1983-9, having 16 Top 40 hits but no No.1s. Interestingly they combined a somewhat at times overly polished, self-consciously snappy image with songs that were either almost like easy-listening, notably, 'Long Hot Summer' (1983), almost 'power' pop songs like 'Shout To The Top' (1984) to those like 'Walls Come Tumbling Down' which were very political. The most prominent member of the group was Paul Weller (1958-) who also wrote 'Walls Come Tumbling Down'. By the time he did, he was already very successful from his career with The Jam (1972-82; recording from 1977; 18 Top 40 hits including No. 1s in the UK) who had had a Mod style with a support for Britishness but also often challenging lyrics to social and political issues. The strength of many of their songs was carried on into some of The Style Council's work with almost classic styling that seemed to refer back to music of the 1960s referenced by The Jam's style. Saying this, the 'Sound Affects' (1980) album had almost psychaedelic elements, almost as if, like The Beatles, The Jam had evolved into this phase. The politics of The Style Council was far more apparent than even in songs like 'Eton Rifles' (1979) and 'Town Called Malice' (1982). I have been tempted however, to write how relevant I feel those songs remain recalling 1980s problems now we face so many of them again in the 2010s."

The Style Council - the lodgers live, 1986

"Home and Abroad (styled Live! The Style Council, Home & Abroad. on its cover) is a live album by the English band The Style Council, released in 1986. It was recorded on the tour supporting the band's 1985 album Our Favourite Shop."

The Style Council - long hot summer twelve inch version, 1983

"In 2007, the BBC described Weller as "one of the most revered music writers and performers of the past 30 years". In 2015, Pete Naughton of The Daily Telegraph wrote, "Apart from David Bowie, it's hard to think of any British solo artist who's had as varied, long-lasting and determinedly forward-looking a career." In 2012, he was among the British notables selected by the artist Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork—the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover—to celebrate the British social figures of his life."

The Style Council - the lodgers or she was only a shopkeepers daughter extended mix, 1985

"As well as the song's single release, it has featured on various compilation albums released by the Style Council. The song was included on The Singular Adventures of The Style Council, The Complete Adventures of The Style Council, and Greatest Hits."

The Style Council - long hot summer live, 1984

"The Style Council is rock’s most underrated band of all-time. Many of you will be scratching your heads at that statement. How in the heck can a man who grew up in Central Indiana, spent four short years in Southwestern Ohio, then moved back to his hometown, the one in which our said hero claimed to which he would never return, to raise his family, ever hear of the UK-centric and generally altogether European artist The Style Council?"

The Style Council - luck, 1985

"Time has not been kind to The Style Council. Heck, I don't think the 1980s were kind to The Style Council. They were a pretty polarizing group, especially to Mod folk then and now."

The Style Council - homebreakers, 1985

"We’d moved from being Europeans and were now Internationalists."

Paul Weller - down In the seine live, 2001

“My Best Friend’s Coat” is such a French-sounding song. I suppose there are touches of the Style Council’s “A Paris” EP and Cafe Bleu: “Down In The Seine”, “The Paris Match”, all that stuff. My lyrics were trying to tap into that vibe, get into that mindset of strolling down the Champs Elysee, hanging out down by the Seine."

The Style Council - speak like a child, 1983

"Speak Like a Child" is the debut single by English pop band the Style Council, released on 11 March 1983 and was included on the mini-LP, Introducing The Style Council (1983). Backed with "Party Chambers", it became a hit, peaking at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart. Band members Paul Weller and Mick Talbot were already well-known from their previous bands, the Jam and the Merton Parkas, respectively."

The Style Council - sweet loving ways, 1993

"The Style Council also released an amazing list of B-sides like The Piccadilly Trail, It Just Came To Pieces In My Hands, Spin Drifting and Sweet Loving Ways, which I find flawless."

The Style Council - when you call me, 1985

"Our story kicks off with a love of music and records as a kid to 1982, when Tracie answered an advert in Smash Hits magazine that would change her life and land her on Top of The Pops with the biggest band in the country – The Jam – in just a matter of months!"

The Style Council - the whole point two, 2007

"Many people dislike them for the musical genres they dabbled in and the dilution of their original Mod(ernist) leanings. Others love them for taking those risks and even credit Paul Weller with broadening the Mod musical spectrum (or letting him get away with things other bands could not have gotten away with). Personally, I'm mixed on the band and have been trying to give their whole catalogue another shot, coming at them with a different frame of mind in my older age."

The Style Council - council meetin, 1984

"The Style Council was formed in early 1983 and their first single was Speak Like a Child peaked at Number 4 in March 1983. I kept a diary of the events of The Style Council developing from January 1984 to this gig in October 1984... I suspect I then got bored and stopped!"

The Style Council - blood sports, 1985

"I find it shocking how so many fans of The Jam (and Paul Weller) have never even heard a song from The Style Council. Alright, alright, I’ll admit that their last few albums were a bit shameful, but their first five albums exhibited some of the most underrated studious songwriting of the 80s."

The Style Council - the paris match, 1984

"Acting as a second part of a mini-suite beginning with the "Blue Café" instrumental, "Paris Match" continues the Bacharach/David, early-'60s-inspired mood. The melody is a delicious combination of pop and jazz, with a stately elegance that is unlike anything Paul Weller had ever written to date. A true torch ballad, the lyrics are a lonely, cinematic reflection of a lost lover in the wee hours of a London morning. The lead vocal is sung by Tracy Thorn, who delivers the emotion with a breathy grace."