Well maybe they could have, but the wheels would have long come off by the middle of the decade, the number ones would have dropped off, and a lowering of standards would’ve been par for the course as the audience and venues got more selective. “Council Meetin’” is another instrumental that closes out the album, and demonstrates that throughout this album, Weller was more than happy to share the spotlight with his fellow Councillors.In praise of The Style Council: Ian Wade reviews the new compilationįirst up, let’s enjoy some context: The simple fact of the matter is that The Jam couldn’t last. These two tracks are light, breezy, and are not packed with heavy social commentary. “Here’s One That Got Away,” “Headstart for Happiness” and “Council Meetin’” round out Café Bleu, with the first two of these three tracks giving us a tiny glimpse into what Weller’s post-Style Council career would look like. It’s a welcome departure from the previous two songs and you get a sense of what Weller was going for with Café Bleu. It borrows themes from popular R&B songs from the previous decade and puts Weller’s spin on it. “You’re the Best Thing” is The Style Council’s homage to the ‘70s soul, slow jam era. “Strength of your Nature,” while sounding dated today, is a good bridge into the next phase of Café Bleu. “A Gospel” musically misses the mark and disrupts the great flow of side 1, but it contains a rap by Dizzy Hite that is lyrically brilliant: “Sent through the ages of boy to man / The living testament of making a stand / Killing the wicked then raising the dead / Eating propaganda and shit spoon fed.” The commentary on the societal dysfunction of the 1980s is spot on, but loses its bite by tackling a genre outside The Style Council’s wheelhouse. The beginning of side 2 is where Café Bleu goes off the rails. Side 1 ends with yet another instrumental, “Dropping Bombs on the White House”, a sort of swinging West Coast jazz workout featuring the drumming of Steve White and more of Talbot’s great work on the piano. By the time you get to this point on the album, it’s crystal clear that The Jam are in Weller’s rearview mirror. This version works best with the album’s running order as opposed to the other version. It’s just Weller on vocals and Talbot at the piano. The sixth track “My Ever Changing Moods” is vastly different from the aforementioned version. Everything from the vocals to the arrangements is perfection. This could have easily been on Everything But The Girl’s debut album Eden (1984). The next two tracks, “Me Ship Came In!” and “Blue Café” are instrumentals that could be considered filler, but are crucial to setting a mood and providing a lead-in to one of the album’s highlights, “The Paris Match” featuring Thorn. It’s an odd choice as an opening track, but it flows nicely into the next track, “The Whole Point of No Return.” It’s a 1980s coffeehouse style commentary on England under Margaret Thatcher’s rule: “Rising up to break this thing / From family trees the dukes do swing / Just one blow to scratch the itch / The laws made for and by the rich / It would be easy / So, so easy.” The first track “Mick’s Blessings” is an instrumental song featuring keyboardist Mick Talbot. This version had a different running order and fewer tracks and at the time it was one of my favorite LPs.Ĭafé Bleu is Weller’s bold and declarative statement that distinguished his newfound tenure with The Style Council from his previous life with The Jam.
THE STYLE COUNCIL THE COST OF LOVING FULL
The title track was a different version using a more upbeat tempo with a full band. The LP I heard 35 years ago was the US version of this album, which was called My Ever Changing Moods. My listening experience with this album is completely different now than it was when it was first released. Café Bleu is the full-length debut album from The Style Council, preceded by an EP called Introducing The Style Council which was only available in Canada, the Netherlands and Japan.
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