The Style Council 'Promised Land'

Chart Peak: 27
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For their 17th single, the Style Council chose to do a cover version of Joe Smooth's 'Promised Land'... It had reached No. 27 by 19th February 1989.

Exactly how much choice they really had is a matter of some speculation; it's now a well-known story that the Style Council delivered a fifth album called Modernism: A New Decade that reflected Paul Weller's new-found interest in house music (and presumably Mick Talbot's too, though his contributions seem to get less attention generally, I don't even know why he had a beard on Top Of The Pops) and which was rejected by Polydor. With hindsight, delving into house was no more of a shock than the duo's dabbles with gospel, jazz or even classical music; indeed some would go so far as to argue that the late-80s UK house scene was in some respects a successor to the Northern Soul that Weller had been celebrating since the first Jam album. Still, it was probably a bridge too far for an act with a now severely declining audience, some of whom would inevitably be lost to this new direction.

Although it wasn't included on the album, 'Promised Land' supposedly comes from the same sessions, and was picked off as a non-album single in early 1989 - indeed it entered the Top 100 just three weeks after the Joe Smooth original, though that had been released in the US as early as 1987; maybe it was even advance promotion for the Style Council version that gave the original a boost. I would surmise that Polydor were willing to greenlight this single in the hope that a name act covering a club hit was likely to prove a smash. In the event though, it never preceded past that peak of 27, which probably has more to do with devoted Weller fans buying up all five (!) available formats than major interest in the single itself. If this was supposed to be some sort of test case for the band's new direction, it failed and in the event they ever made another album, fulfilling their contract with a singles compilation a few months later, with the "lost" album finally showing up as part of a boxed set in 1998. I know some fans of the original really dislike this version but as I mentioned a few days ago, I've never really been into house music so I'm not precious about it and I can like both versions, though I must say neither of them really moves me. Weller does at least contribute rather a good vocal performance but it's fair to say he doesn't bring much else to the song that wasn't already there: I suspect this might be another case of a cover where he was too much a fan of the original to do anything special with it. At least he earned Joe Smooth some extra money in songwriting royalties and remix fees.

Also appearing on: Now 3, 4, 5, 10
Available on: Gold

Style Council 'You're The Best Thing'

Chart Peak: 5

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Paul Weller's first Now appearance in this - and therefore any - guise comes a while into the Style Council's career. By this point they'd already released several singles and the album Café Bleu but for supposed "value for money" reasons that ignored the early hits and featured a different version of 'My Ever Changing Moods'. So 'You're The Best Thing' was their first single really taken from an album (albeit in an edited version), and even then it was officially half of a single called Groovin' with the new track 'Big Boss Groove'. Yes, it was the eighties, and in those days it was acceptable to call a single that.

I jest of course, but I suppose if there was one thing the early Style Council was about, it was doing things that Weller couldn't have got away with while he was in The Jam. And whilst 'You're The Best Thing' isn't most people's idea of a daring or experimental record, it is quite a departure from the sort of thing his audience would have been expecting just a couple of years earlier: no power chords, no leaping up in the air, no machismo but a sincere (or at least unironic) love song in a decidedly tender falsetto. Weller has claimed that the song was inspired by the Isley Brothers hit 'Between The Sheets', which is just about audible, although fortunately this track is much less priapic (no sign of the grunting from the second half of the Isleys track). In fact, if I were to name a Style Council song that was sonically similar to 'Between The Sheets' I'd probably have mentioned 'Long Hot Summer', which is even closer in tempo and has a similar keyboard sound. Source notwithstanding, though, this is a song that succeeds totally on its own terms, and I can say that wholeheartedly as somebody who ranks Sound Affects among his all-time favourite albums. It's a staple of love song compilations and oldies radio stations and for once deserves to be so. Weller has obviously always been a lover of soul music, which he's referenced even since the first Jam album, and unlike say Phil Collins he has a genuine aptitude for the style too. Typically his gruff vocal is part of that but even in this higher register he's an outstanding singer and the mood is just right too, with a real sense of vulnerability that makes this seem more than an exercise in genre, whether or not it actually is one. Also this track features what I reckon is my favourite sax solo in pop music, a lovely reedy sounding one that adds to the atmosphere instead of just sounding like somebody wants to get on one of those compilation albums.

The Council's desire to push boundaries led them down a lot of blind alleys over the years, many of them even more mistaken and futile than the mixed metaphor in this sentence. But when they hit the mark in the early days they made a notable contribution to their leader's stock of great singles, and this is among them.

Also appearing on:
Available on: Collection

The Style Council 'Walls Come Tumbling Down!'

Chart Peak: 6

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In some ways, this song seems a bit like a sequel to 'Shout To The Top'. The lyrical message is similar, but slightly more explicit - and perhaps not coincidentally, the result is a bit less good. The churchy organ intro seems like a warning that Paul Weller is going to be more Father than Mod here, delivering what sounds rather more like a sermon than a song, and is often awkwardly unmetrical in its phrasing. I don't know whether this was an intentional movement on Weller's part because he didn't think enough people had got the point before, but even that doesn't excuse the notorious rhyme of "those who have and who have not" with "dangle jobs like a donkey's carrot".

If nothing else, though, Weller gets credit for the conviction with which he delivers these words. Indeed, in another universe where he'd acquired a different set of convictions, he could have been quite the gospel singer. And the music does do a lot to make up for, or at least distract from, the words, punching hard in the chorus and building up tension in the verses. Still, I do find myself in the unusual position of saying this is more preachy than the U2 track.

Also appearing on: Now 3, 5, 10, 14
Available on: Sweet Loving Ways - The Collection

The Style Council 'Shout To The Top!'

Chart Peak: 7

YouTube

Apparently this is in yet another film I've never seen, Vision Quest, but here in the UK at least I don't think it's closely enough associated with the film to earn that "from the movies" tag.
I often find it hardest to write about the songs I'm fondest of, and this is part of the problem, I face with 'Shout To The Top!' - I'd never have put it on a list of my ten favourite songs, probably not even even my ten favourite Weller songs, but there's something very right about it that doesn't seem to lend itself to unpicking. By this seventh Council single, he seemed to have got over the determination to sound unlike The Jam, and relaxed a bit into a run of good singles before they started to lose their way.

Although it's obviously intended to be a political call to arms (and as the video suggest, it was inspired by the Miner's Strike) but it remains wisely non-specific, concentrating on the vibe and creating an uplifiting joyful atmosphere that doesn't make it seem like homework to listen to. A solid group performance is bolstered by the immaculate string arrangement and one of his best vocals. Perhaps too sweet a concoction for some but it's by far my favourite on the album so far. Even the slap bass is well concealed in the mix.

Also appearing on: Now 3, 5, 10, 14
Available on: The Sound Of The Style Council

The Style Council 'Wanted'

Chart Peak: 20

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The full title of this, their last Top 20 hit, is 'Wanted (Or Waiter, There's Some Soup In My Flies)'. Ahem. That's almost as bad as calling your band The Style Council.

Perhaps it's unfortunate that TSC (as fans call them) are destined to be viewed largely through the prism of what Paul Weller did either side of them. There's definitely something to be said for his having the bravery to abandon The Jam at the peak of their success and try to do something fresh. And there were some very good singles in the early days. By this point, however, they were dropping off the radar: indeed, the single before this, 'Waiting' was Weller's first ever to miss the UK Top 40, which was presumably the reason for rushing out this non-album 45 (the B-side was the title track from their album The Cost Of Loving). It's tempting to perceive the synth-heavy production as a precursor to their experiments with house music, but it does sound rather more like an effort to makes something that fits in with the idea of a hit in 1987, and some elements (the slap bass and Mick Talbot's repeated keyboard glissandi) just sound impossibly naff today. The effect is to smother any breezy charm that the rather slight song might have had, hence a record that was a hit in its day but seems forgotten now - I think I'd only heard it once before it cropped up here, and it's conspicuously absent from the best-of album I have.

Also appearing on: Now 3, 4, 5, 14
Available on: Greatest Hits