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 haunting synth-ballad "Long Hot Summer" all featured Talbot on keyboards and organ. Near the end of 1983, these songs were compiled on Introducing The Style Council, a mini-album initially released in Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States only. The Dutch version was heavily imported to the United Kingdom.
In 1984, the single "My Ever-Changing Moods", backed with the Hammond organ instrumental "Mick's Company", reached #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The song remains Weller's greatest success on the American charts (including his efforts in The Jam and as a solo artist), while the group reached the peak of its success in the United Kingdom with the 1985 album Our Favourite Shop.
To Weller's fans, the decision to split up The Jam at the height of their commercial success was met with considerable controversy[citation needed]. Weller deliberately distanced himself from The Jam's sound and style, with his use of new musical arrangements and instruments in a much slicker, more heavily produced style. In the place of the Bruce Foxton-Rick Buckler rhythm section were drum and bass parts done entirely on synthesisers.
Structurally, many of the band's early singles were not far removed from The Jam's latter-day soul-pop efforts such as "Town Called Malice" and "Beat Surrender", but they were often criticised as overproduced, despite Weller's impressive songwriting[citation needed]. Also, many observers saw even the early albums as indulgent and overly experimental; Trouser Press called Café Bleu "too schizophrenic to be a good album".
The Style Council took a more overtly political approach than The Jam in their lyrics, with tracks such as "Walls Come Tumbling Down", "The Lodgers", and "Come To Milton Keynes" being deliberate attacks on 'middle England' and Thatcherite principles prevalent in the Eighties. Weller was also instrumental in the formation of Red Wedge with Billy Bragg. However, he later said that this began to detract from the music: "We were involved with a lot of political things going on at that time. I think after a while that overshadowed the music a bit"
In 1986, the band released a live album, Home and Abroad, and, in 1987, the album The Cost of Loving was launched, followed later in the year by the upbeat non-album single "Wanted", which reached #20 in the United Kingdom. However, Confessions of a Pop Group, released a year later, sold poorly. This led to their record label Polydor rejecting their final album (Modernism: A New Decade), which was heavily influenced by the contemporary house scene. A greatest hits album, appropriately called The Singular Adventures of The Style Council, was released internationally in 1989; it included the non-album single "Promised Land", which had reached #27 in the United Kingdom earlier that year.
In 1989 members of The Style Council went under the name of King Truman to release a single on Acid Jazz titled "Like A Gun". This was unbeknown to Polydor and the single was pulled from the shops only 3 days prior to release. Acid Jazz founder Eddie Piller said "The pair offered to make a single for my new label, which I'd just started with Radio 1 DJ Gilles Peterson as a side project. Mick and Paul took pseudonyms Truman King and Elliott Arnold." [1]
The Style Council broke up in 1989. The cover of "Promised Land" (originally by Joe Smooth) was the only release which surfaced from the Modernism sessions at the time; however, the entire album was released in 1998, both independently and in a 5-CD box set, The Complete Adventures Of The Style Council. After the split, Weller embarked on a successful solo career (still featuring Steve White on drums, who had left The Style Council by the time Confessions of a Pop Group was released, having only played on a few of its tracks). Talbot and White released two albums as Talbot/White — United States of Mind (1995) and Off The Beaten Track (1996). More recently, Mick Talbot and Steve White have formed The Players with Damon Minchella and Aziz Ibrahim.
All of The Style Council's UK releases (including singles, 12" maxis, albums, compact discs and re-issues thereof) featured the work of graphic designer Simon Halfon, who often collaborated with Weller to hone his ideas into a graphic form. Weller and Halfon began working together at the end of The Jam's career, and continue to work together to this day on Weller's solo material.
Since 2007, the song "Walls Come Tumbling Down" has been used as the theme song for the German TV series Dr. Psycho – Die Bösen, die Bullen, meine Frau und ich.
Big Boss Groove
The Style Council Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To get any back to you will have to pay
Don't shout or get upset
It's the same message from the holy Tory government
Don't rock the sinking ship
And don't fly in the face of it
Work for your heaven's way
It's the same bullshit from the pulpit and the president
Hear keys getting in my way
It drives me crazy when I hear them say
"Let us pray" 'cause I want my heaven here on earth
Get up is what we say
Don't wait for judgement day
There's too much going on
You might think you're weak
But together we can be so strong
This world is no man's land
Our lives are in our hands
Our will is our command
You put it together and together we can make a stand
Our faith is the key to it
The unifying for some reason to be
You will see if you stand outside
The big boss groove
Get on up!
Our faith is the key to it
The unifying for some reason to be
You will see if you stand outside
The big boss groove
Get up is what we say
And don't wait for judgement day
There's too much going on
You may think you're weak
But together we can be so strong
This world is no man's land
Our lives are in our hands
Our will is our command
You put it together and together we can make a stand
In our hands, our command, and together we can make a stand!
Yeah!
The Style Council's song "The Big Boss Groove" conveys a message of resistance against the oppressive grip of the establishment, embodied in the form of the Tory government and other authoritative figures. The lyrics criticize the idea of blindly following rules and regulations set by those in power and urges for the unification of the common people to make a stand. The lines, "Hold on is what they say/To get any back to you, you will have to pay," reflect the notion that the government imposes restrictions on people's lives, and financial constraints can hinder access to services such as healthcare, education, and housing. The phrase, "It's the same bullshit from the pulpit and the president," implies that the government uses religion as a means of influence and control over the masses.
The song emphasizes the importance of faith in oneself and collective unity to challenge the status quo. The references to "judgement day" and "heaven on earth" suggest that people should not wait for a distant reward promised by religious figures but should work towards creating a better world in the present. The call to "Get up" and "make a stand" emphasizes the need for action and resistance against the oppressive forces. The lyrics, "This world is no man's land/Our lives are in our hands/Our will is our command," reflects a sense of agency among the people, urging them to take responsibility for their lives and shape their destiny.
Line by Line Meaning
Hold on is what they say
They tell us to wait and be patient.
To get any back to you will have to pay
You'll need to pay to get anything in return.
Don't shout or get upset
They advise us to stay calm and not get upset.
It's the same message from the holy Tory government
It's the same message we hear from the conservative government.
Don't rock the sinking ship
Don't do anything that could make things worse.
And don't fly in the face of it
Don't go against the status quo.
Work for your heaven's way
Work towards creating a better future.
It's the same bullshit from the pulpit and the president
The same lies we hear from the church and the government.
Hear keys getting in my way
Hearing others pray bothers me.
It drives me crazy when I hear them say
It frustrates me to hear them pray.
"Let us pray" 'cause I want my heaven here on earth
They pray for good things to happen in the present.
Get up is what we say
We urge each other to take action.
Don't wait for judgement day
Don't wait for the future to improve things.
There's too much going on
There are too many problems to ignore.
You might think you're weak
You may feel powerless.
But together we can be so strong
But we can make a difference if we work together.
This world is no man's land
This world belongs to all of us.
Our lives are in our hands
Our lives are ours to control.
Our will is our command
We have the power to make things happen.
You put it together and together we can make a stand
If we work together, we can make a difference.
Our faith is the key to it
Our beliefs are what inspire us to take action.
The unifying for some reason to be
Our shared purpose brings us together.
You will see if you stand outside
If you don't participate, you won't see what we can accomplish.
The big boss groove
The powerful people and systems we're up against.
And together we can make a stand!
We can make a difference if we work together!
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Cherokee Lair
This is one of my absolute favorite Paul Weller songs~The lyrics are as true today as they were when this came out in the mid-eighties. It is such a brilliant riff on our ridiculous governments and our religious beliefs...
And then he thoroughly cracks me up by dressing in sansabelt slacks and a teall green knock off Polo shirt. Bliley. I cannot look at this video without laughing but my God he got better at dressing himself!
Juan Bermudez
It drives me crazy when I hear them say
"Let us pray" 'cause I want my heaven here on earth
is my favorite line in any song ever
Daniel Palmer
One of the best songs from the band!! ✌️☺️
David Fowles
Weller and Talbot were brilliant together wish they would make a few new tunes...class act
Arkham guard 64
They actually did work together on Weller's On Sunset album I think
Troll
Love this song!
AVportau
one of the classiest brass pop bands ever..... even better than Haircut 100 and that's a big call coz i think Pelican West is such a legendary brass pop album... Paul is a musical genius.
PJ T
It's the dumpster fire of 2020 and this song is so true for today. ❤️🙌✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏻
joe ok
One of the most exciting Perth WA dance night club songs back in mid 1980's
ChainNonSmoker
What a great and beautiful groovy R&B music it makes me emotional. Weller &CO keeps changin me life.