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.
Confessions 1 2 & 3
The Style Council Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Count me off but don't count me down
Down to what you wanted of me
Now I know I could not be
Confessions of the fool of dreams
As I once, once took the blame
Now I just laugh and sing
You once my judge
Once my jury too
One is too much
Once I realized you, hey hey
Confessions of a peeping Tom
Watching life take its clothes off
Stripped for all the world to see
At the time I could not see
Confessions that I'll now proceed
Written down for me and you
So make sure you understand
And don't sign what isn't true
Take it away
Get your lawyer involved
Take it to court of law
In accordance with love, yeah eh yeah
Sometimes full
Mostly empty within
But check this out
I won't get there again
Confessions 1, 2 and 3
Count me off but don't count me in
In on what you thought it was
And you know whatever that was
Confessions that will now proceed
Written down for me and you
So don't tell me that you won't sign
What you know, know is the truth
You once my judge
Once my jury too
One is too much
Once I realized you, hey eh
Confessions that will now proceed, ohh
Confessions that will now proceed, ohh
Confessions that will now proceed, ohh
Confessions that will now proceed, ohh
[Incomprehensible]
The song Confessions 1 2 & 3 by The Style Council is a lyrical exploration of self-reflection and taking responsibility for one’s own life choices. The opening lines, “Confessions 1, 2 & 3, count me off but don't count me down,” set the tone for the rest of the song as the singer rejects being defined solely by past mistakes. The lyrics also touch on societal judgment and the struggle to remain true to oneself in the face of other’s expectations.
The first verse speaks of the singer’s refusal to be the “fool of dreams” any longer, referencing a time where they once took the blame for their own failures. The chorus “Confessions of a peeping Tom / Watching life, take its clothes off / Stripped for all the world to see / At the time, I could not see,” explores the idea of watching life pass by and now recognizing the importance of being present in the moment. The final verse speaks of the singer not wanting to repeat past mistakes and being honest with oneself and others.
Line by Line Meaning
Confessions 1, 2 & 3, Count me off
Identifying the different confessions, I am confessing totally
but don't count me down,
Do not underestimate me
Down to what you wanted of me
I won't do what you expect me to do
Now I know, I could not be,
I have realized that I can not do everything you ask of me
Confessions of the fool of dreams
I am sharing my foolish dreams with you
As I once, once took the blame
I used to take responsibility for things that were not my fault
Now I just laugh and sing
I am happy and carefree now
That it's all, all in the game.
Everything happens for a reason
You once my judge, once my jury too
You judged me in the past
One is too much, once I realized you.
Once I understood how you worked, I knew that one judgment was too much
Confessions of a peeping Tom
I confess to being nosy
Watching life, take its clothes off,
I watch as people expose their lives
Stripped for all the world to see
People show their private lives to the public
At the time, I could not see!
I did not realize the consequences of my actions
Confessions that I'll now proceed
I am going to confess some more
Written down, for me and you.
I am documenting these confessions now
So make sure you understand
You need to be clear on what I am saying
and don't sign what isn't true.
Do not agree to something that is untrue
Take it away, get your lawyer involved
Bring in a lawyer
Take it to court in accordance with love!
Do everything with love
Sometimes full, mostly empty within.
I have highs and lows in life
But check this out, I won't get there again
I'm not going to let it happen again
Confessions 1, 2 & 3, count them off
I have confessions in the past which I am acknowledging
but don't count me in,
But I won't disclose everything about myself
In on what you thought it was
I won't let you have control over me
and you know, whatever that was,
You already know what that thing was
Confessions that will now proceed
I have more confessions to make
So don't tell me that you won't sign
You can't deny my confessions
What you know, know is the truth
You know that my confessions are true
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@kiersmith3698
I don't think Paul Weller's voice has ever sounded so big and rich as it does here............ on this odd, sprawling, but ultimately satisfying record. It's very much a band record, they all contribute in large amounts here.
@jeffphillip7595
That piano, the live feeling, that horn section, the vocal arrangements... I fell in love with this song all those years ago, I appreciate it more now.
@albanocardoso4997
I still recall the excitement of listening "confessions" for the first time - oh my my, I guess I still get the same sort of goosebumps in 2020 - this is good dope!
@jenniferjaque-rodney4732
So ahead of time back then
A masterpiece of music 🙏🏿
@tbbilbo
One of the greatest trombone solos in brit pop history. A wonderful, powerful song.
@johnallison6474
Check out Parliment ls Make my Funk PFubk aka The Bomb....
@johnallison6474
Er um PFunk
@moonbase68
such an under rated album
@davandbre
Listening to this gives me shivers it's so damn good.
@coolti44
absolutely one of the best records of the 80s. Love love love!! Thanks for sharing!