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.
Here's One That Got Away
The Style Council Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like vandals they try to tear you down
The whispers, turn rumours
There's no truth but that don't stop those cats
They need the little bit extra
They don't mind if it's only conjecture
They tried to tell me I wasn't full time
I felt so awful I spat in their faces and ran for my life
They need that little bit extra
They don't mind if it's only conjecture
They tried to tell me their's was the right way
I tried to shout that was a lie
I felt so sick I spat in their lifestyles with a runaway pride
Untouched by unhuman hands
'Cause only God knows I don't call that a man
Who spends his waking days
Telling others what to think and what to say
They tried to tell me I wasn't normal
I tried to shout there's no such thing
I felt so sick I spat on their lifestyles with a runaway pride
So catch me if you can
'Cause I would rather be dead than live like that
Hey, hey, hey
The Style Council's song Here's One That Got Away is a bold and powerful song about the dangers of letting others tear you down with rumors and scandals. The lyrics describe the way that people in positions of power try to control and manipulate others by spreading lies and making them feel like they are less than they truly are. The first verse sets the scene for the song by describing the rumors and whispers that are spread about the singer. The second verse describes how the singer is mistreated by those in power and how they try to deny the truth by making up lies.
The chorus of the song, which is repeated several times, serves as a defiant statement of independence and self-respect. The singer declares that they would rather be dead than live like the people who are trying to tear them down. They refuse to let themselves be controlled by others and are determined to live their lives on their own terms. The final verse is a powerful condemnation of those who try to control and manipulate others. The singer calls them "unhuman" and declares that only God knows what they truly are.
It is important to note that The Style Council was a politically engaged band, and their songs often had a message of social and political commentary. Here's One That Got Away can be seen as a critique of authoritarianism and the ways in which people in power try to control others by spreading rumors and lies. It is a call to arms for people to stand up for themselves and to refuse to be silenced by those who seek to tear them down.
Line by Line Meaning
The pub talk, the scandals
Everyone talks about me and my scandals
Like vandals they try to tear you down
People try to bring me down just like vandals do
The whispers, turn rumours
Whispers turn into rumors about me
There's no truth but that don't stop those cats
People don't need the truth, they'll believe anything about me
They need the little bit extra
People want more gossip and drama about me
They don't mind if it's only conjecture
They don't care if it's just made up
They tried to tell me I wasn't full time
Someone said I'm not fully committed
I tried to think of an alibi
I tried to come up with an excuse
I felt so awful I spat in their faces and ran for my life
I felt terrible and reacted angrily by spitting in their faces and running away
They tried to tell me their's was the right way
Someone said that their way was the correct way
I tried to shout that was a lie
I tried to argue that it was untrue
I felt so sick I spat in their lifestyles with a runaway pride
I was disgusted and reacted by spitting on their way of life and leaving with pride
Untouched by unhuman hands
What I do is untouched by inhuman hands
'Cause only God knows I don't call that a man
I don't consider someone a real man if they spend their time trying to control others
Who spends his waking days
Someone who spends their days
Telling others what to think and what to say
Telling others how to think and what to say
They tried to tell me I wasn't normal
Someone said I was abnormal
I tried to shout there's no such thing
I argued that there's no such thing as normal
I felt so sick I spat on their lifestyles with a runaway pride
I was disgusted and reacted by spitting on their way of life and leaving with pride
So catch me if you can
I challenge anyone to try and control me
'Cause I would rather be dead than live like that
I would rather die than live a life where someone else controls me
Hey, hey, hey
An expression of defiance or dismissal
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: PAUL JOHN WELLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind