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.
It Didn
The Style Council Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Trying to think of the right things to say
I didn't want you to think I was like the rest
Who think they own you just because you've laid with them
It didn't matter, really didn't matter
It didn't matter now we are together
There are crystal hearts just waiting to be smashed
To soon today and gone tomorrow
And taking with them just another little piece of you
There are those who think its smart
Thinking that they've stole your love and broke your heart
Too much too soon and gone tomorrow
Well my love doesn't need to lend or steal or borrow
The Style Council's song "It Didn't Matter" is a reflection on the early days of a relationship. The singer reminisces on his attempts to impress and communicate with his love interest, hoping to differentiate himself from those who only see her as something to possess. He acknowledges the danger of falling for someone who may not intend to stay and the potential damage to one's heart that can result. However, he reassures his lover that his love is genuine and does not require manipulation or false promises.
The song's lyrics demonstrate a level of maturity and understanding about love and relationships that is often lacking in popular music. Instead of glorifying the intensity of emotions in a young relationship, the singer recognizes the fragility of the heart and the importance of treating one's partner with respect and honesty. The refrain, "It didn't matter, really didn't matter, it didn't matter now we are together," emphasizes that the initial insecurities and mistakes made in the early days of a relationship are inconsequential if both parties are committed to each other.
Line by Line Meaning
I remember all the early days
Reflecting on the beginning of our relationship
Trying to think of the right things to say
Attempting to find the perfect words to express my feelings
I didn't want you to think I was like the rest
Desiring to differentiate myself from past lovers
Who think they own you just because you've laid with them
Believing they have control over you due to physical intimacy
It didn't matter, really didn't matter
Realizing that those thoughts of the past are irrelevant now
It didn't matter now we are together
Understanding that our union is what truly matters
There are crystal hearts just waiting to be smashed
Acknowledging the fragility of love and the possibility of it being destroyed
And out to break them are the ones who never last
Those who fail to maintain relationships often contribute to hearts being broken
To soon today and gone tomorrow
Rapidly entering and leaving relationships
And taking with them just another little piece of you
Taking a part of the heart with them as they depart
There are those who think its smart
Individuals who believe that they are clever
Thinking that they've stole your love and broke your heart
Assuming that they have taken away affection and caused emotional pain
Too much too soon and gone tomorrow
Jumping into a relationship too quickly and ending it abruptly
Well my love doesn't need to lend or steal or borrow
My affection doesn't require manipulation or deception
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: MICK TALBOT, PAUL JOHN WELLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind