On vinyl it was a double affair, with the 8 songs spread evenly across the 4 sides, pressed at 45rpm. The LP arrived with some fanfare in the likes of Record Mirror magazine, and came housed in a striking orange gatefold sleeve. What followed was a shock even to those who sensed the writing may have been on the wall when The Cost Of Loving tumbled down the album charts within weeks of its release. The Singluar Adventures Of The Style Council (Vol.
Yet the speed of its decline thereafter was a warning of what would follow. Some observers called it “doleful”, and while it’s no Long Hot Summer in the melody stakes, there’s a bite and groove that still sounds fresh even now.Ĭourtesy of the UK’s traditonal “post-Christmas lull”, It Didn’t Matter was able to sneak into the Top 10 at #9, the highest TSC had been on the charts since early 1985. Monochrome imagery and stylish photography, with the clobber to match…and the music was equally direct, shorn of fuss and frivolity. Panned and ridiculed by the press, it seemed to be further evidence of The Style Council’s growing irrelevance within the pop mainstream, and a widening chasm between Weller’s agenda for the band, and what the fanbase still expected of him.Īll of which made the manner of their comeback quite refreshing.
The style council the cost of loving plus#
TSC chose the opening week of 1987 to return after a gap of 9 months, by far the longest hiatus either of Weller’s bands had taken between releases.ġ986 had seen soundtrack work, a Live album ( Home & Abroad), plus a film of their own JerUSAlem. Greatest Hits, Hit Parade (4CD edition), Sweet Loving Ways. This is another TSC single which turns up more often in longer, remixed forms on their compilations. It also didn’t help that the Absolute Beginners cinematic experience proved a resounding damp squib. Which was a shame, because not only is Have You Ever Had It Blue? one of the better Style Council singles, it perfectly captured the vibe of the plot/era and deserved better than to play second fiddle to David Bowie’s imperious but not-really-part-of-the-film title song, which stole all the attention and the chart thunder. So, the first TSC single in a long while felt like “something we made earlier”, which possibly contributed to its underwhelming Top 40 peak of #14. Five years on, and Weller had composed a track especially for the Julian Temple-directed musical, entitled Have You Ever Had It Blue?īy the time the single/film finally emerged, the track would have sounded oddly familiar to listeners of Our Favourite Shop the arrangement had been used pretty much wholesale, with an alternative set of lyrics, as With Everything To Lose. The cult novel by Colin MacInnes, about star-crossed young lovers caught up in the racial tensions and cultural upheaval of late-50s London, was eventually turned into a film and ready for release in the Spring of 1986.īut as far back as 1981, The Jam’s song of the same title was a Top 5 single (and one of their first to embrace the “new wave” with its funkier rhythms and horn section, signalling the changes to come). Paul Weller always had a thing for Absolute Beginners. HAVE YOU EVER HAD IT BLUE? (March 24th, 1986. Long Hot Summers…The Story Of The Style Council. A situation that has only just been rectified. Of all the band’s singles, this has been the most elusive in terms of its actual 7″ version appearing anywhere on CD. Post Milton Keynes, there seemed to be less appetite for The Style Council amongst Top 40 record buyers, and in some ways it did well to make #13. Lee really gets to shine on The Lodgers, and the new version is snappier and bouncier than the original. 3rd single from the LP, newly re-recorded).ĭue to “public demand” (it says here), one of the tracks from the album that I hadn’t really paid much attention to was overhauled and spruced up for a pop at the charts.ĭee C.
A completist’s guide to the singles, and where to find them on CD…įollowing the failure of Come To Milton Keynes, the band play Live Aid a week later and then return in the late Summer with another song from Our Favourite Shop for their 10th single.
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