I can not convey how much I adore this album. I finally found it under the UK released title. I myself struggled to replace a totally worn out cassette tape for years. Tracie Young and Alish Limerick provided backing vocals.Īs a note for the other Yankees like myself this album was released in the states under the title Internationalist and has led to some confusion over the years as those of us who adored this album could not seem to find it anywhere when looking to upgrade our original copies. Guesting on the album was Lenny Henry who provided the vocals for The Stand up Comic’s Instructions. It was the Style Council’s only number one album in the United Kingdom. Our Favourite Shop was the Style Council’s second album and the peak of their commercial success with the singles Walls Came Tumbling Down, The Lodgers, and Boy Who Cried Wolf. The Style Council would give Weller his first chart success in the US with the singles My Everchanging Mood and You’re the Best Thing off of Café Blue as the group entered the US Billboard 100. With the Style Council Weller would embark on another initially successful career move while remaining as ever firmly rooted in British culture. The band was at the vanguard of the jazz/pop revival of the early 80’s. Over time the band would wander through a wide range of musical genres pop, jazz, soul, R&B, house and folk before Weller would move on to his solo career. The Style Council Rota would expand to include drummer Steve White and Singer Dee C. In 1983 he would team up with keyboardist Mike Talbot, formerly of Dexy’s Midnight Runners, The Bureau and The Morton Parkas, to form the Style Council. The “Modfather” as he is known wanted to expand his horizons adding jazz and soulful R&B stylings and marry it to pop in his next project. Many wondered what the next step would be for Weller, who had become a principle figure in the Mod revival of the 70’s and early 80’s. The straight jack of expectations had stifled the band and the only seemingly available answer was to extinguish the entity. The foremost reason for Weller, was that he thought the band had reached a dead end with their sound and that they had entered a sort of cul-de-sac they could not escape. There were many reasons why The Jam ended. □ Give thanks to Ecléctico for the world of music you dig by dropping a one-time tip here.In 1982 Paul Weller the front-man of The Jam surprised many by announcing the band’s dissolution. It's the version I still own, so it gets the nod in the image up top. the album was repackaged as Internationalists and that's the version I bought as a teenager in Miami back then. The Council hoisted the flag for equality and justice and pointed out … that Europe was ours and little island minds had no place in the vast world that ticks over and still fascinates us so.'"Īs mentioned above, today's song is from the band's 1985 album Our Favorite Shop. In New York magazine, Carl Rosen wrote: "Writing liner notes in 1998 as 'the Cappuccino Kid,' his Style Council alter ego, Weller clarified the act’s anti-Thatcherite intent: 'The band’s real war was waged against the lady whose eyes shone with madness and who will soon stand in true judgement of her deeds. Lee and Weller trade stanzas of lyrics revealing the loser's game of being middle class or poor at the time. "No peace for the wicked, only war on the poor / They're batting on pickets, trying to even the score" are the first words, referring to the record-high unemployment in England in 1984 and a months-long miners's strike that nearly paralyzed the nation. But what begins as a bouncy pop of soul exposes itself as an indictment of Margaret Thatcher's England. Lee opens the song, charming the listener with her voice, singing up and down in double-tracked harmony. It's Lee and Weller who sing and shine on today's song, released on the album Our Favorite Shop in 1985. It soon expanded to include drummer Steve White and singer Dee C. The band started as a duo, Weller and keyboardist Mick Talbot, in 1982. Today on Ecléctico you're listening to "The Lodgers" by The Style Council, a British soul and new wave band led by musician, singer, and songwriter Paul Weller. Check out what Kevin has to say about today's tune. We both love '80s new wave deep cuts, so we'll each be sharing and writing about the same song today and next Friday. Today's selection is a collaboration with the music newsletter On Repeat by Kevin Alexander.
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