Long Hot Summers: The Story Of The Style Council

When Paul Weller announced The Style Council’s arrival in March 1983, he’d come a very long way.

In fact, at the age of just 24, he was already a musical veteran with six albums and nine Top 10 singles under his belt with The Jam. As their leader he had become a deity-like figure and for his fans, The Jam’s split was unimaginable. But creatively restless and of inquisitive mind, Paul jettisoned them at their height to form a collective with an eventual core line-up of Paul with Mick Talbot, Dee C Lee and Steve White. In a quest for new sounds, the group travelled to realms previously unchartered for a pop group incorporating musical influences as wide ranging as Blue Note jazz and Chicago soul, Claude Debussy and Erik Satie, Chicago House and Jacques Brel.At the same time, as battle lines were drawn in a decade under Margaret Thatcher culminating in the miner’s strike of 1984-85, Paul’s lyrics spoke with the language of the activist and his state of the nation addresses were both fierce and eloquent. Over four albums and 17 singles, The Style Council made a stand and became the standard bearers of progressive soulful pop and social comment.

The Style Council was emblematic of its creator. Paul Weller, smart, fearless, audacious, with a social conscience and totally unafraid to push the possibilities of pop.

 This is their story…

 “We set out to have fun, document the times and at the same time we wanted to elevate pop to an art form – I think we did that.”

Paul Weller

• Includes all the band’s classic singles – 12 top-20 hits, key album tracks and fans’ favourites.

• Also includes two unreleased tracks – an intriguing demo of ‘My Ever Changing Moods’ with strings, and the extended, 5-minute plus version of ‘Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse’.

• Featuring an introduction by ‘super-fan’ Martin Freeman and a new essay by Lois Wilson.

• Includes rare photos and memorabilia.

3LP

Side A

1. Headstart for Happiness
2. Long Hot Summer
3. My Ever-Changing Moods
4. Walls Come Tumbling Down!
5. Party Chambers

Side B

1. Wanted (or Waiter, There's…)
2. Shout to the Top!
3. It Just Came to Pieces in My Hands
4. Come to Milton Keynes
5. Why I Went Missing
6. Waiting

Side C

1. Ghosts Of Dachau
2. Down in the Seine
3. The Paris Match
4. Life at a Top People's Health Farm
5. Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse (Extended version)

Side D

1. Speak Like a Child
2. The Lodgers (Or She Was Only…)
3. Money Go Round
4. You're the Best Thing
5. How She Threw It All Away

Side E

1. A Man of Great Promise
2. The Piccadilly Trail
3. A Solid Bond in Your Heart
4. Sweet Loving Ways
5. Promised Land
6. It Didn't Matter

Side F

1. Have You Ever Had It Blue
2. Spin' Drifting
3. Here's One That Got Away
4. Changing of the Guard
5. My Ever-Changing Moods (Demo)

2CD

Disc 1

1. Headstart for Happiness
2. Long Hot Summer
3. My Ever-Changing Moods
4. Walls Come Tumbling Down!
5. Party Chambers
6. Wanted (or Waiter, There's…)
7. Shout to the Top!
8. It Just Came to Pieces in My Hands
9. Come to Milton Keynes
10. Why I Went Missing
11. Waiting
12. Ghosts Of Dachau
13. Down in the Seine
14. The Paris Match
15. Boy Who Cried Wolf
16. Life at a Top People's Health Farm
17. Homebreakers
18. Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse (Extended version)

Disc 2

1. Speak Like a Child
2. The Lodgers (Or She Was Only…)
3. Money Go Round
4. You're the Best Thing
5. How She Threw It All Away
6. A Man of Great Promise
7. The Piccadilly Trail
8. A Solid Bond in Your Heart
9. All Gone Away
10. Sweet Loving Ways
11. Promised Land
12. Have You Ever Had It Blue
13. It Didn't Matter
14. Spin' Drifting
15. Here's One That Got Away
16. A Woman's Song
17. Changing of the Guard
18. My Ever-Changing Moods (Demo)
19. Shout To The Top (Instrumental)