Probably The Best Band In The World - The Style Council DOCUMENTARY
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- Опубликовано: 7 июл 2024
- Special thanks to all the Style Council fans who have kept that torch burning all these years!
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:23 Paul Weller and Mick Talbot
03:16 Social commentary and influences
05:12 Café Bleu album
08:43 Our Favourite Shop album
11:45 The band and their message
15:00 The Cost of Loving album
17:36 Confessions of a Pop Group album
22:30 The beginning of the end
23:25 Outro
This was a massive passion project for your Best Friends-Joshes has been wanting to make this video for years, and is very happy that it's been well received and shared.
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MUSIC
The Style Council open.spotify.com/playlist/037...
PHOTOS
Steve Rapport sr-photo.com
SPONSORS
Please, contact us via email about sponsorship of future videos: suh@bestfriendsgang.com
FAIR USE STATEMENT
This video may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Best Friends Gang is making such material available in an effort to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. and we believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. Please, contact Best Friends Gang before submitting a copyright claim. We will make every effort to discuss and resolve any issue.
Thanks for watching.
I'm blown away by this. It obviously shows tons of research, writing, and editing. Remarkably well-done. Us TSC fans are like a strange cult who tell everybody about their brilliance while secretly acknowledging their flaws. For your efforts, I wish this had a million views. Many thanks from a dedicated fan.
Thank you for your kind words.
Yes I agree. I just rediscovered them. Paul is up there with Stevie and Prince in the sense that he mixed up genres. Yeah sometimes the experiment didn’t work but oh when it did it was orgasmic 😮
This absolutely nails what the band were about and why they are so special.
Thanks!
Weller, as strictly a lyricist, throughout this period was absolutely incredible
Definitely his best period for songwriting.
@@BestFriendsGang “For Liberty there is a cost, it’s broken skull and leather cosh”
My ever changing mood is gold...like driving down the freeway in the summer time with the top down.
I was driving along when I was 16 in a car I didn't know unlicensed and Speak Like A Child came on I nearly slid of the road. What a magic tune. Huge Weller fan , Sydney Australia.
Thanks for watching and drive safe.
Long hot summer was the soundtrack to my love affair that year which brought me marriage and joy. I loved Paul weller's work both jam, style council and solo (look out for changing man, it's great) he has kept the principles of his youth and remains a force in music.
played that song on a record player back in the day........didnt know my cousin was listening to it he said to me can you play that again still a brilliant song
Wow, I'm amazed to read so many positive comments from people in the USA about your fantastic video. I've always thought that Paul Weller wasn't all that well known in the US (even though he's a legend over here in the UK). Many people in the UK seem to feel that the Style Council era was his weaker period but it's always been my favourite - I think his work with the Style Council is very underrated.
I'm American and I've loved style council since the 80s
This video is incredible. One of the most well thought out music mini docs I’ve ever seen. It should be put in a time capsule along with the entire Weller catalog. Kudos, my dude!
Thank you! Lots of time and effort went into it. Love that band.
Why no mention of "You're The Best Thing"? One of the Council's biggest hits, and an iconic song from the 1980s.
The video would be two hours long if I mentioned every song they did. But I think I concentrated more on the political songs since they fit with my narrative of the group being of the times. Were I to revisit this doc I'd probably talk more about the pop stuff. Thanks for watching.
That's probably my favourite Style Council song. Such cool vibes.
Great work - some excellent insights and spot on about their strengths and weaknesses
I just saw the Long Hot Summers doc and fell back in love with TSC. Went hunting around RUclips to find more. Thanks for putting this together! Really great job.
Growing up in a small town in the Midwest, SC was my savior from mediocrity. I bought "Cafe Bleu" when in came out and never looked back. But I have say, "Confessions" is still my favorite. Also, "Home & Abroad" is a great live album...if you can find it.
I bought Home and Abroad on release. Still have it. Im rich 😂
Agreed- great live album
The amount of gratitude I have towards this man cannot be put into words. Before I saw this video I knew of the style council but nothing else besides long hot summer. But when I watched this video for the first time it truly gave me the drive to listen to them. And now they’re probably my favorite band of all time.
That warms my cold, cold heart. What's your favorite song thus far in your journey?
@@BestFriendsGang at this very moment probably the super early version of the Paris match where paul sings the second part in French. But overall its probably a four way tie between Boy who cried wolf, Walking the night, life at a top people’s health farm, and how she threw it all away. It really truly hard to pick though because the only song the style council has made that I don’t truly enjoy is money go round. Besides that though I’ve enjoyed every song I’ve listened to over the past 6 ish months.
Oh yeah and home breakers
Thanks for posting this. A great watch😎👍
Great video! Thank you for creating this!
Amazing job! Thanks so much!
GREAT video and information about the band!! Well done!!!
An excellent assessment. Well done. I look forward to your thoughts on other bands of the era.
What a great work you have done! Thank you for this, your love for the band enlightens the whole thing! Thanks!
Thanks for the comments, and for the watch.
Heartfelt thanks for this portrait of one of my favorite bands of all time. They have always been such a very alive mystery to me. Thank you.
You're welcome-thanks for watching
Well put together and a really nice enjoyable watch. KTF ✊
Thanks. Hope to have one or two more completed by the end of 2020.
l am a Japanese and became a new fan of them in 2023. I didn't know about this band till now. My Music life turned brighter than before✨I will listen to their music from now on. Thank you very much from Japan Tokyo🇯🇵
Thanks for watching!
Had no idea about this band, thanks 4 introducing me to them. Subbed
Excellent stuff, well done.
Thank you for posting this. You made my day !
You're welcome. Thanks for watching.
Thanks that was nicely put together.
This video was made with a lot of love, respect, passion & research. At 17 I already was a huge Council fan back in 1983. There is no other documentary that summarizes the spirit of the band better than this. Thank you for creating such a timeless memorial to the band!
I appreciate the comments. It was certainly a labor of love. Thanks for watching.
Thank you for putting into words with sensational sounds and visuals, my last two years during covid when I took a RUclips wormhole with earphones and discovered a reminiscent journey into what I fully believe to be the best band in my life time (x gener)
You're very welcome.
Great video, Joshes. Nice one.
Lee ✊✊
Thanks, Lee. Excited to see all the recent interviews with the group in the new Sky Art doc.
Awesome job. The Style Council was ahead of their times for sure. Their music still sounds great today, especially the jazz, soulful tunes.
Bravo, and Confessions is indeed TSC's masterpiece.
Probably the best band review in the world
Well done, that was an excellent little documentary.
Thank you.
I've never given much time to Weller outside of The Jam, have added a bunch of Style Council to my playlist, thanks Josh for widening my horizons
Thanks for watching, friend.
Love the Council. Great job on this!
Great watch - nice work.
Thanks, Marc!
Great documentary! just discovered the documentary late, but every bit of this is relevant in 2024. What a long term impact Weller and this band (and Tracy thorn too) have made. I still go back and re listen to all these timeless gems.
A very well written,researched and narrated Mini Doc, kudos Sir.
Thanks for the positive comments. More docs coming later this year.
Thanks for the documentary
Thanks for watching from Chile
Nicely done, very nicely done
I stumbled on Paul Weller and the Jam in the Summer of ‘81 on a family vacation. I was hooked. I got my copy of Cafe Bleu during Xmas my senior year in high school. Weller was truly instrumental in my youth. I caught Paul Weller in concert at the SF Warfield in 1993. At the end, girls were lining up to walk onto stage, give him a hug/kiss and be shown directly to the exit door… AMAZING!!
Awesome to see the band reform to do “Deep Sea.”
Paul Weller is a true living Legend.
brilliant video documentary, thanks
A brilliant documentary on a brilliant band.... thank you very much, the 3rd time I've watched it, brings back many fantastic memories.... ❤❤❤
Thanks for the kind words and the three views
Great documentary about one of my all time favourite bands. Well done 😊
Thanks for watching
Great piece of work ✊
Thanks, Matt. What bands would you like to see featured in future videos?
Excellent video, thank you!
You're welcome! Thanks for watching
Absolutely one of the best videos of this type ever! They were an amazing moment in time
Very kind of you to say. Thanks for watching.
Most excellent career review. Good job Joshes!
Thanks, David.
Cool take on this group. Loved their deep house stuff.
Enjoyed!
Thank you for watching
OMG! Stumbled on this and you spoke every word I have ever thought and felt about the style council. I always thought I was the only one in America who had ever heard of them let alone realized they are the greatest! Shaped my life growing up making me a better person...
Lol! No I thought I was the only one in the USA who had heard of them. I found out different in 2006. Paul Weller played 3 nights at Madison Square Garden. Night 1 focus on The Jam. Night 2, The Style Council. Night 3 a mash-up of his career. I live in California. That was one time I wished I was rich, didn't have to worry about work and could fly out for night 2.
@@adc2327 when was this?! I live in California and might have done it. haha
@@jamien6523 Way back in the day, 2006, as my comment indicates. There was no way I could have done it back then. I had a job where I had to travel. Unfortunately it was usually a small town.
Wow, very much of the same brain, here. I think some people get too bogged down in the band being described as "socialists" and "progressives" to really take in the overall message of the group. They definitely made me a more considerate and socially aware individual.
Great stuff! I have 2 dear friends who are going to love this.
must be gay...
Great documentary. I love The Style Council since the 80s. Our Favorite Shop is one of my all time favorite album. Greetings from Jakarta.
Nice documentary, I listen to Confessions more than any of the other albums as well. There's a great depth to it.
Agreed-it's get my vote for their high water mark
Confessions - a proper modern classic.
Thank you!
nicely done..bravo!
I was so lucky to be informed by this music when I was a young person. This band with Roddy Frame informed so many of my values and why I fight for the vulnerable.
Thank you for this. Having lived in the UK during the Jam's and Style council's heyday in the 1980's, this tribute brought a number of great memories and some not so great memories (mostly the Thatcher Government. The Style Council were never fully appreciated but I remember their support of the Miners' strike of 1984-85. The strike was one of the darkest and socially divisive chapters in post war British history. mr Weller is truly a man full of principle which is needed more than ever today
You're welcome-and thanks for watching.
the our favorite shop montage is well done honestly.
Thanks, I think it's the strongest section of the doc.
Excellent band, Weller is a genius.
Love Style Council!!! thanks for this excellent video. CAFE bleu is my favourite album . All the songs on there are wonderful....very moody and jazzy.
Thanks for watching, friend
I am sooooo glad that I came across this video oh my gosh, it is taking me back... I loved the style council in real-time. Like we're talking when the albums actually came out!
And I was in college, I adored them Can't emphasize that enoug, I felt like I was trying to live My life as a member of TSC. Always wanted to do music like theirs, Because I love the whole pop and r&b influence But with these socially conscious and intelligent lyrics. It's just brilliant, it's so en capsulated my everything at that time. unfortunately, my best friend who I share the love of style council with passed away from AIDS in the. Early 90s very sad, but I'm glad to find other people who still not only remember them but cherish them. Thank you again!❤❤❤
Great documentary .... that's so cool about Long Hot Summer - ahead of their time.
Well done!
Loved it, especially the Confessions analysis, and comparison to the Beach Boys work, very interesting 👏🏻
Thanks!
BB again!!! They get trotted out as a comparison to every British band 🤮
They were ludicrously even compared to The Beatles
The first song of theirs I ever heard was from a live version of “My Ever Changing Moods” featured on a mix live radio show on a now defunct radio station from Long Island, NY. That show introduced me to a world of new music I still enjoy today. I bought the album and have been a fan of the band since then. It’s a pity they had to end, but better that than to be the KISS or The Rolling Stones of today.
Absolutely. A finite existence is perfectly acceptable, even preferable, in the world of pop music.
I miss the “Dare to be Different” days from that Long Island radio station!
Excellent doco about a great great band. Thank you!
You're very welcome! Thank you for watching
Fabulous documentary. Fell under the Weller spell with the Style Council .. my favourite period of his amazing career. Much underrated but absolutely wonderful music to explore. Confessions is a work of Imagination, courage and brilliance and my favourite.
Thanks so much. I appreciate the comments.
Will never forget that December summer of 83 when I first saw the video of their first release "Long Hot Summer!"
Was 19 then - it set the tone for what was a great summer! Phenomenal year of music that year!
Beautiful video.
Thank you, from a Style Council fan from Argentina.
You're welcome. Thank you for watching and commenting
Enjoyed that and pretty much as it was as a fan growing up with them. Happy days, mostly! Thanks for posting.
I found a copy of confessions on vinyl years ago .I really connected with it as a beautiful, sophisticated peice of work .
To think that album was only 11 years on from In The City , proves what a continuously evolving artist Weller is/was
This is a beautiful overview, thesis and love letter to me, myself and I, who just happen to believe Paul Weller can do no wrong. Well done, sir. I never knew some of these ideas, but I'm still growing and learning from the best. Thank you.
You're welcome. Thanks for the watch and the words.
OMG. I am even more in love with this group. I own Cafe Bleu and Our Favorite Shop. My roommate brought home Our Favorite Shop from a record store that allowed you to rent out albums back in the day. I heard it and fell in love. After he returned it I spent years looking for it. I then found Cafe Bleu. The problem I had was that Our Favorite Shop was originally released in the USA under the title The Internationalist. What? I wasted time searching under the wrong name! Anyway, I finally found it and almost wore it out. I am going to take a deep dive into the other albums. This was wonderful. Thanks for taking the time to do this video.
You're welcome, and thank you for watching. The US release titled "Internationalists" is how I first heard that album! Be sure and give "Confessions" a few spins. It really grows on you.
Great doc 👌well done. Keep the faith
Thanks. Feeling like I might be ready to tackle another doc soon.
@@BestFriendsGang early Weller solo would be good
Thank you. Thank you for such an awesome take on Probably The Best Band In The World.
You're very welcome. Thanks for watching!
YES YES YES!!! Downloaded ‘My Ever Changing Moods’ a couple of years ago because I remembered loving it in the ‘80s. Decided to download the entire Greatest Hits album. Ever Changing Mood got demoted all the way down to my 5th favourite cut!
Gonna go crank up the volume and rock the house with ‘Shout It to the Top’. Thanks for this. ❤
You're welcome-thanks for watching
A great video on such an underrated band
Great band who were far more musically sophisticated than The Jam but I guess that wasn't what The Jam were really all about and it was exactly what The Style Council were. Weller's songwriting longevity and ability to write music across a raft of different genres puts him up there with the best these Isles have had to offer over the last 60 years. For me Our Fav Shop was the high point with the track Man Of Such Great Promise my personal fav.
Absolutely. Man of Great Promise is in my top 3 TSC songs.
They were different than the Jam
That's about it tho 👍
Certainly more boring than the Jam were 🤘🤘👍👍😂😂
I subbed because of this video, and I love The Style Council.
Thanks! Much appreciated.
Great video! Great Band!
Thanks for watching. How did you first come across the Council?
@@BestFriendsGang I was driving to or from the department store where I was working high school summer and I had a great stereo, must have been '83. My Ever Changing Moods came on and I said to myself, to paraphrase "this shit is fresh!!". It still, and many other Style Council songs, still sound Fresh As Hell all these years later.
Wish I'd been around when they were together and making records. And yeah, their best work still sounds great today.
Love the Style Council !!
Although "The Jam" was arguably Wellers most successful period or most popular. I much prefer personally, the soulful sound of the Style Council. I still listen to them now, long hot summer takes me straight back to my teens. Love it.
Yeah, I love a lot of The Jam's output, and I think it still holds up. Just got a soft spot for the Council's take on soul. Thanks for watching.
Great job. It’s been heartening to see even the most recalcitrant Weller fans finally, in hindsight, give The Style Council their proper and long overdue acknowledgement and credit. I always loved the band including even the unfairly reviled Cost of Loving album so happy to see you give it a fair accounting here.
Thanks for watching. Putting the video together was a labor of love.
Great job. Great review. Really, probably best band in the world 💙
Great review - however there were plenty of better bands.
Probably
Thanks for this nice documentary. I was into the second mods wave in Sweden in the 80's when I started to listen to The Syle Council, since I already was a huge fan of The Jam.
I didn't get into them until the early 90s, but followed the same path from being a Jam fan to a TSC devotee.
Nice video. I was deeply into TSC at the time. Had everything on vinyl and copied his (casual) clothes as much as I could 😄. But most of all it was the music and lyrics. 👍
Still got the VHS video from Xmas 83, "What we did on our holidays". My first ever gig, TSC 1987 Hammersmith Odeon.. What a musical education.... I never looked back. Confessions i played to death in my car, when i passed my driving test in 88. Last ever gig, RAH July 89, Dr Robert joining the TSC onstage.... Great memories...
my fav style council songs.......cost of loving, waiting, it didnt matter, long hot summer, angel, walking the night you do something to me frickin brilliant band
Gone but not forgotten. I first heard of The Style Council in 1984 in both FM and AM radio, the peak of their popularity in my land is around 1985 to 1987. Because of the multitude of other British bands that also made the 1980s such a goldmine for brilliant pop music, I forgot about TSC for a while and went to work and finished my college. Five years after college thats when the CD became affordable and I finally took my first TSC CD, Singular Adventures. That reawakened my nostalgia and a deep, profound admiration for the group and their music. I obtained the box set (Complete Adventures), two DVD concerts, the TSC on Film DVD, the Paul Weller/Jam 3-disk retrospective, the videography DVD, and three albums. Time is always short for me to play and enjoy these "relics" but I'm glad I took them before these materials go out of print. Style Council is very well-regarded in my land, The Philippines, unfortunate that Weller has not continued the band and its unique sound after the last album was frozen. Could've been so well ahead of their time, or they've lost heart to soldier on when record companies began to signed on nihilist, scumbag acts like Nirvana, etcetera.....
Weller and Wilson, the two musicians that saved my live. You bring them together in this review. For the first time ever, I discover someone sharing my intuition. Thanks !
You're welcome. Glad you dug it.
Great doc. Brought back some great memories. I saw them at Gold Diggers in Chippenham, which from memory was their first concert (DC was in the audience) and subsequently another 13 or 14 times, driving all around the UK with my mate in my dodgy Triumph Spitfire.
Just one point, and this is probably a UK thing, The Jam were never a rock band with leather clad rock fans. Jam fans were firmly entrenched in the Mod revival scene. I remember one gig in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, where the car park was full of scooters and hundreds of us mini-mods were clad in boating blazers and parkas :) But it is true to say Weller lost a large portion of Jam fans with The Style Council. Not all of us though. They have him back now, stomping and shouting out his solo stuff.
I'm annoyed that it's taken me 3 years to discover this piece of work. It has at its core a major flaw, it's about an hour too short. Beautifully done mate. I've been a Weller fan since 1978. I was hugely into the Jam and was bereft when Paul called it quits when they were at the top [which was the point of course]. But when Inroducing and then Cafe Bleu came along I understood. I never had a problem with the transition. This is great stuff thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Very sweet of you to say. Thanks for the kind words and for watching this (too short) tribute to the band.
I had just finished viewing a documentary on The JAM and in the documentary it shows that Paul Weller dissolved The JAM and formed The STYLE COUNCIL. Wow! I'd heard the name of the band but I had never listened to any of their music. The STYLE COUNCIL has a tremendous sound! I can't believe I missed listening to them in the '80s. I will make it a point to check out their albums!
I played cafe bleu till it was worn out. That album takes me to a different place. I loved the Jam but for me TSC and all the different genres they dipped into was brilliant.
The Cost of Loving is an incredible album! Forget all the negativity out there over TSC. And yes, Confessions is incredible! I was so happy when he’d play Deep Sea during early solo gigs. Great min documentary! Cheers!
Thanks for the view and the comments
Wow, what an excellent work!!!! 👏🏻
Thank you so much for this video! I always thought The Jam was what a new wave/punk band should be, TSC was what a pop band should be, and Paul Weller is a singer/songwriter should be: always looking forward, a true MOD.
Well put! I'm a fan of his work with both groups and a lot of his solo output. To still be relevant as an artist at this point in his career is a testament to Weller's strength as a songwriter.
Ive been a fan since 83…great stuff that stands up now.
Nice!