No longer standing on the scaffolding because they were about shock and young adults, yet far more forthright in an era of Thatcherism, the Miner’s Strike and becoming the leading light in Red Wedge.
They were more political than The Jam – more insightful, angrier, artier, scathing, cosmopolitan, European and fun. However, they took it all very seriously. Romping around stroking each other’s ears in videos, photoshoots with Boy George, looking a bit narked on Band Aid and out of place at Live Aid, making films such as Jerusalem (the wonky pop film that makes Pet Shop Boys’ It Couldn’t Happen Here seem quite straightforward). Maybe it was because Weller and cohort Mick Talbot – the organist who’d done time in Merton Parkas and Dexys – weren’t seen as taking it quite so 4 Real as some would’ve liked. So maybe that’s why The Style Council were considered not as ‘real’ or taken as seriously, which is a cobblers take, quite frankly. One more time for those at the back – it’s Not. But there’s more chance of The Beatles reforming than The Jam.
#The style council mod
That, even now, Weller gigs are populated by a small portion of balding feather-cutted gents bussed in from the hamlet of Modley Mod and underestimating the slimming powers of their Fred Perry tops, patiently letting Paul ‘get this weird experimental stuff out of his system’ while hoping for a run through of Jam toe-taps, shows the level of passion there still is out there.
#The style council mods
If there’d been helplines for such a thing, there’d no doubt have been tales of weeping mods and soul boys dialling in to express their distress. A band so significant that their entire catalogue re-charted after their demise, and one of the few to juggle imported releases clogging up the chart between the release of official numbers. The Jam clocked up a staggering array of hits, including four number ones – three of which entered that position on their first week – something The Beatlesonly managed once. That’s facts.ĭispensing of a band that meant so much at the height of their fame was a gamble, but also utterly punk. That might have pleased the faithful, but you know that Paul Wellerwouldn’t have the status or respect he has now if he’d milked it. Well maybe they could have, but the wheels would have long come off by the middle of the decade, the number ones would have dropped off, and a lowering of standards would’ve been par for the course as the audience and venues got more selective. In praise of The Style Council: Ian Wade reviews the new compilationįirst up, let’s enjoy some context: The simple fact of the matter is that The Jam couldn’t last.
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