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More than 40 years after Paul Weller introduced a new phase of his musical work as part of the genre-hopping Style Council, a forthcoming box set will dive deep into their first few years of work, complete with a trove of unreleased material.

UMR will expand the group’s full-length debut Café Bleu as a 6CD collection on January 30. Extras include an expansion of 1983’s debut EP Introducing The Style Council (available as a European import in the U.K.), a host of non-LP single and B-side material, and a whopping 55 unreleased tracks: demos, studio outtakes and five live-in-studio or concert appearances recorded by the BBC. A triple-vinyl edition will include a pared-down expansion of Introducing…, the remastered Café Bleu and a further 10 tracks from the B-sides and studio outtakes. Both sets will feature new liner notes by veteran British music journalist Gary Crowley, a crucial champion of The Style Council early in his career.

Those who knew Weller as the frontman of The Jam were in for a surprise when he re-emerged, a year after splitting up the trio, with The Style Council. Constrained by neither genre affectations nor membership, it was, to some, a bitter pill to swallow. Weller leaned deeper into ideas of soul, jazz, synthpop and even burgeoning rap, doing so with like-minded musicians across the British pop spectrum. Ex-Dexys Midnight Runners keyboardist Mick Talbot was, in essence, the only other core member, although key contributors included drummer Steve White, Wham! backing vocalist Dee C. Lee (who’d later marry and divorce Weller) and even Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt of jazz-pop duo Everything But the Girl. Despite the abrupt stylistic switch-up, The Style Council enjoyed immediate chart success at home, with “Speak Like a Child,” “Long Hot Summer,” “My Ever Changing Moods” and “You’re the Best Thing” all reaching the U.K. Top 10. (“My Ever Changing Moods,” which became the title track for the U.S. version of the album, even cracked the Top 30 in America, something no single from The Jam ever achieved.)

The Style Council would record increasingly R&B-oriented music throughout the ’80s, achieving a few more Top 10s at home, though even the members may have conceded that it was more Style and less substance by the end, after a mid-decade push into politically-minded songcraft and an album inspired by the late ’80s house music boom that was soundly rejected by Polydor, leading to the group’s break-up. But this impending collection from the Café Bleu era offers a key look at Weller toward the peak of his creative powers. The Café Bleu (Special Edition) box, in both formats, is out January 30 and can be pre-ordered below. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)

Café Bleu (Special Edition) (Polydor/UMR (U.K.), 2026)

6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD 1: Introducing The Style Council (Expanded Edition)

1. Speak Like a Child
2. Party Chambers
3. Money-Go-Round (Parts 1 & 2 – Original 12″ Version)
4. Headstart for Happiness (Early Version)
5. Mick’s Up
6. Long Hot Summer (Extended Version)
7. The Paris Match (Early Version)
8. Party Chambers (Instrumental)
9. Le Depart
10. A Solid Bond in Your Heart
11. It Just Came to Pieces in My Hands
12. My Ever Changing Moods (Long Version)
13. Spring, Summer, Autumn
14. Mick’s Company
15. Money-Go-Round (Parts 1 & 2 – Bert Bevans Remix / Club Mix)
16. Long Hot Summer (Club Mix aka 12″ Mix)

Tracks 1, 3-7 and 16 released as Polydor 815 277-1 (U.K.), 1983
Tracks 2 released on “Speak Like a Child” U.K. single – Polydor TSC 1, 1983
Track 8 released on Long Hot Summers / The Story of The Style Council – Polydor/UMC 089 411-4 (U.K.), 2023
Track 9 released on “Long Hot Summer” U.K. single – Polydor TSC 3, 1983
Tracks 10-11 released on Polydor U.K. single TSC 4, 1983
Tracks 12-14 released as Polydor U.K. 12″ single TSCX 5, 1984
Track 15 released on Polydor U.K. 12″ promo TSCX 3 DJ, 1983

CD 2: Original album (released as Polydor TSCLP 1 (U.K.), 1984)

1. Mick’s Blessings
2. The Whole Point of No Return
3. Me Ship Came In!
4. Blue Café
5. The Paris Match
6. My Ever Changing Moods
7. Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse
8. A Gospel
9. Strength of Your Nature
10. You’re the Best Thing
11. Here’s One That Got Away
12. Headstart for Happiness
13. Council Meetin’

CD 3: Singles, B-sides and remixes

1. You’re the Best Thing (7″ Version)
2. You’re the Dub Thing
3. The Big Boss Groove (12″ Version)
4. Money-Go-Round (Dance Mix)
5. Long Hot Summer (Don’t Matter What I Do)
6. A Solid Bond in Your Heart (Instrumental)
7. My Ever Changing Moods (7″ Version)

Track 1 released on Polydor U.K. single TSC 6, 1984
Tracks 2-3 released on Polydor U.K. 12″ single TSCX 6, 1984
Track 4 released on Polydor U.K. 12″ promo TSCX 2 DJ, 1983
Track 5 released on Polydor U.S. single 815 276-7, 1983
Track 6 released on Polydor U.K. single TSC 4, 1983
Track 7 released on Polydor U.K. single TSC 5, 1984

CD 4: Demos, outtakes and alternate versions (previously unreleased)

1. Long Hot Summer (Pre-TSC Demo)
2. Party Chambers (Alternate Version)
3. Up for Grabs (Demo)
4. Take It to the Top (Demo)
5. Mick’s Demo
6. Funk Interlude
7. The Big Boss Groove
8. Summertime Song
9. The Paris Match (with Tracey Thorn) (Long Version)
10. Come Away with Me (Demo)
11. Me Ship Came In! (Alternate Version)
12. Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse (Alternate Version)
13. That One in D Minor (Demo)
14. Boy Hairdresser
15. A Gospel (Alternate Instrumental Version)
16. A Gospel (Outtake)
17. Mick’s Company
18. I’m in the Mood for Gazza

CD 5-6: BBC sessions and live versions (previously unreleased)

1. Headstart for Happiness (Radio 1 Session – 5/5/1983)
2. Mick’s Up (Radio 1 Session – 5/5/1983)
3. Here’s One That Got Away (Radio 1 Session – 5/5/1983)
4. The Paris Match (Radio 1 Session – 5/5/1983)
5. Headstart for Happiness (Live at The Paris Theatre, London, England – 5/25/1983 / broadcast 6/11/1983)
6. Here’s One That Got Away (Live at The Paris Theatre, London, England – 5/25/1983 / broadcast 6/11/1983)
7. The Paris Match (Live at The Paris Theatre, London, England – 5/25/1983 / broadcast 6/11/1983)
8. Times Are Tight (Live at The Paris Theatre, London, England – 5/25/1983 / broadcast 6/11/1983)
9. My Ever Changing Moods (Saturday Live in Session – 12/31/1983)
10. Mick’s Blessings (Saturday Live in Session – 12/31/1983)
11. The Paris Match (Saturday Live in Session – 12/31/1983)
12. Headstart for Happiness (Saturday Live in Session – 12/31/1983)
13. Long Hot Summer (Saturday Live in Session – 12/31/1983)
14. Meeting Over Yonder (Live at The Dominion Theatre, London, England – 3/14/1984)
15. My Ever Changing Moods (Live at The Dominion Theatre, London, England – 3/14/1984)
16. It Just Came to Pieces in My Hands (Live at The Dominion Theatre, London, England – 3/14/1984)
17. Mick’s Up (Live at The Dominion Theatre, London, England – 3/14/1984)
18. Here’s One That Got Away (Live at The Dominion Theatre, London, England – 3/14/1984)
19. Up for Grabs (Live at The Dominion Theatre, London, England – 3/14/1984)
20. Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse (Live at The Dominion Theatre, London, England – 3/14/1984)
21. Long Hot Summer (Live at The Dominion Theatre, London, England – 3/14/1984)

1. Money-Go-Round (Live at The Dominion Theatre, London, England – 3/14/1984)
2. Speak Like a Child (Live at The Dominion Theatre, London, England – 3/14/1984)
3. Headstart for Happiness (Live at The Dominion Theatre, London, England – 3/14/1984)
4. Hanging On to a Memory (Live at The Dominion Theatre, London, England – 3/14/1984)
5. Meeting Over Yonder (Live at Goldiggers, Chippenham, England – 3/10/1984)
6. My Ever Changing Moods (Live at Goldiggers, Chippenham, England – 3/10/1984)
7. Speak Like a Child (Live at Goldiggers, Chippenham, England – 3/10/1984)
8. The Whole Point of No Return (Live at Goldiggers, Chippenham, England – 3/10/1984)
9. Le Depart (Live at Goldiggers, Chippenham, England – 3/10/1984)
10. The Paris Match (Live at Goldiggers, Chippenham, England – 3/10/1984)
11. Party Chambers (Live at Goldiggers, Chippenham, England – 3/10/1984)
12. Money-Go-Round (Live at Goldiggers, Chippenham, England – 3/10/1984)
13. Headstart for Happiness (Live at Goldiggers, Chippenham, England – 3/10/1984)
14. Hanging On to a Memory (Live at Goldiggers, Chippenham, England – 3/10/1984)
15. Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse (Live at Goldiggers, Chippenham, England – 3/10/1984)
16. Long Hot Summer (Live at Goldiggers, Chippenham, England – 3/10/1984)

LP 1: Introducing The Style Council (Expanded Edition)

Side A

1. Speak Like a Child
2. Party Chambers
3. Mick’s Up
4. Headstart for Happiness (Early Version)
5. Money-Go-Round (Parts 1 & 2 – Bert Bevans Remix / Club Mix)

Side B

1. Long Hot Summer (Extended Version)
2. Le Depart
3. The Paris Match (Early Version)
4. Spring, Summer, Autumn
5. Mick’s Company

LP 2: Original album (Sides C & D – same as above)

LP 3: Additional material

Side E

1. My Ever Changing Moods (Long Version)
2. A Solid Bond in Your Heart
3. The Big Boss Groove (12″ Version)
4. You’re the Dub Thing

Side F

1. Long Hot Summer (Pre-TSC Demo)
2. Party Chambers (Alternate Version)
3. Up for Grabs (Demo)
4. Take It to the Top (Demo)
5. Mick’s Demo
6. Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse (Alternate Version)