[5] Weller started the project to escape the restrictions of the Jam, and to explore a more arty, European, jazzier direction,[6] which encompassed pop, hip hop, and soul.
[9] Other artists such as Tracie Young, Tracey Thorn (Everything but the Girl) and drummer/percussionist Steve Sidelnyk[10][11] (who has played for Madonna, Seal and Richard Ashcroft[12]) also performed and collaborated with the group.
[15] Near the end of 1983, these songs were compiled on Introducing The Style Council, a mini-LP initially released in the US, Canada, Japan, and the Netherlands only.
Excluding previous singles (except for a different version of "My Ever Changing Moods") and vocals by Weller on several tracks, the album features guest vocalists and instrumentals, and mixes several genres, such as jazz, soul, pop, and funk; for these reasons, it divided critics and confused fans.
[15] The album was complemented by a UK tour starting in March 1984 with supporting acts Billy Bragg and the Scottish pop band the Questions.
[23][24] Mixing different styles such as Latin music, jazz and funk, and largely featuring political lyrics, it was widely considered to be the band's best work by contemporary critics.
"—were played by the band at the UK Live Aid concert,[29] where they appeared second in the running order at Wembley Stadium between Status Quo and the Boomtown Rats.
[30] The international exposure, however, did little to boost the group's career, and future commercial success was largely confined to their home country.
Its urban contemporary feel was a jolt to listeners who had grown accustomed to the continental mix of soul music, jazz, and European folk styles that the band had displayed on their previous two studio albums.
United States label Geffen Records heard the tracks and promptly dropped the Style Council from their roster.
Acid Jazz founder Eddie Piller said: "The pair offered to make a single for my new label, which I'd just started with [BBC] Radio 1 DJ Gilles Peterson as a side project.
[33]The cover version of "Promised Land" (originally by Joe Smooth) was the only release which surfaced from the Modernism: A New Decade sessions at the time; reaching its peak position at no.
The session was featured in the 2020 Sky Arts documentary Long Hot Summers: The Story of the Style Council, and a career-spanning audio compilation of the same name was released.
The song received airplay on BBC Radio 1 and was performed by the group on Top of the Pops,[37] as well as (live) on Channel 4's The Tube.
In 1985, Weller was persuaded by Billy Bragg to let the Style Council play a leading role in Red Wedge, a youth-orientated political campaign associated with the British Labour Party.
"[39] In a previous interview, whilst asserting that there was still "a place for outspokenness" in popular music, Weller had pointed out he was "first and foremost" a musician, and stated: "In the '80s, in the Style Council, we were involved with a lot of political things going on at that time.