It Just Came To Pieces...

The Style Council - Café Bleu [TSCLP 1 UK 1984 24-Bit FLAC]

You could easily strip this album down to five tracks, The Whole Point Of No Return, The Paris Match, My Ever Changing Moods, You're The Best Thing and Headstart For Happiness - the rest would qualify as filler or basic Weller b-sides (some actually were). The Mick Talbot instrumentals are okay, but they don't fit well with what was supposed to be a pop album. A Gospel is just awful and Strength Of Your Nature is a feeble attempt at uptempo Prince-type funky soul. I will say that Blue Cafe makes for lovely lounge music and Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse, the only composition by drummer Steve White, works as an imitation trad jazz piece. 

The Paris Match reflects a true stroke of genius with Tracey Thorn's sultry vocals and Ben Watt on guitar - it's worth remembering that Everything But The Girl were still just a little indie duo on Cherry Red at the time. Remember all that Cappuccino Kid bollocks on the sleeve notes, we have to blame Weller's pal and NME scribe Paulo Hewitt, in reality Woking was as far away from Paris or Milan as it could ever be in 1984.

Still, if you are a big Paul Weller fan, and I was, then you'll treasure your copy of Café Bleu to this day. This is a pop record, however Weller was not in tune with his fan base and tried to reinvent himself into this image of perceived coolness, many of us still loved him, although not able to comprehend his intentions.

A1 Mick's Blessings
A2 The Whole Point Of No Return
A3 Me Ship Came In!
A4 Blue Café
A5 The Paris Match
A6 My Ever Changing Moods
A7 Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse
B1 A Gospel
B2 Strength Of Your Nature
B3 You're The Best Thing
B4 Here's One That Got Away
B5 Headstart For Happiness
B6 Council Meetin'