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Café Bleu

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Café Bleu
Studio album by
the Style Council
Released16 March 1984
RecordedOctober 1983 – January 1984
StudioSolid Bond and CBS, London
GenreSophisti-pop[1][2]
Length43.57
LabelPolydor
Geffen (USA)
Producer
The Style Council chronology
Introducing The Style Council
(1983) 		Café Bleu
(1984) 		Our Favourite Shop
(1985)
Singles from Café Bleu
  1. "My Ever Changing Moods"
    Released: 1984
  2. "You're the Best Thing"
    Released: 1984

Café Bleu is the official debut album released by the English band the Style Council. It was released on 16 March 1984,[3] on Polydor Records, produced by Paul Weller with Peter Wilson. It followed four non-album singles in the UK, the first three of which (and their B-sides) were released outside the UK as the album Introducing The Style Council in North America, Australasia, Japan and some European countries. The album was mainly recorded at Solid Bond Studios (owned by Weller) except for the strings which were recorded at CBS.[4]

Café Bleu included a large number of extra musicians, known as Honorary Councillors, including Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt from Everything but the Girl. The album represented a huge shift away from Weller's previous group The Jam and towards incorporating his favoured elements of classic soul, jazz and rap. The album received mixed reviews on its release, but became the band's biggest success on the UK Albums Chart, spending 38 weeks on the chart.[5] The singles "My Ever Changing Moods" and "You're the Best Thing" both reached the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart.[5] The single version of "My Ever Changing Moods" is a different recording to the album version.

Café Bleu was renamed My Ever Changing Moods in the United States to capitalise on the success of the single of the same name, and featured a slightly different track listing.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Number One4/5[7]
Q[8]
Record Collector[9]
Record Mirror[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[11]
Smash Hits8+1⁄2/10[12]
Sounds[13]
Spin[14]
Uncut7/10[15]

Contemporary critics were divided. Sounds dismissed the record as "dispensable dross", while others were more favourable.[16] In Smash Hits the album was given a 8+1⁄2 rating out of 10, Peter Martin writing: "Paul [Weller] clearly wants to win fans not on reputation but on musical worth. Me I never liked the Jam but this, c'est magnifique."[12]

In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic found that Café Bleu, although being indicative of "the group's fatal flaw – a tendency to be too eclectic and overambitious", is nonetheless "one of their better efforts", praising Weller's "solid soul-tinged pop songs, including 'My Ever Changing Moods,' 'Headstart for Happiness,' 'You're the Best Thing,' and 'Here's One That Got Away.'"[6]

Café Bleu was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[17] Treble included it in a 2014 list of 10 essential sophisti-pop albums, saying that while it does not feature synthesisers like the other albums on the list, "a mix of blue-eyed soul, jazz, and modern influences (for the time at least) made this record a sophisticated, progressive piece of pop."[2]

Track listing

All songs written by Paul Weller, except where noted.

Side one

  1. "Mick's Blessings" (Mick Talbot) – 1:15
  2. "The Whole Point of No Return" – 2:40
  3. "Me Ship Came In!" – 3:06
  4. "Blue Café" – 2:15
  5. "The Paris Match" – 4:25
  6. "My Ever Changing Moods" – 3:37
  7. "Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse" (Weller, Talbot) – 3:15

Side two

  2. "A Gospel" – 4:44
  3. "Strength of Your Nature" – 4:20
  4. "You're the Best Thing" – 5:40
  5. "Here's One That Got Away" – 2:35
  6. "Headstart for Happiness" – 3:20
  7. "Council Meetin'" (Weller, Talbot) – 2:29

Additional track listing

Personnel

The Style Council
  • Paul Weller – vocals, guitar; bass guitar on "Me Ship Came In!", "Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse" and "Council Meetin'", synthesiser on "Strength of Your Nature", flute on "Council Meetin'"
  • Mick Talbot – keyboards, piano, Hammond organ; brass synthesiser on "Strength of Your Nature", bass synthesiser on "You're the Best Thing", brass sound on "Headstart for Happiness", Clavinet on "Council Meetin'"
  • Steve White – drums, percussion

with:

  • Billy Chapman – saxophone on "Me Ship Came In!", "You're the Best Thing" and "Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse"
  • Barbara Snow – trumpet on "Me Ship Came In!", "Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse", "A Gospel" and "Headstart for Happiness"
  • Randy Anderson – guitar
  • Tracey Thorn – vocals on "The Paris Match"
  • Chris Bostock – double bass on "The Paris Match", bass on "Here's One That Got Away"
  • Ben Watt – guitar on "The Paris Match"
  • Dizzi Heights (Brian Beaton) – rap on "A Gospel"
  • Hilary Seabrook – saxophone on "A Gospel" and "Headstart for Happiness"
  • Dee C. Lee – backing vocals on "Strength of Your Nature" and co-vocals on "Headstart for Happiness"
  • Bobby Valentino – violin on "Here's One That Got Away"
  • Pete Wilson – drum programming on "A Gospel" and "Strength of Your Nature"

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1984) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[19] 27
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[20] 43
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[21] 16
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[22] 23
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[23] 6
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[24] 41
UK Albums (OCC)[25] 2
US Billboard 200[26] 56

Year-end charts

Chart (1984) Position
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[27] 29

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[28] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Top 15 Sophisti-Pop Albums". Classic Pop. 25 August 2021. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  2. ^ a b Terich, Jeff; Blyweiss, Adam; Bossenger, A. T.; Prickett, Sam (24 April 2014). "10 Essential Sophisti-pop albums". Treble. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  3. ^ NME. London, England: IPC Media: 3. 10 March 1984. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ "Interview with Peter Wilson (Producer: Café-Bleu)". Home Studio Recording. Vol. 1, no. 9. June 1984. p. 30.
  5. ^ a b Style Council Official Charts
  6. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Café Bleu – The Style Council". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  7. ^ Swayne, Karen (17 March 1984). "Albums". Number One. No. 46. p. 47.
  8. ^ Quantick, David (September 2017). "Vogue Trader". Q. No. 376. p. 118.
  9. ^ Wilson, Lois; Shirley, Ian (June 2020). "The Changing Man". Record Collector. No. 506. pp. 78–88.
  10. ^ Reid, Jim "Caveman" (17 March 1984). "No pop, no Style". Record Mirror. p. 16.
  11. ^ Coleman, Mark (2004). "The Style Council". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 789. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  12. ^ a b Martin, Peter (15–28 March 1984). "The Style Council: Cafe Bleu". Smash Hits. Vol. 6, no. 6. p. 27.
  13. ^ Munn, Iain (2011). Mr Cool's Dream: The Complete History of the Style Council (ebook ed.). Wholepoint Publications. ISBN 9780955144332.
  14. ^ Duerden, Nick (July 2008). "Discography: Paul Weller". Spin. Vol. 24, no. 7. p. 88. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  15. ^ Troussé, Stephen (October 2017). "The Style Council". Uncut. No. 245. pp. 42–44.
  16. ^ Steve Malins Paul Weller. The Unauthorised Biography Virgin Books 1997, p.128
  17. ^ Welton, Jaime (2006). "The Style Council: Café Bleu". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Universe Publishing. p. 523. ISBN 978-0-7893-1371-3.
  18. ^ The Style Council - My Ever Changing Moods (LP release). Accessed September 26, 2020.
  19. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 299. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  20. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6750a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  21. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Style Council – Café Bleu" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  22. ^ Okamoto, Satoshi (2006). Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Oricon. ISBN 978-4-87131-077-2.
  23. ^ "Charts.nz – The Style Council – Café Bleu". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  24. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – The Style Council – Café Bleu". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  25. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  26. ^ "The Style Council Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  27. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 1984". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  28. ^ "British album certifications – Style Council – Cafe Bleu". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
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