THE STYLE COUNCIL – THE COST OF LOVING 2LP – Nr MINT A1/B1/C1/D1 UK PAUL WELLER THE JAM

The Style Council – The Cost Of Loving
(Polydor Records  1987  TSCLP4)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Gatefold Sleeve in Nr MINT condition
– hype sticker on front
Inner Sleeve in Nr MINT condition

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

The Style Council were an English band formed in 1983 by Paul Weller, the former singer, songwriter, and guitarist with the punk rock/new wave/mod revival band The Jam, and keyboardist Mick Talbot, previously a member of Dexys Midnight Runners, The Bureau and The Merton Parkas. The band enabled Weller to take a more soulful direction with his music.

The permanent line-up grew to include drummer Steve White and Weller’s then-wife, vocalist Dee C. Lee. Other artists such as Tracie Young and Tracey Thorn (Everything but the Girl) also collaborated with the group. As with Weller’s previous band, most of the London-based group’s hits were in their homeland, where they scored seven Top 10 hits. The band also had hit singles and albums in Australia and New Zealand during the 1980s.

The Cost of Loving is the third album by the band The Style Council, released in 1987. This album saw the group concentrating on the R&B styles that had been growing in America during the eighties. 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 albums. United States label Geffen Records heard the tracks and promptly dropped The Style Council from their roster. Polygram records would eventually issue the album Stateside without its much-maligned International Orange jacket design. Socially conscious soul music pioneer Curtis Mayfield was asked to mix some of the material on the album, which displays hints of being influenced by house music and the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis sound. The initial British pressings of the album were conceived and issued as two 12″ EPs in a gatefold sleeve (designed by Simon Halfon with ideas from Paul Weller). Tracks from the album were included in a 37-minute film, Jerusalem, about the band.

Due to the famous original album cover, the album gained the nickname The Orange Album. Today, the album is generally seen as a turning point in the band’s career, giving to the sounds later explored on Confessions of a Pop Group and Modernism: A New Decade, whilst the start of the band’s declining commercial and critical success. The album received mixed reviews.

Track listing

1. “It Didn’t Matter” (Weller,Talbot)
2. “Right to Go” (Dynamic Three, Weller, White)
3. “Heavens Above” (Weller)
4. “Fairy Tales” (Weller)
5. “Angel” (Moten, Griffin, Sully)
6. “Walking the Night” (Weller)
7. “Waiting”(Weller)
8. “The Cost of Loving” (Weller)
9. “A Woman’s Song”(Weller)

Personnel

• Paul Weller – Vocals
• Dee C. Lee – Vocals
• Mick Talbot – Keyboard
• Steve White – Drums