Café Bleu

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Café Bleu
File:The-Style-Council-Café-Bleu.jpg
Studio album by
the Style Council
Released16 March 1984
RecordedOctober 1983 – January 1984
Studio
  • Solid Bond (London, UK)
  • CBS (London, UK) (strings)
GenreSophisti-pop[1][2]
Length43.57
Label
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 debut studio album 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

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStarHalf star[6]
Number One4/5[7]
QStarStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svg[8]
Record CollectorStarStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svg[9]
Record MirrorStarStarStarFile:Star empty.svgFile:Star empty.svg[10]
The Rolling Stone Album GuideStarStarHalf starFile:Star empty.svgFile:Star empty.svg[11]
Smash Hits8+1⁄2/10[12]
SoundsStarStarStarHalf starFile:Star empty.svg[13]
SpinStarStarStarHalf starFile:Star empty.svg[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

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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

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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

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Weekly charts

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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

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

Certifications

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

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  4. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  5. ^ a b Style Council Official Charts
  6. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  15. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  16. ^ Steve Malins Paul Weller. The Unauthorised Biography Virgin Books 1997, p.128
  17. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  18. ^ The Style Council - My Ever Changing Moods (LP release). Accessed September 26, 2020.
  19. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  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. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  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. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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