''Our Favourite Shop'' is the second
studio album by the English group
the Style Council
The Style Council were a British band formed in late 1982 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 Ru ...
. It was released on 8 June 1985, on
Polydor
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States ...
, and was recorded ten months after the band's debut ''
Café Bleu
''Café Bleu'' is the official debut album released by the English band The Style Council. It was released on 16 March 1984, on Polydor Records, produced by Paul Weller with Peter Wilson. It followed the compilation '' Introducing The Style Cou ...
''. It features guest vocalists, including
Lenny Henry
Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British actor, comedian, singer, television presenter and writer.
Henry gained success as a stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in '' The Le ...
,
Tracie Young
Tracie Young (often just billed as Tracie; born 25 March 1965) is a former English pop singer in the 1980s. She achieved success after becoming a protégée of Paul Weller.
Career
Born in Derby, England, Young was discovered by The Jam frontma ...
, and
Dee C Lee
Diane Catherine Sealy (born 6 June 1961), known as Dee C. Lee, is a British singer. Born to Saint Lucian parents, she grew up in south east London. Early in her career, she was a member of the British band Central Line under the aliases Dee Se ...
. The album contained "
Come to Milton Keynes", "
The Lodgers", "
Boy Who Cried Wolf", and "
Walls Come Tumbling Down!" which were all released as singles, with corresponding music videos. The three singles that were released in the UK all reached the top 40 on the UK charts. The album was released as ''Internationalists'' in the United States, with a reconfigured track listing.
Style Council's most commercially successful album, it was an immediate commercial and critical success, and remained at the top of the charts for one week, displacing ''
Brothers in Arms'' by
Dire Straits. The album was the Style Council's only number one album in the UK. According to the BPI, the record sold over 100,000 copies, and was certified gold.
The multigenre album incorporates diverse stylistic influences, including soul,
rap
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
and
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
styles. Recording was completed in March 1985. The cover, depicting the band posing inside a shop, was designed by Paul Weller and British artist
Simon Halfon.
Contents
The album features fourteen original compositions (eight by Paul Weller, four co-written by Weller and
Mick Talbot
Michael Talbot (born 11 September 1958) is an English keyboardist. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Talbot is probably best known as co-founder of the Style Council. He has been a member of Dexys Midnight Runners, the Merton Parkas and ...
, and one co-written by Weller with
Steve White), with one instrumental from Talbot, in its original British form.
Lyrical targets include racism, excessive
consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the su ...
, the effects of self-serving governments, the suicide of one of Weller's friends and what the band saw as an exasperating lack of opposition to the status quo. All of this pessimism is countered with an overarching sense of
hope and delight that alternatives do actually exist—if only they can be seen. They also took a more overtly political approach than
The Jam
The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1 ...
in their lyrics, with tracks such as "Walls Come Tumbling Down", "The Lodgers", and "Come to Milton Keynes" being deliberate attacks on '
middle England' and
Thatcherite
Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character and general style of manag ...
principles prevalent in the 1980s. "A Man of Great Promise" was Weller's eulogy to his school friend and early Jam member - Dave Waller - who had died from a heroin overdose in August 1982.
Release
The majority of the album's material was released (with different sequencing and packaged with an entirely different cover design) in the USA as ''Internationalists'' by
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint.
Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...
(which has been a sister label to
Polydor Records
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...
, the band's UK label, since 1998, under
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
).
Most countries (except for the original UK pressing) omitted the track "The Stand Up Comic's Instructions" as it was believed that its satire of racist attitudes would be misunderstood. The guest vocalist was the black British comedian,
Lenny Henry
Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British actor, comedian, singer, television presenter and writer.
Henry gained success as a stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in '' The Le ...
imitating comedians such as
Bernard Manning and
Jim Davidson
James Cameron Davidson (born 13 December 1953) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, singer and TV presenter. He hosted the television shows '' Big Break'' and ''The Generation Game''. He also developed two adult pantomime shows such as ''B ...
.
It was included on the UK, US, and Canada pressing.
Critical reception
In his "Consumer Guide" column for ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'',
Robert Christgau wrote: "One reason Paul Weller's rock and roll never convinced non-Brits was his reedy voice, which he has no trouble bending to the needs of the fussy phonographic cabaret he undertook so quixotically and affectedly after retiring the Jam. I'm sure the move has cost him audience, but the new format suits the specifics of his socialism."
Retrospectively,
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
wrote that ''Our Favourite Shop'' "was still quite eclectic, but it didn't seem as schizophrenically diverse as ''Café Bleu''", praising it as a "more cohesive and stronger" album.
Track listing
All songs written by Paul Weller, except where noted.
Later CD issues included "
Shout to the Top!
"Shout to the Top!" is a song by the English band the Style Council which was their seventh single to be released. It was composed by lead singer Paul Weller, and was released in 1984. It appears on the ''Vision Quest (film), Vision Quest'' soun ...
" ("Vision Quest" Version) as a bonus track.
;Additional track listing
Personnel
;The Style Council
*
Paul Weller
Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul mu ...
– vocals; guitars; bass guitar; synth
*
Mick Talbot
Michael Talbot (born 11 September 1958) is an English keyboardist. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Talbot is probably best known as co-founder of the Style Council. He has been a member of Dexys Midnight Runners, the Merton Parkas and ...
– Hammond organ; keyboards; vocals (track 1)
*
Steve White – drums; percussion
*
Dee C. Lee
Diane Catherine Sealy (born 6 June 1961), known as Dee C. Lee, is a British singer. Born to Saint Lucian parents, she grew up in south east London. Early in her career, she was a member of the British band Central Line under the aliases Dee Sea ...
– vocals
;Guest vocalists
*
Lenny Henry
Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British actor, comedian, singer, television presenter and writer.
Henry gained success as a stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in '' The Le ...
– vocals
*
Tracie Young
Tracie Young (often just billed as Tracie; born 25 March 1965) is a former English pop singer in the 1980s. She achieved success after becoming a protégée of Paul Weller.
Career
Born in Derby, England, Young was discovered by The Jam frontma ...
– vocals
*
Alison Limerick
Alison T. Limerick (born 1959, Stepney) is a British singer who scored success in the 1990s with the club anthem " Where Love Lives", which was her solo debut and a No. 3 hit on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play in 1991.
Biography
Limerick attended ...
– vocals
;Session musicians
*
Camille Hinds – bass
*Stewart Prosser – trumpet; flugelhorn
*
David DeFries – trumpet; flugelhorn
*Mike Mower – flute; saxophone
*Chris Lawrence – trombone
*Clark Kent – contra bass
*
Gary Wallis
Gary Wallis is a British drummer, percussionist, drum programmer, producer and musical director. He has worked with a wide range of artists and bands, including Nik Kershaw, Pink Floyd, 10cc, Il Divo, Westlife, Girls Aloud, Atomic Kitten, Pau ...
– percussion
*
John Mealing
John Mealing (born 5 April 1942 in Yeovil, Somerset) is a British keyboardist, composer and arranger.
After leaving the Don Rendell-Ian Carr Quintet in the late sixties,Jocelyn Pook
Jocelyn Pook (, rhyming with "book"; born 14 February 1960) is an English composer and viola player. She is known for her scores for many films, including ''Eyes Wide Shut'', ''The Merchant of Venice'' and '' The Wife''.
Education
Pook gradua ...
– viola
*
Audrey Riley – cello
*Peter Wilson – keyboard Sequencing
*Patrick Grundy-White – French Horn
*Steve Dawson – trumpet
*Billy Chapman – saxophone
*Kevin Miller – bass
*Helen Turner – piano
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Our Favourite Shop
1985 albums
The Style Council albums
Polydor Records albums
Political music albums by English artists