Café Bleu

Café Bleu is the official debut album released by the English band The Style Council. It was released on 16 March 1984,[2] on Polydor Records, produced by Paul Weller with Peter Wilson. It followed the compilation Introducing The Style Council, which was released only in the Netherlands, Canada and Japan. The album was mainly recorded at Solid Bond Studios (owned by Weller) except for the strings which were recorded at CBS.[3]

Café Bleu
Studio album by The Style Council
Released	16 March 1984
Recorded	October 1983 to January 1984
Studio	Solid Bond Studios, London; string overdubs at CBS Studios, London
Genre	Pop jazz soul new wave sophisti-pop[1]
Length	43.57
Label	Polydor Geffen (USA)
Producer	Paul Weller Peter Wilson
The Style Council chronology
Introducing The Style Council (1983) Café Bleu (1984) Our Favourite Shop (1985)
Singles from Café Bleu
"My Ever Changing Moods" Released: 1984 "You're the Best Thing" Released: 1984

Café Bleu was renamed My Ever Changing Moods in the United States to capitalise on the success of the single of the same name. 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.

It was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Q	[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[6]
Smash Hits	8½/10[7]
Spin	[8]
Uncut	7/10[9]

In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic felt that Café Bleu, while being indicative of "the group's fatal flaw – a tendency to be too eclectic and overambitious", was 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.'"[4]

In 2014, Treble included Café Bleu in its list of "10 Essential Sophisti-pop Albums", saying that, while it does not feature synthesizers 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."[1]

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

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

Additional track listing

US LP track listing (My Ever Changing Moods)

The US LP, retitled My Ever Changing Moods, drops two tracks ("Me Ship Came In!" and "Council Meetin'"), adds one ("A Solid Bond in Your Heart"), and substitutes an extended version of "My Ever Changing Moods" for the shorter UK LP version. Side one "My Ever Changing Moods (12-inch version)" – 5:42 "The Whole Point of No Return" – 2:42 "Blue Café" – 2:19 "The Paris Match" – 4:26 "Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse" – 3:16 "A Solid Bond in Your Heart" – 3:13 Side two "You're the Best Thing" – 5:45/4:18 ^ "A Gospel" – 4:44 "Strength of Your Nature" – 4:20 "Here's One That Got Away" – 2:34 "Headstart for Happiness" – 3:19 "Mick's Blessings" – 1:14 ^ Certain releases of the My Ever Changing Moods album include the single version of "You're the Best Thing" (4:18) instead of the full-length album version (5:45) originally featured on Café Bleu. However, there is no indication of the different version anywhere on the album jacket (as the album sleeve for these editions of My Ever Changing Moods still lists a song length of 5:45, and the saxophone solo that adorns the single version is uncredited in the liner notes).[10]

US cassette track listing (My Ever Changing Moods)

The cassette contains the complete US LP. and also restores the two dropped tracks, "Me Ship Came In!" and "Council Meetin'". Side one "My Ever Changing Moods (12-inch version)" "The Whole Point of No Return" "Blue Café" "The Paris Match" "Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse" "A Solid Bond In Your Heart" "Me Ship Came In!" Side two "You're the Best Thing" "A Gospel" "Strength of Your Nature" "Here's One That Got Away" "Headstart for Happiness" "Mick's Blessings" "Council Meetin'"

Personnel

• Paul Weller – vocals, guitar
• Mick Talbot – keyboards, piano, Hammond organ
• Steve White – drums, percussion
• Billy Chapman – saxophone
• Barbara Snow – trumpet on "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"
• Dizzy Hites – rap on "A Gospel"
• Hillary Seabrook – saxophone on "A Gospel" and "Headstart for Happiness"
• Dee C. Lee – vocals "Strength of Your Nature" and "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

Chart (1984–85)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[11]	27
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[12]	43
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[13]	16
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[14]	23
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[15]	6
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[16]	41
UK Albums (OCC)[17]	2
US Billboard 200[18]	56

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[19]	Gold	100,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Terich, Jeff; Blyweiss, Adam; Bossenger, A. T.; Prickett, Sam (24 April 2014). "10 Essential Sophisti-pop albums". Treble. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
2. NME. London, England: IPC Media: 3. 10 March 1984. Missing or empty |title= (help)
3. "Interview with Peter Wilson (Producer: Café-Bleu)". Home Studio Recording. Vol. 1 no. 9. June 1984. p. 30.
4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Café Bleu – The Style Council". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
5. Quantick, David (September 2017). "Vogue Trader". Q. No. 376. p. 118.
6. 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.
7. Martin, Peter (15–28 March 1984). "The Style Council: Café Bleu". Smash Hits. Vol. 6 no. 6. p. 27.
8. Duerden, Nick (July 2008). "Discography: Paul Weller". Spin. Vol. 24 no. 7. p. 88. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
9. Troussé, Stephen (October 2017). "The Style Council". Uncut. No. 245. pp. 42–44.
10. The Style Council - My Ever Changing Moods (LP release). Accessed September 26, 2020.
11. 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.
12. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6750a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
13. "Dutchcharts.nl – The Style Council – Café Bleu" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
14. Okamoto, Satoshi (2006). Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Oricon. ISBN 978-4-87131-077-2.
15. "Charts.nz – The Style Council – Café Bleu". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
16. "Swedishcharts.com – The Style Council – Café Bleu". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
17. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
18. "The Style Council Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
19. "British album certifications – The Style Council – Cafe Bleu". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 30 October 2020. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Cafe Bleu in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.

External links

• Café Bleu (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)
• Café Bleu at Discogs (list of releases)