"My Ever Changing Moods" by The Style Council

Song#:  1852
Date:  04/07/1984
Debut:  92
Peak:  29
Weeks:  14
Genre:  Blue-Eyed Soul, Pop



Pop Bits:  After the British mod-revival rock band The Jam broke up in 1982, lead singer/songwriter Paul Weller recruited keyboardist Mick Talbot for his new band The Style Council. Initially, it was just the duo that formed the band, but they would later hire on other members. Their first single in 1983, "Speak Like a Child," was a #4 hit in the UK and they grabbed a #3 with "Long Hot Summer." While the singles did nothing in the US, an EP of their first recordings was issued in the States and found its way onto the Album chart (#172). With a foundation to build upon, the Council then recorded their first full album, Café Bleu. This song served as the first single from the album and it reached #5 in the UK. It would help send the album to #2. However, what was unusual is that the single version of the song was done with a full band while the version that appeared on Café Bleu was an acoustic vocal/piano version. The full-band single made it across the pond to the US and started to catch on. Eventually it would reach the Pop Top 30 while going to #34 AC, #52 Rock, and #88 R&B. Due to the success of the single, an altered version of Café Bleu was issued in the US under the title My Ever Changing Moods. It had an altered line-up of songs that included replacing the acoustic version of this song with the full-band single version. It would be their best effort in the US reaching #56.

ReduxReview:  Easy, breezy, beautiful...Cover Girl! This would be a good song for a photo shoot, but it's much better than just background music. For me, when this came out and I first heard it on the radio, it was something fresh and interesting. I fell for it right away and got the single. Oddly, I never dove into their albums. I've since listened to some of their music and Café Bleu is quite good. It's a bit eclectic, but it works. The acoustic version of this song is lovely and dreamy, but I prefer this full-band single version.

ReduxRating:  8/10

Trivia:  Although The Jam and Paul Weller were huge in the UK, neither really broke through in the US. The Jam got nine Top 10 singles in the UK, including four #1's, and a solo Weller grabbed five Top 10's. All of Weller's twelve solo studio LPs reached the Top 10 with four of them hitting #1. By contract, neither The Jam nor Weller were able to get on the US Pop singles chart. Their albums didn't fare that well either. The Jam landed three on the chart with the best getting to #72, while only one of Weller's albums charted. That makes this Style Council single and the Café Bleu album the best Weller was able to do in the US.

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