The Story Behind The Song
1984. Arguably the most famous year in literary history brought division and conflict to all points of the compass. Record-high UK unemployment wrought its greatest toll in the North, blighting industrial communities, while the South was less affected. The miners' strike, the most violent in living memory, pitched northern mining communities against the police and the Thatcher government which drew its political power from its well of support in the southern shires. Police also attempted to clear the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp, the focus of protests against the deployment of nuclear cruise missiles on UK soil, reflecting the military tensions and global divisions between East and West.
In October, the Guardian wrote: "The country is sliding swiftly from crisis to chaos... the politics of Britain will be frozen in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation between contestants unable to break each other's will." And it was this month that Shout To The Top was released by The Style Council. Although musically it was miles away from The Jam, its lyrics were not. It was an angry shout about the state of the country, the pervasive feeling of despair and a longing to see change at the top of power; a rallying cry from and for the Left.
Lead singer and writer Paul Weller said later: "It wasn't a time to be non-partisan. It was too serious a time, too extreme. I wasn't waving the Labour party flag but the socialist red flag that's for sure. In The Jam I didn't want to be a part of any movement. But this was different... the trade unions were being worn down, we had the miners' strike, there was mass unemployment, there were all these issues... You couldn't sit on the fence. It was very black and white then. Thatcher was a tyrant, a dictator."
The underlying politically-charged sentiment was similar to The Jam's Eton Rifles or Going Underground, for example, but the pop style "sugar coated" the message (to borrow John Lennon's expression), allowing the record to reach a broader audience. Indeed, many Jam fans would have avoided the single, having disapproved of Weller's new incarnation with The Style Council, which often released lower octane songs into the pop mainstream such as "Long Hot Summer" and "You're The Best Thing" (both sumptuous ballads).
The Style Council formed in late 1982 as The Jam signed-off at the zenith of their popularity. Weller teamed up with keyboardist Mick Talbot, who also repudiated "the rock culture" that Weller despised. Naturally, the music became more keyboard-centric, intentionally moving away from The Jam's guitar-driven sound, and encompassed a wider variety of styles, including pop, soul, funk and synth. This is evident on the group's inaugural studio album, Cafe Bleu, released in March 1984.
No expense was lavished on the promotional video. It shows the group playing inside what appears to be a village hall in front of a large painted mural depicting the miners' strike. The picture is split horizontally; the lower half shows miners working in the darkness underground, while the top shows a mining community visited by police. The video is largely forgettable apart from Mick Talbot's overwrought performance on the piano as he twitches agitatedly while pulling an O-face that would grace any second-rate porno. With Weller looking like a nerd at a disco, only the chic Dee C. Lee on backing vocals puts any semblance of style into the video. However, this cannot detract from an extraordinary foot-tapping, hum-along song bristling with positivity that belies its message of angry despair. In our view, this is the finest Style Council track. As it is the most played Style Council song at his gigs, perhaps Paul Weller agrees.
Thatcher's 1984 is now history but Orwell's 1984 remains a salutary warning about totalitarianism and the inhuman force of total power; think of a jackboot stamping on a face, he wrote. And he would have certainly agreed that it is always necessary to tell truth to power and shout to the top.
We hereby instate Shout To The Top by The Style Council on The Wall as No.9 Best Single of 1984
This wasn’t The Jam but the lyrics were as angry as any Jam song that Weller had written. A Trojan horse delivered by a uptempo, Motown-inspired sound.Dave B
