The Cost of Loving (1987)

By 1987, the writing was on the wall that hip hop and funk were taking over the music industry. I still prefer the brit-funk sound of Big Audio Dynamite, but The Cost of Loving really works it. You still have the straightforward pop songs, like "Heaven's Above", and the piano ballads, like "It Didn't Matter", but then you get grooves like "The Cost of Loving" and "Right To Go". If I had to pick a favourite sound from this album though, it would be the soft focus blue-eyed soul of "Waiting", which takes me back to Jam songs like "English Rose". It's a simple love song, with an easy to listen, easy to digest message:

I don't mind what people say
They always think the worst anyway
And if I'm wrong I'll pay the price
It's a cost that I don't count as sacrifice

Listen baby, I'm gonna love you anyway
I don't care what people say
I'm gonna love you, come what may
I don't care what people say

I do feel like I have a better (different) appreciation for the brilliance of artists like Curtis Mayfield because I experienced their music first through bands like TSC and the Jam.

This song sounds like it was written for middle-aged dads to sing along. I don't think we realized back in the 80s, but The Style Council we're very dad rock, irregardless of how edgy they tried to sound. Possibly this is the cost of loving. Okay, "Angel", the Anita Baker cover, and a duet with Dee C Lee, and I think by 1987 Paul and Dee C were married. Judging by the videos from this period, Paul was spending less time punting and bicycle riding with Mick. It was an awkward period, but they got through it. Lots of really nice horns on this album. Overall, however, if you listen closely, the star of the show is still Steve White's drums. He's a really a top drawer drummer. He's also married to Sally Lindsay, who played Shelly Unwin on Coronation Street, so that's something as well.