by Stephen Thomas ErlewineGuitarist/vocalist Paul Weller broke up the Jam, the most popular British band of the early 80s, at the height of their success in 1982 because he was dissatisfied with their musical direction. Weller wanted to incorporate more elements of soul, R&B, and jazz into his songwriting, which is something he felt his punk-oriented bandmates were incapable of performing. In order to pursue this musical direction, he teamed up in 1983 with keyboardist Mick Talbot, a former member of the mod revival band the Merton Parkas. Together, Weller and Talbot became the Style Council — other musicians were added according to what kind of music the duo were performing. With the Style Council, the underlying intellectual pretensions that ran throughout Wellers music came to the forefront.Although the music was rooted in American R&B, it was performed slickly — complete with layers of synthesizers and drum machines — and filtered...