Songfacts®:

• In the early 1980s, Paul Weller - mod icon and guitar-wielding frontman of The Jam - did something that caused no small amount of fan trauma. He broke up The Jam. Just like that. At the peak of their powers. No punch-up, no artistic implosion, just a cool, collected decision to walk away.
  
  As Weller later explained in his book Magic: A Journal of Song, he felt that The Jam simply couldn't go where he wanted to go next musically. "Not because of any issues with musicianship," he wrote, "I just wanted something different. A softer, gentler music at times, I guess."
  
  What followed was The Style Council, a band that was part jazz, part soul, part pop. Their third single, the languid "Long Hot Summer," was exactly the sort of song The Jam never could have done. Built on a gently percolating '70s-style organ line, with relaxed percussion, it was Weller's vision brought to life: soulful, minimal, quietly funky, and about as far from punk as you could get without accidentally wandering into the Bee Gees.
• Weller cited Nina Simone as the inspiration for "Long Hot Summer." Her music, he said, was "the antithesis of loud guitar rock."
• While "Long Hot Summer" has an extremely contented sound, Weller's lyrics focus on the pain of a relationship where, despite efforts, things keep going wrong.
  
  "I had the chords and the melody and thought, That's really sweet. I just had to find the right words for it," Weller told Mojo magazine.
  
  He added: "'Long Hot Summer' is me with my professional songwriters head on, thinking, I like this music, and we've got to do something with it. I'd have thought, 'Nice title. You could go lots of ways with that.'"
• The Style Council recorded the song in June 1983 at Le Studio Grande Armée in Paris. It was laid down just before the record-breaking British heatwave of July 1983, which added a coincidental resonance to its release and title.
• The song was released on August 8, 1983 and peaked at #3 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the Style Council's biggest hit. It also performed well internationally, peaking at #3 in Ireland, #12 in New Zealand, #28 in Australia, and #41 in Canada.
• Frequent The Cure visual collaborator Tim Pope directed the video. Filmed on the River Cam in Cambridge, it captures the song's unhurried, summery vibe.
• The 12-inch version, "Long Hot Summer '89," was released in 1989 as a single from the compilation The Singular Adventures of The Style Council. This time it peaked at #48 on the UK Singles Chart.
• "Long Hot Summer" stands as one of The Style Council's most iconic tracks, notable for its smooth, soulful sound and evocative lyrics. The song is a staple of Paul Weller's live performances and has featured on several Style Council compilations. Its enduring popularity is also reflected in the 2020 documentary Long Hot Summers: The Story of The Style Council.