Scritti Politti: Classic Or Dud

I love the way that the Mardin productions and the band productions *sound* completely different yet meet the same spec. of precision and accuracy.

i recently burned myself a comp of 15 or so of the earliest SP songs (basically the first 4 singles/peel sessions.) it's been about all i've wanted to listen to while sick. "skank" and "messthetics" in particular have been oddly soothing.

but i think he was just as clever on the first albums/stuff,

i never got to hear the first songs in any form until very recently, except for the poltical excesses of NME interviews circa early scritti stance, which made for entertaining rock stars, and i'm getting my head around those songs and they're sinking in just like the other two records

i think of the 4 A sides stuff as content art-punk, so the beautiful pop charms of the arty '85, not short on content as crafted pop songs with good hooks and construction, i suspect some people find it sexy

Well, I've read every Scritti thread recently so here you are:

The sound of Scritti Politti 1978 to 1985 is essentially the sound of Green Gartside getting better in bed.

-- Tom (ebro...), December 3rd, 2001 7:00 PM.
(Scritti Politti)

yes, i got the impression Green was a fun person to be in the company of -- i read numerous new wave articles in the NME at that age as a matter of daily routine, so it's with some pleasure that i actually remember a particular NME feature (i was very young), since not having had much money as a kid, i'd been handsomely rewarded with both their/his records.

you got it wrong. the most disappointing meeting with someone who was and still remains a bit of a hero of my youth possible. smug and arrogant is the way i'd put it.

was the unpeasantness there in the early phase ? was it bought out later with his subsequent success ? (Michael Jackson associations ?)

(will this gossip just lead to "i didn't want to know that stuff since yeah he was a kind'a cool hero", Dave ?)

If anyway would burn the early stuff onto CD for me I'd be forever grateful.

Thanks, but I discovered I still have them on my iPod so don't bother. What I really need is Soulseek, but I have a mac and limited hard drive space soI'll just have to wait a while.

great news though. RT still has to pay him royalties, right?

can someone email me the first peel session? i accidently deleted them and can't use slsk right now.

According to Green's own sleeve notes, "the masters are long lost".

Tracklisting:

1. Skank Bloc Bologna
2. Is and Ought the Western World
3. 28/8/78
4. Scritlocks Door
5. OPEC - IMMAC
6. Messthetics
7. Hegemony
8. Bibbly-o-Tek
9. Doubt Beat
10. Confidence
11. P.A.S
12. The “Sweetest Girl”
13. Lions After Slumber

Rough Trade, RTRADCD188

According to Green's own sleeve notes, "the masters are long lost".

And for all that this is a pretty good remastering job, sounds just fine -- I'd draw a general comparison to, say, the proper Cog Sinister rerelease of Fall in a Hole + in terms of a vinyl remastering sounding very well. The quieter spaces and minimal touches of the earlier work come through nicely.

and what are the odds that versions on soulseek were digitised by me? see the desperate bicycles thread...

Heh, the Desperate Bicycles are indeed specifically credited by Green in the liner notes as having 'galvanized (the original band) into action,' so there ya go. (Not that this was any shock, I'm sure.)

maybe his paymaster record co. just ain't "commie" these days ?

I think I have only EVER seen this on vinyl and have it on cassette somewhere not available to me at the moment. Wait. Let me think...no I don't think I have this one with me! And guilt will eat my insides like bugs all night. Until I have it again.

Thanks for your help!

Obvious:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuWE26Qwqdg

I wanted to post this live recording up as I was going back through hard drives and have been listening to it quite a bit recently.

It's from The University Of London 11-16-1979, pretty fascinating, in my humble.

I had read that they made songs up on the fly during performances and was always a bit sceptical, but this recording bears that out and the whole gig seems, well really quite fraught but compelling.

It's interesting to hear them pull a song out of thin air and there's also a song that I can't find any mention of on Google called "John's on the dole' (the notes call it 'drums on the door' though) which is pretty great despite equipment problems and what sounds like some very vocal, smart alec-y mates in the audience.

https://we.tl/t-SzlTBDz7zf

Great in depth interview by Trevor Jackson with Green Gartside on NTS

https://www.mixcloud.com/NTSRadio/trevor-jackson-green-gartside-29th-october-2019/

THANKS!!!

somehow it's amazing to hear GG talking like a normal person thinking about things. I have actually met and spoken to him irl, fwiw, but the meeting is a blur. We talked about the fact that we were both wearing very similar yellow jackets. It's honestly the only thing I remember other than how tall he was (I'm tiny and was overwhelmed)

Yeah, this is really fascinating. (Just getting to the end right....now!) Thanks!

Thanks for sharing that, lovely stuff.

I can feel a Scritti jag coming on, where nothing else will do for a week or so.

this is a phenomenal interview

:O @ that early version of "wood beez"

That early version is as great in its own way.

waiting to see if Green pops up at all in the Henry Cow book.
Heard taht chris cutler was less than complementary about the early Scritti stuff he was played.

awesome

I love how Trevor Jackson played the System and Robert Palmer's "You Are in My System" and forced Green to choose.

Goodness -- I didn't know about this Pete Rock remix.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywr4GN6DS5E

Kraftwerk saying they hate reggae vs. Robert Palmer calling while swimming with dolphins.

Green's the 600th person to insist that Palmer's appetite for music was at odds with his image.

No RP was a total music nerd...just look at his choice of covers...he even covered Husker Du...ps the story of his mum smashing the Beatles 7” was utterly heartbreaking...

ICYMI, two new Green songs (a single, in fact) released yesterday:

https://open.spotify.com/album/0kSN6bCRIdNskZmOlQhnVg?si=jksozpT_QbCSJWogjUBrtw

I've been dealing with Anomie and Bonhomie the last week. What an album. It doesn't work, but this collaboration between Gartside and Mos Def, Ndegeocello, etc is fascinating for its era. The rock guitar is a bit much.

imo it totally works

green is ashamed of the foo fighters worship tracks but i love them, great power-pop

"Brushed With Oil.." ranks among his best too, and I love the remixes.

Still thinking about it.

yes "brushed with oil" is gorgeous

i think "umm" is one of my top five scritti songs

I bought Anomie and Bonhomie not long after it came out. It was a complete WTF for most people, myself included. But even before it aged well—and that’s maybe a bit debatable and he sounds a bit like a guest at times—you had to tip your cap to the fact that the guy just gives no fucks and does what he wants, whether it’s the rap metal and fey grunge of this or the I’m-gonna-carbon-copy-my-best-album-and-top-it of Provision.

Interested in the new single.

https://scrittipolitti.ffm.to/reissues

vinyl reissues of cupid & psyche and anomie and bonhomie

yes i bought both immediately

https://pocketmags.com/mojo-magazine/jun-22/articles/1133453/he-s-back-after-16-years-green-gartside-readies-scritti-politti-lp-six

just stumbled over this - didn't read the actual article but it sure sounds promising!
fingers crossed...

Still can't get over the name Green Gartside, I love it

There's a great recent episode of the Martyn Ware podcast with David Gamson as the guest. Some funny stories about the recording of Oh Patti and a surprising citing of 'We Don't Talk Any More' by Cliff Richard as a big musical influence. And it's led me to Hannah Diamond's music (Gamson is producing her new LP) and made me wish Green would make a hyperpop record - something that pushes 21st century sound design possibilities like C&P did back in '85.