Scritti Politti: Classic Or Dud

Green was one of the rudest, begrudging, non-responsive wankers I ever tried to interview (1985). But then, maybe he was hungover or having a bad day. Of course I can be an asshole at times, too.

In any case, the version of "The 'Sweetest Girl'" heard here is different from the more familiar version heard on 1982's Songs To Remember album, with which every child should be issued at birth. There is a different vocal, though gliding with equal ease from the personal to the political and back again ("She left because she understood the value of defiance") and Robert Wyatt's keyboards are much more in evidence, with greater deployment of dub echo. The rather dry album mix now turns into a hymn whose tender grandeur allows us to forget the persuasive poison in its heart, though it's a shame that the track is faded before Wyatt reaches his dissonant keyboard coda (and how appropriate that Robert Wyatt should now enter the Scritti story in the environment of a song which arguably could not have been possible without the precedent of "Oh Caroline," not to mention "Sea Song").

The original B-side, "Lions After Slumber," is similarly far spikier and far more sheerly danceable than its album version, with slap bass and entertainingly discursive Chris McGregor-ish piano both played by the mysterious "Mike" (does anyone out there know exactly who this was?) backing a far more voluptuous vocal itemising by Green of everything he owns and which defines him, tangible and intangible.

And Love of a Lifetime was a great fit for Chaka!

Wood Beez is as fresh today as it ever was. I bought Cupid & Psyche three times as a soulstruck 13 year old (WH Smith was always the master of duff tape copies, so I switched to LP in the end), and picked it up again on CD last year. A couple of years later, Provision was my most anticipated album, and it doesn't disappoint. Anomie & Bonomie is another perfectly produced gem, but maybe a notch or two below the rest. Didn't pick up Songs To Remember until a couple of years back, but it's right up there too- probably the most-played band on my trusty iRiver.

I bought Early the other day, and played it directly after Bloc Party. I don't think bands should bother competing with the original early 80s set.

"It's been a long, long time since i heard this stuff. It sounds like an anti-produced labour of negativity, kind of structurally unsound and exposed, by design and default, If you felt generous you might say it was music with the questions built in and the assurances left out - otherwise you could just judge it gauche and technically unaccomplished. Whatever.

These are the first songs i wrote, recorded by the first Scritti Politti line up of Tom Morely (drums and drum machines) Nial Jinks (bass) and me, Green Gartside (vocals and guitar). We were living in a tiny squat in Camden Town at the time. Tom and I had just left School where the 'conceptual art' thing had led to a deeper interest in philiosophy. Nial and I had been together since schooldays, his marxist background was where our critical thinking began. We were united by our love of pop music (all terms used advisedly here). Inspired by seeing the Clash, Pistols, Damned and the Heartbreakers on night and Galvinised into action by d.i.y. pioneers "The Desperate Bicyles - we formed a group and started to play.

Although this music doesn't seem equal to conveying the ides and influences that informed it, perhaps a gereral drift and shifting of Musical Passions and theoretical passions is discernable, I think in the final minutes i can definately hear one place, one voice, one life being left and another being entered - blimey!

It's murky and frail stuff cut from old vinyl (the masters are long lost) i found it evocative of extraordinary times and a bit wiceworthy. Hopefully you'd find it at least - um - interesting. There's some nice bits especially the drumming and bass playingand Robet Wyatt's keyboards on "The Sweetest Girl" alone are worth your attention.

see you later.

Green Gartside"

i have never seen or heard of him since

Suggestions:

- Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
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- Try more general keywords.

Say, I have a 7" pressing of "Jacques Derrida/Asylums in Jerusalem", and of "Faithless" (both Rough Trade original pressings) - would they be worth anything at all? I always figured not really.

One of my best memories from my last job (recording studio) was telling Tawatha Agee, Fonzi Thornton and BJ Nelson (background vocalists) how much I loved them on the Scritti records (among others). They seemed pretty amazed I knew about their work on them.

Closer to Steely Dan or something (not exactly of course). The singing is way more palatable than I'd expected.

It's really weird that I somehow never knowingly heard anything by SP, considering how much college radio I was listening to at the time they would have been active.

p.s. Dat Da Dat da do be do hoo hoo

(From the Alex NYC KJ fixation thread.)

How annoying, exactly?

The album hit #50. Provision topped at #113. "Perfect Way" was #11, "Wood Beez" #91 or something like that, and "Boom! There She Was" made it to #54 or somewhere around there.

Is anyone else the proud owner of Scritti Politti - Early. I just picked it up today and it's my first exposure to the band.
Bought it as soon as it came out. Went straight to Vinyl Fever after school and bounced like I was on a pogo stick when I had it in my hands. I ended up buying another copy later on that day at another store (as I had pre-ordered it but they didn't tell me it was in yet) and gave it to my friend Courtney because she is the only person I know around here who'd appreciate it and I wanted to share the experience with someone I knew. She quite loves it. "Doubt Beat" makes her smile.

"Jacques Derrida" sounds like Simon and Garfunkel and the Beatles (and others), but also like nothing else.
To me it starts out like a gentler version of The Monochrome Set before exploding into something that seems to have been left off of Prince's Dirty Mind for not being sparse enough.

Say, I have a 7" pressing of "Jacques Derrida/Asylums in Jerusalem", and of "Faithless" (both Rough Trade original pressings) - would they be worth anything at all? I always figured not really.
Fuck, keep those, they're fabulous. I certainly wouldn't sell them!

Not Even Better Than George Michael

(OK, the "Wood Beez" vocal is pretty good.)

Totally overblown overstatement.

OK, no. Sorry - listening to it for the first times after buying a copy for a dollar. Am not the biggest lyrics guy in the world. Listening to it for the second time while paying attention to the lyrics (which I didn't do first time), the compositions "sunk in" more.

We got a bit carried away (assuming it would sell out instantly and at most one of us would succeed in getting tickets) and bought one more pair than we needed for the Thursday night of this:

http://www.scritti.net/

So if anyone wants two tickets at face value, let me know.

Go on I'll have em...not likely to see Scritti at a venue this small in a hurry...

Cool - webmail sent.

Scritti are playing live with Michael Clarke at the Tramway in Glasgow for his new work.... i got tickets for two of the three nights, i thought all three would be excessive.

The Work is on at the Barbican too from the 17th-27th of october but I can't confirm Scritti's live presence that night.

those nights, rather.

Do you have a link?