Album: Songs To Remember
Artist: Scritti Politti
Born: Newport, Gwent
Released: September 1982
Genre: New Wave
Influenced: Miles Davis, Robert Wyatt, Pet Shop Boys, Madness
Out of the endless musical avenues that post-punk opened up, Green Gartside and Scritti Politti forged one of the most original ways forward. Starting out as a noisy and belligerent outfit in the late 70s, Scritti Politti retained the intelligent lyrics and postmodern approach but created something entirely original with the release of The "Sweetest Girl" in 1981. Bundled as part of the NME/Rough Trade C81 cassette mixtape, the song was rightly chosen as the lead-off track among a long list of brilliant 1981 releases, from the likes of Pere Ubu, Orange Juice, Ian Dury, the Buzzcocks, etc, etc. This is a far better collection that the more revered C86 mixtape. Gartside was keen to distance himself from the growing indie movement in the UK and instead drew inspiration from soul, R&B and lovers rock, the latter a UK offshoot of reggae born in south London (also celebrated by the Clash on London Calling track, Lover's Rock). Lovers rock combined a rocksteady beat with Philadelphia soul, and on The "Sweetest" Thing this sound was mixed again with synthpop, creating something far too long and experimental to be a huge success (it peaked in the UK charts at No.64) but was seriously catchy all the same. On Scritti Politti's major label follow-up album, Cupid & Psyche 85, Gartside would refine the band's pop credentials further with a string of hits like Wood Beez and Absolute. Some true 80s highlights.
Gartside wrote The "Sweetest Girl" with the idea that Gregory Isaacs and Kraftwerk would perform it as a duet, but the krautrockers apparently refused on the grounds they didn't like reggae. Instead, Gartside sang it himself, with the help of Robert Wyatt on keyboards. Songs To Remember is my favourite Scritti album because it bridges Gartside's early phase with the commercial sheen of his later 80s albums, but it's not without its flaws. Some of the attempts to mimic classic soul are a little overproduced, especially A Slow Soul, with its overuse of noodling sax and gospel backing vocals. That said, there are so many brilliant tracks, notably Asylums In Jerusalem, Jacques Derrida and Faithless, that the album is much more than a vehicle for single The "Sweetest Girl". Gartside’s real genius is burying philosophical theory and political comment in music fit for dance floors and MTV (I love the line in Jacque Derrida, "Cos I'm a grand libertine with the kinda demeanour to overthrow the lot"). He's the sort of talent that attracts devoted fan websites; I saw him in conversation with Alexis Petridis at a Guardian Open event and he was so funny and knowledgeable about music. His stand-in appearances on BBC 6 Music are wonders to behold, as are his brilliant solo albums like 2006's White Bread Black Beer.
Out of the endless musical avenues that post-punk opened up, Green Gartside and Scritti Politti forged one of the most original ways forward. Starting out as a noisy and belligerent outfit in the late 70s, Scritti Politti retained the intelligent lyrics and postmodern approach but created something entirely original with the release of The "Sweetest Girl" in 1981. Bundled as part of the NME/Rough Trade C81 cassette mixtape, the song was rightly chosen as the lead-off track among a long list of brilliant 1981 releases, from the likes of Pere Ubu, Orange Juice, Ian Dury, the Buzzcocks, etc, etc. This is a far better collection that the more revered C86 mixtape. Gartside was keen to distance himself from the growing indie movement in the UK and instead drew inspiration from soul, R&B and lovers rock, the latter a UK offshoot of reggae born in south London (also celebrated by the Clash on London Calling track, Lover's Rock). Lovers rock combined a rocksteady beat with Philadelphia soul, and on The "Sweetest" Thing this sound was mixed again with synthpop, creating something far too long and experimental to be a huge success (it peaked in the UK charts at No.64) but was seriously catchy all the same. On Scritti Politti's major label follow-up album, Cupid & Psyche 85, Gartside would refine the band's pop credentials further with a string of hits like Wood Beez and Absolute. Some true 80s highlights.
Gartside wrote The "Sweetest Girl" with the idea that Gregory Isaacs and Kraftwerk would perform it as a duet, but the krautrockers apparently refused on the grounds they didn't like reggae. Instead, Gartside sang it himself, with the help of Robert Wyatt on keyboards. Songs To Remember is my favourite Scritti album because it bridges Gartside's early phase with the commercial sheen of his later 80s albums, but it's not without its flaws. Some of the attempts to mimic classic soul are a little overproduced, especially A Slow Soul, with its overuse of noodling sax and gospel backing vocals. That said, there are so many brilliant tracks, notably Asylums In Jerusalem, Jacques Derrida and Faithless, that the album is much more than a vehicle for single The "Sweetest Girl". Gartside’s real genius is burying philosophical theory and political comment in music fit for dance floors and MTV (I love the line in Jacque Derrida, "Cos I'm a grand libertine with the kinda demeanour to overthrow the lot"). He's the sort of talent that attracts devoted fan websites; I saw him in conversation with Alexis Petridis at a Guardian Open event and he was so funny and knowledgeable about music. His stand-in appearances on BBC 6 Music are wonders to behold, as are his brilliant solo albums like 2006's White Bread Black Beer.
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