I love how Scritti developed: from angular, skeletal folk-Punk, through jazz-soul-lovers rock pop, to Uber-produced techno-dance and having Miles Davis guest. The ‘Sweetest Girl” is my hands-down favourite song ever heard, I would hesitate before calling any of it ‘mainstream’. If Wood Beez had been recorded for Rough Trade rather than Virgin, I expect it would have been very interesting indeed. I love the vinyl crackle over The Sweetest Girl here, reminded me of my vinyl copy.
Wood Beez was the true beginning of Green/Scritti discovering his own genius. I was living in England (relocated from California) when it was released as a single, and it sonically towered above everything around it at the time. And to this day it is still in a class by itself.
@feroxcvpiditas This is the entire scritti politti bit, there are 3 parts and if you watch you will see the linking pieces as they merge. The whole programme was about an hour long and had nearly every rough trade act on there. Hopefully BBC4 will show it again, keep a look out for it. There is somewhere on the BBC4 website where you can ask for shows to be shown again, email them and see.
This is a brilliant clip: from marxist indie-pop to intelligent chart-pop! ... and back to indie music with Early & White Bread Black Beer, both recommended!
@jrmetmoi - can't remember now, some American A&R man or a lawyer i guess, i just went over the original tape about a week ago too, it will get shown again on BBC4, keep looking out for it.
@CusterFlux: oh no, not QUITE so impossible to copy. Watch what I'm about to post. I've cut an original single as tribute to Green Gartside, Fred Maher and David Gamson... and oh yes you CAN replicate the Scritti Politti sound... but it beat the hell out of me to do it... I wouldn't advise it to anybody sane who would like to keep his sanity!
@jonsilence Pretty much true ... though don't forget David Gamson for much of that, Cupid & Psyche '85 was so far ahead of its time that it remained nearly impossible to copy for at least a decade after it was released: I can only imagine the tension between Green & Gamson after being couped up for the better part of a year, non-stop, debating every last detail ... while making that record. Usually that ends in disaster, in their case, lucky for us, the results where incredible.
I can't say Scritti's sugarpop dreck was the world's gain. This band should only be a footnote to postpunk due to their earliest DIY stuff, but even that is forgettable. The band became some UK version of Janet Jackson....
I have respect for the Smiths making it on their own terms through Rough Trade. But Scritti Politti? Their whole thing was anti the system but a few months later there's Green wearing make up with bleached hair posing with a fancy guitar on Top of the Pops. The phrase 'Sell Out' springs to mind. And the word 'Hypocrites', also.
Although their earlier stuff was very indie, they always wanted to be pop stars imo and working with Arif Mardin gave them that opportunity to enter that world. It's some of the best power pop ever although i prefer Provision. The Sweetest Girl was their earlier attempt to go into the pop world.
@@jezzyby47 I like some of their music, more the early stuff, I find some of his pop material a bit syrupy. But that aside, I have no problem with success, what I dislike intensely are middle class pseudo intellectuals saying they want to bring down big record companies and then, when they realise there's money and fame to be had, deciding they really, all along, wanted to be pop stars. And for someone so versed in the works of Derrida and Gramsci isn't 'being a pop star' an incredibly shallow ambition?
@@mesolithicman164 - I never really took notice of things he said in interviews etc, i just liked the music which to me was pop perfection - even the sweetest girl which was very indie sounding due to the 808 (drum machine) they used. There were others who liked obscure things as a side note around that time but made some great music. David Sylvian springs to mind. It may be shallow to want to be a pop star but you do reach larger audiences that way? Maybe he had a change of heart from his earlier ambitions? People develop and change their ideals.
@@jezzyby47 I think they had some great tunes. As I said before, it was all that trendy posing as a Communist that put me off. And Green in every interview displaying his intellectual prowess vis a vis things like the Frankfurt School, and then signing to a big record label. And to think anyone is going to absorb political consciousness from a pop single is highly questionable. The Smiths were on Rough Trade and never started wearing big shoulder pad jackets to become pop stars. Look at pix of Rough Trade Scritti Politti vs how they look on a big label. That's selling out. But of course, Green can deconstruct his sell out by wrapping it in a some kind of a Situationist ethos, like "We wanted to subvert the pop mainstream with our revolutionary ideas" etc. I call bs on that. So, we agree about the music, but, for me, it's all marred by the layer of syrupy hypocrisy Green Gartside smears over his A and B sides. And to say it couldn't be done is wrong. Sam Cooke ' A Change is Gonna Come" or Marvin Gaye on " What's Going On". Great records that spoke to broader issues. The template was there.
@@mesolithicman164 - With a bit of success, (Sweetest Girl) comes interest from bigger record companies, not smaller ones, and they like to have some input in looks and sounds etc. It kind of goes with the territory to some extent. He no longer looks that 80s way nowadays, i think it was just part of the fashion scene at that time. His later stuff has taken a backwards step to me, back to that indie sound, same with the image too. I get what you are saying but I still love Cupid and Provision, pop masterpieces. For someone from an indie background, what they did with the Fairlite on Provision was nothing short of genius. Even Trevor Horn and his crew (JJ Jeczalik) couldn't compare with that programming. He can do no wrong as far as i'm concerned, i get your point though.
In reality, Scritti Politti were as about as Marxist as Rage Against The Machine. Which is to say, they both made great music but were complete bull shit in regards to sincerity.
If the message get's across, is sincerity that important. Most songs are i love you, you love me etc which offer nothing much in the way of thinking outside the box. Some artists like to open minds, and if only one person 'gets it' then they have succeeded.
Just found this. Thanks for posting. Songs to Remember is still one of the best albums of all time.
I love how Scritti developed: from angular, skeletal folk-Punk, through jazz-soul-lovers rock pop, to Uber-produced techno-dance and having Miles Davis guest. The ‘Sweetest Girl” is my hands-down favourite song ever heard, I would hesitate before calling any of it ‘mainstream’. If Wood Beez had been recorded for Rough Trade rather than Virgin, I expect it would have been very interesting indeed. I love the vinyl crackle over The Sweetest Girl here, reminded me of my vinyl copy.
In America their most popular song,and still is, Perfect Way. They still play it on the radio every day.
Wood Beez was the true beginning of Green/Scritti discovering his own genius. I was living in England (relocated from California) when it was released as a single, and it sonically towered above everything around it at the time. And to this day it is still in a class by itself.
No it was not. The original band a three piece were great if not virtuosi.
A nice watch.. insightful ..and great to see how Scritti Politti look like nowadays :)
Great video ,a 💎 gem
thx for posting, wow
No idea how SP started -- thanks for posting -- learned a lot . . .
Pretentious and a self mythologiser.
@feroxcvpiditas This is the entire scritti politti bit, there are 3 parts and if you watch you will see the linking pieces as they merge. The whole programme was about an hour long and had nearly every rough trade act on there. Hopefully BBC4 will show it again, keep a look out for it. There is somewhere on the BBC4 website where you can ask for shows to be shown again, email them and see.
wasenjoying that then it ended
When you have Robert Wyatt, it ain't going to be just another pop record.
This is a brilliant clip: from marxist indie-pop to intelligent chart-pop! ... and back to indie music with Early & White Bread Black Beer, both recommended!
@jrmetmoi - can't remember now, some American A&R man or a lawyer i guess, i just went over the original tape about a week ago too, it will get shown again on BBC4, keep looking out for it.
@jezzyby47 Who's the guy in this with the American accent?
@CusterFlux: oh no, not QUITE so impossible to copy. Watch what I'm about to post. I've cut an original single as tribute to Green Gartside, Fred Maher and David Gamson... and oh yes you CAN replicate the Scritti Politti sound... but it beat the hell out of me to do it... I wouldn't advise it to anybody sane who would like to keep his sanity!
@feroxcvpiditas Me too...BBC4 or BBC2 should show this again :)
wheres the footage of them playing from??
Looks like 'top of the pops'
@jonsilence Pretty much true ... though don't forget David Gamson for much of that, Cupid & Psyche '85 was so far ahead of its time that it remained nearly impossible to copy for at least a decade after it was released: I can only imagine the tension between Green & Gamson after being couped up for the better part of a year, non-stop, debating every last detail ... while making that record. Usually that ends in disaster, in their case, lucky for us, the results where incredible.
like
Rough Trades great loss!
I can't say Scritti's sugarpop dreck was the world's gain. This band should only be a footnote to postpunk due to their earliest DIY stuff, but even that is forgettable. The band became some UK version of Janet Jackson....
They out-lived the punk and the post-punk sound, as did all self-respecting bands of the times. Vive la différence.
? And what's wrong with that?
Where did the woman drummer go? II thought she looked great in the band
I don't think she was a full time member
It's a young Tom Morley, you berk!!
Trevor Barre Not in this video..YOU BERK!! there WAS a female drummer before
I have respect for the Smiths making it on their own terms through Rough Trade. But Scritti Politti?
Their whole thing was anti the system but a few months later there's Green wearing make up with bleached hair posing with a fancy guitar on Top of the Pops. The phrase 'Sell Out' springs to mind. And the word 'Hypocrites', also.
Although their earlier stuff was very indie, they always wanted to be pop stars imo and working with Arif Mardin gave them that opportunity to enter that world. It's some of the best power pop ever although i prefer Provision.
The Sweetest Girl was their earlier attempt to go into the pop world.
@@jezzyby47
I like some of their music, more the early stuff, I find some of his pop material a bit syrupy. But that aside, I have no problem with success, what I dislike intensely are middle class pseudo intellectuals saying they want to bring down big record companies and then, when they realise there's money and fame to be had, deciding they really, all along, wanted to be pop stars. And for someone so versed in the works of Derrida and Gramsci isn't 'being a pop star' an incredibly shallow ambition?
@@mesolithicman164 - I never really took notice of things he said in interviews etc, i just liked the music which to me was pop perfection - even the sweetest girl which was very indie sounding due to the 808 (drum machine) they used. There were others who liked obscure things as a side note around that time but made some great music. David Sylvian springs to mind. It may be shallow to want to be a pop star but you do reach larger audiences that way? Maybe he had a change of heart from his earlier ambitions? People develop and change their ideals.
@@jezzyby47
I think they had some great tunes. As I said before, it was all that trendy posing as a Communist that put me off. And Green in every interview displaying his intellectual prowess vis a vis things like the Frankfurt School, and then signing to a big record label. And to think anyone is going to absorb political consciousness from a pop single is highly questionable.
The Smiths were on Rough Trade and never started wearing big shoulder pad jackets to become pop stars. Look at pix of Rough Trade Scritti Politti vs how they look on a big label. That's selling out.
But of course, Green can deconstruct his sell out by wrapping it in a some kind of a Situationist ethos, like "We wanted to subvert the pop mainstream with our revolutionary ideas" etc. I call bs on that.
So, we agree about the music, but, for me, it's all marred by the layer of syrupy hypocrisy Green Gartside smears over his A and B sides.
And to say it couldn't be done is wrong. Sam Cooke ' A Change is Gonna Come" or Marvin Gaye on " What's Going On". Great records that spoke to broader issues. The template was there.
@@mesolithicman164 - With a bit of success, (Sweetest Girl) comes interest from bigger record companies, not smaller ones, and they like to have some input in looks and sounds etc. It kind of goes with the territory to some extent. He no longer looks that 80s way nowadays, i think it was just part of the fashion scene at that time. His later stuff has taken a backwards step to me, back to that indie sound, same with the image too. I get what you are saying but I still love Cupid and Provision, pop masterpieces. For someone from an indie background, what they did with the Fairlite on Provision was nothing short of genius. Even Trevor Horn and his crew (JJ Jeczalik) couldn't compare with that programming. He can do no wrong as far as i'm concerned, i get your point though.
In reality, Scritti Politti were as about as Marxist as Rage Against The Machine. Which is to say, they both made great music but were complete bull shit in regards to sincerity.
If the message get's across, is sincerity that important. Most songs are i love you, you love me etc which offer nothing much in the way of thinking outside the box. Some artists like to open minds, and if only one person 'gets it' then they have succeeded.
@@jezzyby47 Very well stated. Cheers.