SCRITTI POLITTI

-- unknown, 1985

Words: Karen Lynn

The original Scritti Politti (circa 1980) was an avant-gardish, punk-inspired, politically-motivated trio that was considered one of the British independent movement's brightest hopes. The group altered its approach radically on the more pop-oriented 1982 LP Songs to Remember (which, like its predecessors, was never released in the U.S.). Despite the shift to pop, Songs to Remember failed to meet commercial expectations, and before long Scritti Politti was the sole province of Gartside.

In 1983, the singer headed for New York City to pursue his idiosyncratic vision of urban dance fusion. He signed a U.S. deal with Warner Bros., and recorded the tracks "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)" and "Absolute" with veteran soul producer Arif Mardin. Both tracks became dance floor favorites in the U.S., and are now included on the newest LP Cupid & Psyche 85. The remainder of the album was recorded in England by Green, in collaboration with keyboardist/producer David Gamson and drummer/programmer Fred Maher.

When asked to explain his evolution from underground cult artist to creator of commercial dance music, Green responds, "I always thought that New York electro-boogie was the most interesting thing since punk. It was easy and cheap to make, and hard to listen to--which is what I liked about punk. To make sense of the development for myself, I'd have to talk about it in political terms. The whole decision to stop making a racket and start making emotively economical music was, as far as I'm concerned, a political decision.

"I think you have to throw yourself into it. I spent a lot of time on the periphery of it, messing around rather unsuccessfully, and talking and thinking about it. I wanted to get involved in the process, and I wanted to make different-sounding records. I like fairly abrupt changes, and I can definitely foresee more changes in the future.

"I think it's interesting for me to try and demonstrate that I can make popular records. I like how difficult it is to make good pop records; it's a lot harder than doing the other stuff. There are incredible disciplines involved in it, and it's far more complex. And, at the moment, I just prefer the sound of pop records to the sound of me and my anguish somewhere else."

Green maintains that the name Scritti Politti is more than an alias for his solo work. "It's a most unlikely situation that's been arrived at more by default than design. I didn't ever particularly want to end up on my own. The fact of the matter is that it's me who's signed to the record company, but it's me and other people that actually make the records."

So just what does the group name signify now? "It's sort of a collective noun, I suppose, for David, Fred and I. I don't know exactly what the future of that is, or what the politics of it are. We're sort of working it out as we go along."