Scritti Politti

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scritti Politti
Scritti Politti.jpg
General information
origin Leeds , England
Genre (s) Pop , New Wave , Art-Punk
founding 1978
Founding members
Green Gartside
Tom Morley
Nial Jinks
Current occupation
Green Gartside
former members
Keyboard , management
 Matthew Kay
Tom Morley 1978-1982
Nial Jinks 1978-1979
Matthew Kay 1980-1982
Simon Emmerson 1978-1980
Fred Maher 1984-1988
David Gamson 1984-1988, 1996-1998

Scritti Politti is a British new wave band that was formed in Leeds in 1978 . The main actor is Green Gartside (born June 22, 1956 in Cardiff ; real name is Paul Julian Strohmeyer ).

Surname

The name "Scritti Politti" is considered a homage to the political writings of the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci . Although the correct Italian spelling would result in “Scritti Politici ”, Gartside chose “Scritti Politti” because it “ would sound more like rock 'n' roll ”.

history

Green Gartside initially formed the band together with Matthew Kay (keyboard, manager), Tom Morley (drums) and Nial Jinks (electric bass), but they broke up with the band in 1980. In the time of the successful albums Cupid & Psyche 85 and Provision , the band consisted of Gartside (singer, songwriter), David Gamson (co-songwriter, keyboard, programming) and Fred Maher (drums, drum programming). Gartside's record company was Rough Trade Records , with which some British post-punk and alternative rock bands were under contract. With the Fairlight CMI , Scritti Politti was one of the first bands to use electronic synthesizers with sampling technology.

In June 1985 the second and most successful album Cupid & Psyche 85 was released , which was produced by Arif Mardin and included musical contributions from many well-known artists. The LP reached the top 5 in the UK charts. Five singles were released from this album, including Perfect Way , which reached number 11 in America. In 1986 Green Gartside and David Gamson wrote and produced the single Love of a Lifetime for Chaka Khan , which was part of the album Destiny . In 1988 they released the album Provision , on which they worked with Miles Davis and Roger Troutman , among others . The Scottish band Wet Wet Wet named themselves after a line from the Scritti Politti song Gettin ', Havin' and Holdin ' .

It was quiet about Scritti Politti, who now consisted only of Green Gartside, who always formed new studio musicians as needed. Gartside released sporadic single singles like She's a Woman (with Shabba Ranks ) and Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me (with Sweetie Irie ). Together with Martyn Ware as producer, Music of Quality and Distinction Volume 2 was created for the BEF compilation .

After Gartside's first three albums were released three years apart, Anomie & Bonhomie was released eleven years after commission in 1999 , and White Bread, Black Beer in 2006 a further seven years later .

In 2012 Scritti Politti made a few appearances in Germany after more than 30 years. With the publication The Boom Boom Bap , Scritti Politti gained recognition in the dance scene from 2015. The song was also published on compilations by the Cologne indie label Kompakt .

In 2020 Paul Julian Strohmeyer released new music for the first time since White Bread, Black Beer with the single Tangled Man . The title track and B-side Wishing Well are pieces by British folk singer Anne Briggs . The online radio station ByteFM described the songs in which Gartside processed the folk obsession of his youth as " hypnagogic folk". The release is Strohmeyer's first as Green Gartside instead of Scritti Politti.

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1982 Songs to Remember UK12 (7 weeks)
UK 		-
1985 Cupid & Psyche 85 UK5
gold
gold

(19 weeks)UK 		US50 (28 weeks)
US
1988 commission UK8th
gold
gold

(11 weeks)UK 		US113 (8 weeks)
US
1999 Anomie & Bonhomie UK33 (2 weeks)
UK 		-

more publishments

  • 2006: White Bread, Black Beer

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1981 Sweetest Girl
Songs to Remember 		UK64 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
1982 Faithless
Songs to Remember 		UK56 (4 weeks)
UK 		-
Asylums in Jerusalem / Jacques Derrida
Songs to Remember 		UK43 (5 weeks)
UK 		-
1984 Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)
Cupid & Psyche 85 		UK10 (16 weeks)
UK 		US91 (4 weeks)
US
Absolute
Cupid & Psyche 85 		UK17 (11 weeks)
UK 		-
Hypnotize
Cupid & Psyche 85 		UK68 (5 weeks)
UK 		-
1985 The Word Girl
Cupid & Psyche 85 		UK6 (14 weeks)
UK 		-
Perfect Way
Cupid & Psyche 85 		UK48 (5 weeks)
UK 		US11 (25 weeks)
US
1988 Oh Patti (Don't Feel Sorry for Loverboy)
commission 		UK13 (9 weeks)
UK 		-
First Boy in This Town (Lovesick)
commission 		UK63 (4 weeks)
UK 		-
Boom! There she was
commission 		UK55 (3 weeks)
UK 		US53 (11 weeks)
US
1991 She's a woman
 UK20 (7 weeks)
UK 		-
feat. Shabba ranks
Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me
 UK47 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
with Sweetie Irie
1999 Tinseltown to the Boogiedown
Anomie & Bonhomie 		UK46 (2 weeks)
UK 		-

more publishments

  • 1978: Skank Bloc Bologna
  • 1979: 2nd peel session
  • 1979: 4 A-sides
  • 2006: The Boom Boom Bap
  • 2011: A Day Late and a Dollar Short

literature

  • Simon Reynolds : Rip It Up and Start Again - Throw it all down and start over: Postpunk 1978–1984 . Translated from the English by Conny Lösch. Koch International / Hannibal, Höfen 2007. ISBN 978-3-85445-270-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Scritti Politti. Retrieved September 18, 2018 .
  2. ↑ ByteFM Editor: Hypnagogic Folk by Soulboy Green Gartside. ByteFM, June 20, 2020, accessed June 25, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Chart sources: UK US