In many ways, the period of Scritti Politti’s music I like least occurs around the C&P/Provision years. I’d been a Scritti fan a school and at college in the late 70s and still love the material now compiled on ‘Early’; adored ‘The “Sweetest Girl” – the NME version remains the best for me – found the cod-soul of “Songs to remember” engaging but overcooked and a little messy (viz ‘A slow soul’ – how much better would this beautiful song be without that f*****g sax doodling away throughout the WHOLE song. Likewise the over-use of gospel style backing vocals – a very little really does go a long, long way.)

“Wood Beez” was a great single and I loved the Kashif-style bass and springy guitar chords, but in general – as with much 80s stuff -l I struggled with the endless clattering on C&P – exhausting to listen to, I found. ‘Provision’ really passed me by entirely – and still does. I’d add that C&P has been rehabilitated substantially, and the fourth UK single off it – Hypnotise – which I loathed at the time (more bloody clatter) has actually become a favourite of mine in the entire Scritti repertoire, oddly enough – I think because the groove really swings.

WBBB is the most fascinating, beautiful and rather disturbing record – I love the synthetic textures, the allusions to incapacity (what’s that sonar blip in ‘No fine lines’ just after the first line? It sounds like a heart monitor; what’s the final line about, too?). A curious morality pervades the whole thing. I listen to it all the time. ‘Petrococadollar is the piece which haunts me most – perhaps another song about drug-realted experiences, I find only mental and physical exhaustion in the rather ambiguous line “Try to think again about …Tuesday….maybe…” and cannot fail to find a certain wry humour in the line “Boy, I’m so excited you’ll beg for mercy” in the context of such a generally narcoleptic piece.

Anyway, enough nonsense from me. It’s great that Green Gartside is back, making records, playing live with a great band, being erudite, witty and wonderful – and not trying too hard (but in the best possible way). Try ‘A&B’ – it’s really rather wonderful.

Greetings to all!

I first heard Scritti circa Provision-era when I was 12. I fell in love with Oh Patti. At the time I didn’t really understand what he was singing about. I still don’t, really. But I’ve always appreciated how his songwriting skills. I’ve since heard the rest of the Scritti stuff, except A&B (but the clips I’ve heard aren’t very compelling I must say). C&S is a towering classic. And I still have a soft spot for Provision. But WBBB is his best album by far. Top notch songwriting. And very human.

I agree with Kirk about the album having a demo-like quality – the instruments sound like they’re stuck in some kind of time warp. It bothered me at first, like listening to Leonard Cohen’s Ten New Songs. But after a while, I was just listening to the songs themselves, the beautiful pop melodies and the lyrics and Green’s sexy voice. (The other sexy male vocalist is of course David Sylvian.) In the end, I’m glad that the instruments weren’t “phat”. It means a lot to know that Green crafted the album on his own. He sounds like nothing else out there.

Slick & phat? It sound like a demo compared to A & B and C & P! I really like most of the songs but am so disappointed about the sound and the phat-free beats on this album.