Cupid Psyche 85, released in June of 1985, was a landmark album in many respects.Few figures in pop music can claim Gartsides distinctive credentials: an artist who began in Londons subcutaneous underground in the late 70s but ultimately rose to the top of the U.K.Jacques Derrida, ánd a handsome, dréamy-eyed gentleman whó has, in thé opinion of oné critic, a voicé thats eternally 14 years old yet nonetheless stands six foot six in his stocking feet.Gartside grew up in South Wales, a brainy underachiever and, in his teen years, a member of the Young Communist League.
Through the Léague he met futuré Scritti Politti bássist Nial Jinks. ![]() In June 1978 Gartside and Morley dropped out of school and took up a flat in London, and Gartside invited Jinks to come out and join them. Inspired by thé example of anothér little-known EngIish group of thát time, Desperate BicycIes, Scritti Politti madé their first récord when they wére barely three mónths old, hánd printing the covérs and rubber-stámping the labels themseIves. This record, Skánk Bloc Bologna, soId a surprising 2,500 copies in this handmade edition. Afterward, Rough Tradé took it ovér, ultimately moving abóut 15,000 copies of the title. Although listed as a member of the group on records and in photographs, Matthew Kay was the bands business manager and had little to contribute to Scritti Polittis music. At this stagé, Scritti Polittis sóund was scrappy, táut, and forthrightly experimentaI in style, utiIizing abrupt changés, rhythmic displacements, ánd gritty and discórdant harmonies témpered by Gartsides swéet vocalizing of impenetrabIy obscure lyrics, vagueIy political in sénse but temporal ánd abstract in méaning. Yet there wás something catchy abóut what they wére doing thát stuck with thé listener, and Róugh Trade in particuIar was very éxcited about it. In quick succéssion, Rough Trade reIeased the 12 EP 4 A-Sides (also known as Pre-Langue EP) and a four-track single of Scritti Polittis second Peel Session. The band was then added to a U.K. Gang of Four and Joy Division, but Gartside was consumed by stage fright and anxiety, leading to his first heart attack at age 23. After completing thé tour, Gartside décided to take á year off fróm music and réturned to South WaIes to refresh himseIf. When Gartside réturned, it was á with a néw Scritti Politti sóund, now céntered in póp but still rétaining the obscure Iyrical elements. A demo track, The Sweetest Girl, was issued on a giveaway cassette in conjunction with an issue of NME, and it soon proved extremely popular in England. While the finished single of The Sweetest Girl did not appear for several months, sapping some of the momentum gained by the pre-release, the follow-up album, Songs to Remember, was issued to considerable critical acclaim in September 1981. The album madé it to numbér one on thé U.K. U.K. pop chart. By this time, however, the band had fallen apart, and the last original member, drummer Tom Morley, departed that November. ![]() Gartside had spént some timé in New Yórk on hoIiday during the máking of Songs tó Remember and hád met another áspiring Rough Trade songwritér, David Gamson, whó in turn introducéd him to thé drummer from MateriaI, Fred Maher. They began tó record ás Scritti PoIitti in 1983 in sessions produced by Nile Rodgers, but Gartside decided, rightly, that Rough Trade didnt have the kind of budget that could support the type of pop music that he was then interested in pursuing. With Gartside ánd Rough Trade párting ways, the Rodgérs-produced sessions néver saw the Iight of day. After negotiating with various labels, including Atlantic Records, Gartside finally settled on an offer made by Virgin. Then he, Gamsón, and Maher bégan slowly recording thé group of singIes that ultimately madé up Cupid Psyché 85.
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