Scritti Politti

[durham]

Been reading a few bits and pieces about Scritti recently, as they're releasing some new music. Interested to find this from an interview in the Guardian:

In the early part of his career, Gartside came across as super-confident in his own pop genius, but it was clearly the brittle sort of self-belief that masks insecurity. The long exile in the Welsh countryside, and the shorter period of inactivity this decade, were partly responses to the blows to his confidence caused by the commercial shortfall of 1988's Provision and 1999's Anomie. "What will bring you to complete inertia is fear of the prospect that if you make a record, write a book, or do whatever, you'll get shot down in flames," he admits. "As long as you do nothing, you'll get neither praise nor condemnation." He talks of having been able to sustain "a kind of limbo existence, thanks to having earned a few bob in the 1980s", in which he didn't have "to risk how awful disapprobation might be. Generally, other people's opinion of me has been an unhealthily large concern."

Sounds a bit SA-ish to me.

[vibracobra]

i love this band/act/artist.

i've read a number of interviews, and i think he is SA to a certain extent.

in the late 70's/early 80's, i can't remember when, he had a panic attack before going on stage and was taken to hospital.

he played a gig earlier this year, the first public performance since 1988!

the new stuff is very different, if anyone wants to hear let me know!

nothing will beat cupid and psyche '85, but that's just me.

if only other 21 year olds liked good 80's music! haha

[durham]

I do like C&P85 but I think Anomie & Bonhomie is seriously underrated. Should have been a major hit in my opinion.

[vibracobra]

same here, that's probably the one i listen to the most actually.

[png]

Wow, never realised he was so insecure; nice to know he's still around though.

I was rummaging around in an old box in the loft at the weekend and came across a 3" CD single (remember them?) of "Boom, there she was". Ah, the '80s . . .

[durham]

Saw them play live the other night and he definitely seemed to be pretty tense for the first few songs. By the end of the show, and possibly due to the excellent response the band were getting, it was a different story altogether - a 4 song encore!

I also read an interview with him recently where he refers to his anxiety and that he'd undergone CBT.

[durham]

I think it just turned out to be a panic attack but it apparently put him off touring for a quarter of a century.

[Allen.jamespeterFox.]

he was on gary crowley saturday show on bbc radio london 94.9 early on in the year.