I remember a thread on these guys waaaaay back. Well I took it to heart and everntually bought 3 of their albums.




I just bought their 1999 album and have not listened to it yet.

I love "cupid and pysche 95" and followup "provision".

I cannot beleive they are english. amazing stuff. Seems there production paved the way for producers like Narada Michale Walden and Nile Rogers.

I love
"small talk"
"the word girl"
"absolute"
"perfect way"
"wood beez"
"hypnotise" (I got cd and u get a killer bonus remix at the end)

"boom! There she was" (Roger is on this!)
"best thing ever"
"oh patti (dont feel sorry for loverboy)" (miles davis is on this?)
"bam salute"
"suger and spice (roger's vocoder rocks on this again!)
"philosophy now"

Man I love those 2 albums. Superb synths and I like the voice of Green Gartside. David Gamson turns up on Roger, Donny Osmond amongst others and on "cupid and psyche 85", David Frank (of the system) is on production duties too.

Whoever started the original thread about them deserves a BIG thanx from me.
[Edited 3/31/05 8:32am]

Great!

Very cool band.

Hey we like the same band. Wonders never cease after all.

(Iam surprised as most ur jukebox stuff doesn't seem poppy enough. Scritti is sickly sweet bubblegum, though satisfyingly cleverly(?) chewed bubblegum though. I stereotype people u c.....)

thesexofit said:

I grew up in the 80's. Excuse me if I am now off playing Matt Bianco's Who's Side Are You On loudly to drown out your prejudice.

I wrote a dayjob amendment
Took a liking to you
I took a page out of my rule book 4 u
U wrote a messaged confession
B 4 U martyrd me too
U wrote a margin of error for two
(Because I like that)


Oh when I first heard that song in 1997 i was like WHO THE FUCK IS THISSS!!???

I like them too. I like "Perfec Way" the "Perfect Mix"

loved scritti, bought all their stuff in the 80s...not so keen on their recent material but still have the old stuff

HUGE Scritti fan here.

You'll love 'Anomie & Bonhomie'. It's a bit of a departure from the sound of the previous two albums but there's enough of the Scritti flair for it not to be completely foreign. My favorite tracks on this one are 'Umm', 'First Goodbye', 'Die Alone' (featuring Me'Shell), and 'Brushed With Oil, Dusted With Powder'.

Bless all of you!I've been a Scritti Politti fan since '85.The production is so crisp and clean.I think that's why I love Tony Leman's CD so much.David Gamson's production mixed with Tony's vocals and Prince's influence makes it a classic recording.

I love Scritti Politti as well. But, did you all know that they began as an artsy, experimental Punk band in the late 70's?

That's right folks, and they even toured with bands like Gang of Four and Joy Division.

They've just released an album of their early Punk stuff too last month, appropriately titled "Early".



Also, if you're into their Soul stuff more, get their first full length album, "Songs To Remember". Sure it may sound a little dated, but it's still got that Soul/New Wave kick to it through and through.
[Edited 4/1/05 12:36pm]

Green Garthside is a great blue eyes soul singer. The band wrote a song for Al Jarreau but I forgot the title..

Larry, u have done me a huge favour as iam now, thanx to u, gonna get the Tony Lemans album from amazon. I remember him vagely in an old Prince book. I also remember him co-writing a few songs with David Gamson for Donny Osmonds "eyes don't lie" album in 1990 (Donny even thanx him individually on the credits). So big thanx.....I guess Tony and David became mates? Any other David related albums to look out for? I love his production.....

In an obvious drop, here is the Donny review, by me, enjoy.....


Pros
Giggling, yet funky uptempo tracks. 2 superb ballads that are different from each other. FUN!

Cons
No doubt that some tracks are not so good.

The Bottom Line
Yet another album reviewed by me that may make me look like a snob. Yet maybe your own mind is infact secretly craving for some cherry topped, extroverted pop.


Full Review
"Donny Osmond Donny Osmond, Donny, Donny, Donny!". This is a quote from the off the wall, weird cartoon interview show "Space ghost Coast to Coast". A Cartoon Netwrok show that had real life celebrities, including Donny Osmond, talking to a cartoon host called Space Ghost. Donny was on the show around the mid 1990's. He was promoting the theatre show he was starring in, Andrew Lloyd Webbers "Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat". Few of you may of seen it. But before his theatre singing he was a pop star (and now chat show host in the USA) which at one point rivalled Michael Jackson as the most successful entertainer in the country.

Back in the early 1970's through to the late 70's, Donny was the lead singer with his siblings The Osmonds. The Osmonds made teen pop not unlike legendary Motown group The Jackson 5. The Osmonds were a direct comptetitor to The Jackson 5. The Osmonds wre huge with girls upto 19 years old. They had many hits and were just as big as The Jackson 5 if not bigger (certainly the case in the UK). The Osmonds hits dried up by the late 70's as the members, including Donny, wanted to make more mature music. Their audeince had other ideas. By the mid 80's, Donny was without a recording contract and completely forgotton about whilst old rival Michael Jackson (the lead singer in the Jackson 5) was a mega star worldwide thanks to 1982's landmark "Thriller" album. Donny made a comeback in the US with top 5 hit "Soldier of love" and the top 20 "Sacred Emotion". He attempted to shed his past image and to represent a new, more mature, hard edge pop sound not unlike George Michael.

To this album, the follow up to the self titled album which featured the hits "Soldeir of love" and "Sacred emotion". Dropped in the year 1990 (a year when New Kids on the Block were at thair peak), album is chock full of US styled pop that was infact not as common as one would think at the time. This album is pop and nothing else. Not NewJack, not hiphouse and definately not rock! Donny sticks with the then winning formula of his previous album and it works. Infact, this is a better album then the self titld 1989 effort.

He even keeps the same producing team who wrote "Soldier of Love" on some tracks. Album opens with the deloriously giddy "My Love Is A Fire", a single that bombed proberly due to a abundance of corny lyrics, particually on the chorus.

"I'd swim a river if the river was wide
I'd climb a mountain if the mountain was high
I'd d anything just to be by youe side
I'm out of my mind-my love is a fire"

Uptempo, defiant and above all catchy, track only made #21 in the USA which is a crime considering tracks in the same vein like New Kids on the Block's "Step by Step", released the same year, smashed at no.1 in the US, UK and I presume all over the globe. "My love is a fire" didn't even chart in the UK! So the UK public have no idea about the track or album is came off, which is a shame. Problem was, was that Donny's image was to put it mildly, too sqaure,and thats putting it nicely. Donny tried hard, some would say too hard, to claim he was hip and cool. "Soldier of love" had him in a leather jacket in the video, single and album cover like he was the supposed James Dean of the 80's! Donny is no hard man, and even though "My love is a fire" is not pretending to be macho, Donnies other hurdle is that the boyband crowd would of quite frankly and unfortunately finicky, would of seen Don as too old and unsexy. Shame as it is a terrific song.

Title track "Eyes don't lie" follows in the same pop way as it were as the preceding number with a beatbox like sound that is funkier and mroe razor-edged then the first track. Donny yet again goes all formula on power ballad "love will survive". Here it is "sacred emotion" he is riping off. Again it is written by the same team as "Sacred emotion" and you can bet Donny asked them for a track just like it before the first cliched word was jotted down. Luckily it is a splendidly, elegantly sweeping track with twinkly keyboards which make me feel like Iam on a train leaving a girl I will never se again. "Love will survive" is more enjoyable power ballad then "Sacred emotion" and has mature verses that should not be sneered at. Here is the brdige which leads into the sweeping multi tracked vocal chorus:

"Even though the cold winds may chill your heart, they could never tear it aart, if you just believe".

Call me corny but with such a lush and cosy production like this, lyrics like the above are more then welcome to conjur up spendid images of whatever fictional or real character I miss and want to tell her that above all "Love will survive".

Things get funky again with "Sure lookin'". A sparse track with yet again offers us a multi layered, multi tracked chorus that sounds so lush and again cosy. Donny is speaking of some girl who looks "good to me". Donny is macking but the track is no wannabe sexy jam though. The macking charm here is strictly sweet natured and not content in sleazy chat up lines ala Prince or whomever is as horny and foul tongued. Donny knows his (just once more) macking limits and stays within them. Can you possibally imaging Donny telling a girl he wants to and fictional quote time: "I want to suck you off", or to "let me show you baby Iam a talented boy" like my boy Prince sung do you? Donny is a gentelman who is as red blooded as the average Joe and this track, in production and lyrics, is as wholesome, fun-loving, yet funky as he is. Interestingly David Gamson co-writes and produces/plays (or programmes) on the track. David is from UK 80's group "Scritti Politti" who were synth pioneers with hits like "Small talk" and "The word girl". Oh, so thats why this track sounds so fresh and funky (and even original) and in typical Scriti Politti fashion, this is a flashy, unique sounding song production wise. Great track. Thanks Donny!

David luckily lends his skills to "Take another try (at love)", which despite as corny as it sounds has a definate NewJack beat that skips along like a ruch hour speeding subway train. Boom boxers around the time of 1990 would be hard pressed to choose a funkier song to impress the general public around them (yeah it's that good!). Also this track, along with "Sure lookin'" was co-written by Tony Lemans, a Paisly Park artist (Prince's label) who fell out with Prince and must of just found his way to Donny (or maybe David Gamson) and his contributions are duly noted.


"Take another try (at love)" is clever as it directly samples and reuses the melody of the breakthorugh Osmond hit "One bad apple". A suger flavoured fruit that was recorded when Donny was just a boy with his siblings back when the 70's were still young. You even hear Donny's defient "oh" on the middle 8, which is a nice touch as both adult and young Donny are singing or duelling together. Why hasn't other famous chuild star Michael Jackson done this? That would be fun too (Michael sort of did do this actually, when he reusef a direct vocal sample on Pepsi advert "I'll be there". Consisting of adult Michael playing and singing Jackson 5 hit "I'll be there" alone on the piano when out of knowhere it seems, a young and black Michael comes in and joins him on lead. It is very touching and sad). Proberly "Take another try (at love)" is my fav on here. Newjack fans should really love this one!

"Private Affair" is a slow jam but still no way near sexy enough to satisfy even my corny tastes. Track is infact, a Jacksons song recorded in 1989 for their album "2300 Jackson street". A song that Michael does not sing on (Jermaine does). The Jacksons version is alot more satisfying and well sung. Jermaine sings with a burning passion to try and get his girl alone for a "Private affair". Donny zombies his way through it, it seems. Maybe Donny's serenading works for his many wives (sorry I could not resist!) but I find it is just too average compared to Jermaines sweaty, highly emotional vocals. Superwoman songwriter Diane warren wrote this beutiful and little known gem. (Disney Teen group The Party covered it too, their version is even worse then Donnies).

Last 3 tracks consist of 2 rock (as in rock pop and still fluffier then Elton Johns slippers) and a ballad. Frankly, the latter half of this album is not as strong as the first. Donny is best on uptempo and not mid tempo power-pop rock. "Never too late for love" is nice enough, but is just too fromulaic to be powerful or even meaninful! Pop can be deep, even the commcerical stuff like this, but said track is just too contrived to be considered anything to think about generally but the guitar break is nice and track is optimistic enough yto warrent an occasional spin if bored and sort of reminds me of tracks heard in a teen movie like "Dream a little dream" with those pesky two Coreys (Feldan and Haim).

Next track "Just betwene you and me" should of been in a teen movie infact. If last track was too naff, this track is good enough to be in such a naff teen movie. It may sound like an obscure but good soundtrack song form an unknown artist for a teen movie like "If looks could kill" or "Don't tell mom the babysitters dead". Why wasn't it chosen? His name is surely well known enough? His name certainly is famous enough but here lies the problem.

Despite alot of the songs on teen soundtracks being trite and corny, Donny would still of been considered too square to appear on maybe a teen soundtrack (or any for that matter). The name to the public at large conjurs up images "Puppy love" "One bad Apple" and unfortunately the song the never ever before heard song " Iam a washed up child star" (Too mean? Thats the damn fickle media gobbling public for you..). Who is Donny Osmond? Why is he still making music? Look how old he is? Why is he still making music teens still for? He is a grown man and should know better blah blah blah..... These sort of questions must of been levelled at him by the public and record execs alike and this narrow mindedness of just a man who just wants to make some good, clean loving, harmless pop is sad as since this album (which did nothing), Donny has never tried contemporary pop again. Infact, I feel for Donny. Donny makes a announcement on the album notes on this album that you should not label music and must not label Donny himself. Here is the quote:

"By teaching correct principles, wise decisions will follow. Please support freedom of expression by opposing record labelling".

This may actually suggest that maybe he is against putting Parental Advisory stickers on records that are deemed unsafe and dangerous for young kids? If this is so then good for him, and that in itself is a surprise to say the least if he does support this view on the industry as he does indded have a squeky clean, no cussing image you know. Ha! There I go stereotyping. He may be also suggesting not to rubbish his music just because of the name the song is partnered with. Infact, earlier hit "Soldier of love" (1989) was given to radio stations WITHOUT the name of the artist in fear that disc jockeys would poo poo his new song because it was that little, big toothed Donny.

Anyway, the last track then. Delicious ballad and a real surprise as the former 2 tracks lacked spontanaity 9but are not bad by any means mind you). "Before it's too late" has late night radio written all over it. It is a hidden gem of a longing love plea if I ever heard one. Again produced by saving grace David Gamson, it was co-written with Donny by David and Oliver Leiber. Oliver Leiber wrote hits for Paula Abdul ("the way that you love me" "opposites attract") and Jasmione Guy ("Don't want money"). Leiber's songwriting is appreciated as track is made well worth a listen. Peppered in that then common twinkle keyboard sound, poor Donny is telling a girl that before it is too late, "we got to find a way". Common groud then buy beleive me, it will move you. Bongos used as pecussion? Kind of odd for a ballad by Don? Yep bongos are used thanks to percussion master Paulinho Da Coster, who's career goes back to the 70's as he plays on the Jacksons records, amongst many others. It is quiet storm in sound and is no power ballad like "love will survive". It is a nicely sung, modest little number that may leave you sobbing a little for a lost loved one or maybe giving you hope that it isnot too late for whomever you may love.

So there you have it folks. Yet another lost artifact of the bargin binned filled era of what most may call syrapy rubbish! I protest to a war that never even started. Fighting in a battle nobody even cares about. The battle' objestive, is to get you humans of so called openminded tastes to recognize that music of this era in general is not just past the sell by date cheese to give to ungrateful garbage cans or let rot in a sewer somewhere feeling sorry for it's smelly assed self. This music and this album, by the incredibally well aged Donny Osmond (who ironically, was born in the exact same year as Madonna,Prince and Michael Jackson-1958. A year that must of magically spawned some super pop music sperm of some sort) which is good for at least 4-5 tracks. Please, I beg you to try a album like "Eyes don't lie" or any of the other items I have reviewed and to give this music a well deserving second coming. As Donny would say:-

"So Before it's too late to turn back....."

Because you know, music from this era seems currently destined to evertually disappear forever. So pick up a copy of this album today. Be openminded, be carefree, feel youthful again, love like a innocent kid again. You shall not regret it my ignorant, charmless brothers!

Recommended
Yes

Great Music to Play While: Waking up

I'm so glad 2 c i'm not the only romantic MF 2 dig Scritti here ! I listened a lot 2 Cupid & Psyche & Provision lately, just puts me in a good mood !

The last album is Green Gartside WITHOUT David Gamson, which doesn't make it as good as the previous two ones IMO, cuz Gamson was mostly responsible 4 these soft romantic atmospheres & i just loooove all these nice keyboards sounds & melodies.

That makes me think that i wanted 2 ask here if someone knew other Gamson productions that sounded like Scritti (apart from the GREAT Tony LeMans album, which could b a 3rd Scritti album), cuz 2 albums ain't enough 4 me, & what Gamson did later with Chaka or Me'Shell, though being great, has nothing 2 do with the Scritti sound.

Did u know that Miles Davis HIMSELF, besides playing on Provision, covered "Perfect Way" on stage ? I have a Miles bootleg with it.
[Edited 4/2/05 13:30pm]

Man that's INSANE !!! Just did a Google search : just CAN'T find a David Gamson discography...

That's pretty cool. Then I think you'll be shocked at Scritti's early Punk stuff. It sounds nothing like their signature slick R&B/pop that they're known for.

Wonder why they changed? Maybe they wern't getting anywhere with their punk stuff. Was David Gamson producer then on the early stuff?

thesexofit said:

No, he wasn't, so that's probably the reason. Also it can b that Green Gartside loved different styles, & wanted 2 experiment different things, or that, as u said, the punk stuff had no commercial future...

shaomi said:

Yeah, Green was getting pretty tired of that Punk sound at a certain point. And also, having been influenced more by soul and disco music like Michael Jackson, he wanted to go into another direction anyway.
[Edited 4/5/05 16:58pm]