Thanks to this blog, Mrs. LTL!'s hatred of all things Green Gartside has become the stuff of legend. My apologies to her for that, but since she's out of town again today, I'm not going to waste this chance to get my Scritti Politti fix. Let's get in the wayback machine and set it to 1988.
Three long years had passed since the smash 'Cupid & Psyche '85.' Maybe fickle pop fans grew tired of waiting forever for a followup. Perhaps we had moved on to the next new sound. My theory, however, is 'Provision' just plain wasn't as good as the band's previous work. At any rate, Scritti Politti had one very successful UK single from the album, "Oh Patti (Don't Feel Sorry for Loverboy)." Here in America, there wouldn't be another "Perfect Way," but today's pick, the third and final single from the album, peaked at a modest No. 53.
After the 7" and 12" singles of "Boom! There She Was," I wouldn't own another new piece of music by Scritti Politti until "The Boom Boom Bap" single captured my heart in 2006. Oh, and after just completing the vinyl transfer of these four versions consecutively (that's more than 25 straight minutes of "Boom! There She Was," folks), I'm beginning to think the Mrs. might be on to something. I really liked the song at the time, but it hasn't aged well. Tonight, the keyboards are reminding me of the "Beverly Hills Cop" soundtrack. In case you were wondering who the "Roger" refers to on the cover above, that's the late funk/hip-hop artist Roger Troutman. He's the one providing the talk-box vocals. If you don't have the time or patience for all of these, I would recommend the extended single.
Scritti Politti - Boom! There She Was (Sonic Property Mix) (mp3)
Scritti Politti - Boom! There She Was (Dub) (mp3)
Scritti Politti - Boom! There She Was (7" Single Version) (mp3)
Scritti Politti - Boom! There She Was (Extended Single Version) (mp3)
3 comments:
YES YES YES!!!! Still love this and Provision. Oh Patti is just wonderful. Sure, Green got a bit caught up in the now rather that the future at this point in his career, but fortune and fame will do that to you.
Hi Echorich. There are some fine moments on 'Provision.' It sounds a lot like 'Cupid,' but as a whole it felt a bit like the leftovers from '85.' It's too bad there were so many years lost after it, but if that's what it took to finally get us to 'White Bread,' then so be it. I really liked that return to the 'Songs to Remember' sound.
Provision and Anomie & Bohomie do seem to find Green a bit stuck in neutral. The rap and ragga on A & B really do nothing for me though. Umm, Born To Be and First Goodbye are very enjoyable though.
White Bread is a complete triumph!
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