Forever Green But Not To Be Seen

If you've followed this blog for a while, you'll know that I love the music of Green Gartside and Scritti Politti. When it was announced in December 2020 that Scritti Politti would be playing Cupid & Psyche 85 in it's entirety live in concert for the first time, I got a pair of tickets for what was going to be my first live gig in over 2 years. I intentionally  went for the London date as a) it was at the weekend and b) being one of the last dates of the tour, in early October, surely it would be okay to go by then. Surely?

 

I should be sitting on a train to London, with growing excitement and anticipation at seeing Green Gartside/Scritti Politti performing live on a stage for the first time since June 2007. Sadly, I’ve had to pull out of this weekend’s trip. I have loved ones who are extremely vulnerable and, whilst we’d initially discussed my going solo to London, it was both a difficult and easy decision to make. Had it been a local gig in a spacious venue, it might have been okay. As the Scritti Politti experience would involve several hours on public transport to and from London, Tube travel, the gig itself plus an overnight stay, it just wasn't an option. 

 

It probably says a lot about the fragile normality we're all living in at the moment that I literally could not give the tickets away, despite various calls out to friends, friends of friends and the wider music loving community. Add to the mix a nationwide petrol panic and people are understandably reticent about a trip to or across The Big Smoke.

JC at The Vinyl Villain made it to the Glasgow gig on Monday and posted a brilliant and heartwarming review. It not only confirmed that Green Gartside remains possessed of one of the finest voices ever, but just how much it means to get out and enjoy live music with people again. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't gutted not to be seeing Scritti Politti tonight, but some very kind people have posted songs from the Glasgow & Cardiff concerts on YouTube: a few notes into each song and my heart lifts.

So, the tickets will now go into my collection of "gigs I got tickets for, but never made it to". The irony is that, having bought the Scritti Politti tickets for London, shortly after John Grant's postponed gig at Bath Forum was rescheduled for - you guessed it - 2nd October. I still can't make it to this gig either, but I'll have more to say about that in Sunday's post...

 

Anyway, why regret when there's so much beautiful music from Green Gartside to enjoy? Today's selection shares the same name as the Forever Green mixtape I posted back in August, but is by and large the Imaginary Compilation Album (#261, to be precise) that was my debut posting on The Vinyl Villain. At the time, I stuck rigidly to the 10 songs, 5 per side of (imaginary) vinyl format. In recreating it for today's post, I realised that that there was a real imbalance in the running times. I initially considered replacing the 12" mix of Boom! There She Was with the shorter album version. Instead, I've added two bonus songs to Side Two: B.E.F.'s cover of Stevie Wonder, featuring Green on vocals, and A Place We Both Belong, which was one of two new and exclusive songs on the 2011 compilation, Absolute. I think they slot in pretty well.

This post is a thank you to Green Gartside for getting back on stage with Scritti Politti and continuing to be an inspiration. I also read that the multi-talented Rhodri Marsden - and Scritti mainstay - celebrated his 50th birthday yesterday (1st October) with the gig at Brighton. A belated happy birthday, Rhodri! Sorry I missed you all this time, hopefully I'll see you again soon.

 

Side One (25:21)

1) Boom! There She Was (Sonic Property Mix By Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero) (UK Edit): Scritti Politti ft. Roger Troutman (1988)

2) A Little Knowledge: Scritti Politti ft. B.J. Nelson (1985)

3) Petrococadollar: Scritti Politti (2006)

4) Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me (Nice Up The Area Mix By Green Gartside & Ian Craig Marsh) (Cover of Gladys Knight & The Pips): Scritti Politti ft. Sweetie Irie (1991)

5) Flesh & Blood (Version): Scritti Politti ft. Ranking Ann (1985)

 

Side Two (24:35) 

1) Confidence: Scritti Politti (1979)

2) Tinseltown To The Boogiedown (Album Version): Scritti Politti ft. Mos Def & Lee Majors (1999)

3) Wishing Well (Cover of Anne Briggs): Green Gartside (2020)

4) Gettin’, Havin’ And Holdin’: Scritti Politti (1982)

5) I Don’t Know Why I Love You (But I Love You) (Album Version) (Cover of Stevie Wonder): B.E.F. ft. Green Gartside & Billy Preston (1991)

6) A Place We Both Belong: Scritti Politti (2011)

7) Forgiven (Live Acoustic Version) (Charles Hazlewood, BBC Radio 2, 17 May 2007): Green Gartside (2007)

 

Side One (25:21)

Side Two (24:35)