I have been spending too much time and money recently on eBay, buying up old records to either replace things once owned and since ‘lost’, or picking up things I once wished I had but for some reason passed by. Notable amongst these have been a brace of old Scritti Politti singles. No, not the early Rough Trade releases, nor even the ‘Songs To Remember’ era singles, but rather the singles off of Cupid & Psyche ’85. And it’s stupid, because I still have my original vinyl copy of the album, and the CD reissue with the extended versions on, but still… something in me needed to own again the vinyl records that for a time lit up my youth. Stupid, I admit, but there it is.
So is it heretical to say now that the singles from Cupid & Psyche 85 were immeasurably finer than those ‘Early’ Rough Trade offerings? To some, most likely, yes. But there it is, that’s my truth. And as ever, context is everything.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I think the Early Scritti stuff is great, and praise be to Rough Trade for finally making it available on CD, but it’s not the stuff of my memories. No, those were built later, initially on the seductive smoothness of ‘The Sweetest Girl’, ‘Lions After Slumber’ et al. Indeed, I recall that I had the lyrics to ‘Lions After Slumber’ penned on the cover of my English exercise book that summer of 1982. I thought it made me look both ineffably cool and intellectually mysterious. I was right of course, but I don’t think anyone else knew it. Such has always been my plight.
But it was Cupid & Psyche 85 and its attendant singles, like the fabulous ‘Wood Beez’ and ‘Absolute’ that had graced my turntable through the spectacular and special summer of 1984, that really cut me deep. They burned up the skies with sensational Pop flames and I loved them dearly, as much for the beautiful presence of the artefacts as for the sounds that emanated from them. And the sounds were sparkling, scintillating and almost unbearably sexy. And of course they helped to soundtrack days and nights of moments at once so fabulously important and eerily empty that it’s almost impossible to recall them now. They sit in the dark recesses of my mind, sulky, petulant and still seething from missed opportunities and overlooked clues in the search for warm hearts.
Which is, after all, what Pop should be all about.
hi,
just stumbled across your site from mike appelstein's blog. i have fond memories of tangents from back in the day, and it's nice to see how so many of my favorite zine writers have shown up again in the 'blogosphere'
cheers,
Susan
Posted by: Susan | May 24, 2006 at 05:48