A Post-punk white reggae boy from England engages in some serious 80's genre-bending, and produces a pop masterpiece noted for it's exemplary early use of sampling and sequencing technology.

http://consequenceofsound.net/aux-out/cupid-and-psyche-85-the-unspoken-influence-of-scritti-politti/

Producer: Arif Mardin

Scritti Politti:

Green Gartside – vocals, guitar, keyboards
David Gamson – keyboards, Roland Jupiter 8, PPG Wave 2.3, Fender Rhodes, Minimoog, Yamaha DX7, Roland MSQ-700, Oberheim DMX, Oberheim OB-X, Fairlight CMI, Roland JX-8P
Fred Maher – drums, Roland TR-808, LinnDrum

Additional musicians:

Robert Quine – guitar
Robbie Buchanan – keyboards
Simon Climie – Fairlight CMI
Steve Ferrone – drums
David Frank – keyboards
Paul Jackson, Jr. – guitar
Will Lee – bass
Marcus Miller – bass
Nick Moroch – guitar
Alan Murphy – guitar
EBN (Ned Liben) – synthesizer, Fairlight programming
Ira Siegel – guitar
B.J. Nelson, Tawatha Agee, Fonzi Thornton – background vocals
Ranking Ann (Ann Swinton) – additional vocals/toasting on "Flesh & Blood"

 

Last edited: Jul 22, 2016

I like regge tons chill out totaly 80s

 

yes, was a class production , the next album with Boom There He Was was close as well!

 

Sweet

 

I had the good fortune to work with these guys, In the 80's they came out to Australia to work on a Kate Cerbrano album.
I am not sure it really was good fortune as they were somewhat stand offish, even rude. What was interesting was that they were using a very early version of Samplitude, on a green screen monitor. Daws were in their infancy and it was very unusual then to use one for production. Quite an eye opener.

 

It's probably not the main-man Green, the rest of the crew were hired guns. Was it Fred Maher the drummer dude? He also produced Mathew Sweet's Girlfriend album.

PS most musicians are assholes

 

Last edited: Jul 22, 2016

I love this album, but I think David Frank's (The System) contributions to Scritti Politti's freeze-dried sound are sadly overlooked. Listen to The System's 'I Wanna Make You Feel Good' and you'll see what I mean. That song predates C&S '85 by at least a year.

 

never heard but i agree

 

Yes! love a bit of genre bending. Thank you

Havnt heard much of them but i have delved into Prefab Sprout albums which it reminds me off some. They had some classic 80's tunes !

I do like that 80's production 'sound' and would like to know how technically that was achieved.Can anyone enlighten me or point me in the right diretion to find out please?

 

Fairlight CMI paired with a veteran old school Atlantic Records producer. I included a gear list below the the video, but I think it's also fair to say they used top class musicians as well. So basically well crafted songs, musical expertise, combined with lots of time and money

 

Last edited: Jul 22, 2016

Absolute!

 

Thanks ! yes they hit on the right combination.
Is that 80's sound purely the character/sound of the Synths though or more the actual mixing and mastering and production side ? I am guessing both from what you are saying?

 

The Fairlight allowed them to work multi-timbrally and the sequencing made it all tighter, but I'm guessing the actual mixing was the tried and tested vintage old school Atlantic sound. So a mixture of new technolgy with long established recording methods perhaps? I'll ask Green if I ever bump into him

PS you've got a modern DAW, so in theory you should be able to surpass whatever they were able to do with their primitive samplers and sequencers at that time

 

Last edited: Jul 22, 2016

@Zenarcist ...

 

I tend to agree with you Zenarcist, there was a mix, analogue and skill mixed with new technology and electronic usefullness, well arranged songs, depth of talent and the ability to add colour. ABC's Look Of Love i would use as an example, clever song, electric bass and electronic bass playing of each other, lush strings with classic pads etc, a mix of old and new...

 

@E.C.R
yes i agree ABC's Look of Love is a perfect example. I love the production on that. I saw they have recently released a new 2016 album Look of Love II.....I haven't heard it but I wonder how the production on it sounds in comparison with the different technology available today>

 

I have heard it, was looking forward to it, it comes close but is probably a bit "flat" compared to the original, i guess they did a lot of innovative stuff on the first which was exciting and just repeated it, but lacks that finish i thought

 

@E.C.R thanks. yes i wondered if it would be like that
I think that 'finish' is the magic ingredient a lot of the time and i dont hear it enough these days.
and of course as you say the original was innovative in its day and maybe them just trying to repeat it doesn't quite come off.

 

...especially the MONEY. A Fairlight CMI back then would set you back up to 60,000 bucks. Here are the specs of one version: The Australian Fairlight Computer Music Instrument (CMI) is a state-of-the-art Synthesizer/Sampler workstation. An incredible sampler with 28 megabytes or more of memory! One or two full 73 note velocity sensitive keyboards! Complete synthesis and editing of digitally sampled sounds. Three different on-board SMPTE Sequencers and storage to various disk mediums. The processor itself is housed in a 24" module. megabytes or more of memory! One or two full 73 note velocity sensitive keyboards! Complete synthesis and editing of digitally sampled sounds. Three different on-board SMPTE Sequencers and storage to various disk mediums. The processor itself is housed in a 24" module. Hey Brother, can you spare a dime?

 

that's a lot of moolah, marigolds and maccaroni !!!

Have there been any decent software emulators of it released?