Scritti Politti – Songs To Remember (1982)
I’ve said plenty about this album across various previous posts on TVV, old and current versions alike, (and as SWC so kindly and helpfully points out, I’ve been known to say a few things on other wonderfully curated music blogs). But please, bear with me as i try to find some more words for the purposes of the rundown.
I think I’d be held up to ridicule if I ever tried to claim that this is one of the ten best records ever made. But I’ll always have it placed high in any rundown of this nature for the fact that it helped to develop and broaden my musical tastes, listening and gig-going habits.
It was, thinking back on it, the first chin-stroking record that I ever truly fell for, one that didn’t require fast-paced guitar chords, poptastic synths or vocals being delivered by a brilliant or troubled genius to truly hold my attention. If you’d suggested a few months prior to owning a copy that I’d be giving regular spins to a record on which a double-bass solo, alongside a jazzy sounding saxophone, were central to the delivery of one of its key tracks, then I would most likely have laughed in your face.
mp3: Scritti Politti – Rock-A-Boy Blue
To be fair, I should have seen it coming. An NME cassette had introduced me to Scritti Politti via the song The ‘Sweetest ‘Girl, a near-ballad whose softly played piano, drum machine and falsetto vocal I had found utterly charming. The purchase of a later 45 of said song led to the discovery of a b-side, Lions After Slumber, that worked its way into my brain courtesy of a funky beat and a proto white boy rap delivery. It was inevitable that I’d end up buying the album.
And loving it.
In 2001, a remastered version of the album was issued on CD. A review in Q Magazine at that time stated that it still sounded delightfully undateable as it did back in 1982.
I’ve never really thought of the album in that way, but it is deadly accurate. Songs To Remember is the type of record that could have been made in any of the past six decades and most of the time, would have never been dismissed as being totally out of fashion. It’s the sort of album no discernable music fan is every likely to fall out of love with.
Sigh.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Way back in October 2022. A very fine writer wrote a review of this album for No Badger Required.
https://wordpress.com/post/nobadgerrequired.wordpress.com/2258
A great start to the Top Ten sir.
A classic – still love it and play it today!
7th June 2023. 5:55am I check my email for anything from NVV and see another comment on the compelling Awkward Bunch post. Snooze.
6:05am Check again……ah! A surprise! ‘Songs to Remember’ and memories start coming back: the NME C81 cassette and how ‘The Sweetest Girl’ was my 2nd fav song on it (‘Blue Boy’ was #1). Next memory was ‘Faithless’ and how I wanted it to be a hit, and being excited when it was on the Friday evening show on Radio 1 featuring new releases with a panel of reviewers. And then becoming annoyed when Peter Powell dismissed it as being too clever to be a hit/get radio play! Then the memory of the LP itself and my anticipation at the conceit of the title! This is going to be good – surely, this is the one! Next, the memories of playing it, and where I was living at the time – Alsager, and my first job. At this point in my history, I know this was just a month or 2 before I moved to new digs in Alsager where I heard for the first time via John Peel) track 1 of an album I am pretty sure will be in the NVV top 5…..we’ll see!),
6:30am Decide to reacquaint myself with ‘Songs to Remember’ and fire up Spotify. Oh! It is not there!? Check/double check – no it isn’t. Why?
7:00am Decide to find the album (not currently in alphabetical order, unlike the singles so it takes a bit of time). Eventually find it between Sade and the Clash. Run my finger over the embossed cover and check the track listing, before placing it on the turntable. Aah – the familiar boingy guitar of ‘Asylums’ and I feel at home. Then it meanders off with a few songs which I don’t Remember, before ‘Faithless’ kicks in and I wonder if would have been improved without the Vocoder bits. Nevertheless a great song to Remember. Flip to side 2 and this is better than I Remember, with a strong finish of course with ‘Sweetest..’ .
The statement that this would not be one of the 10 best albums ever made but is in your top 10 shows exactly why music is so important and so subjective.