Inspired by punk band Sex Pistol's first Anarchy tour, Green, Nial, and Tom formed Scritti Politti in early 1977 in Leeds, England. Green and Tom -- as well as Soft Cell's Marc Almond -- were studying at the Leeds Polytechnic, an art college. Before Scritti, Green had already been playing in a college band The Against in 1976 covering Chelsea songs. But now Nial came up from the same part of South Wales as Green to join in the fun. Green taught Nial bass in three weeks. Tom blew his last year's grant on a drum kit and started hammering away.

From Leeds the band then move on in 1978 to squatting in Camden Town, North London and playing gigs at mainly punk venues nationwide. Many songs were improvised on the spot and consequently lost to history. Disenfrachised and Doledrums were among the casualties. Other cuts which did not make it onto genuine oil products include The Humours of Spitalfields, Knowledge and Interest, and 5/12/78 from the first Peel Session they did on 5 December 1978, and The New One from the second Peel Session of 20 June 1979.

Green supposedly wrote all the songs, both lyrics and musical arrangements; but for leftist ideological reasons -- Nial's father came from a Communist Party background, and Nial and Green had at the age of 15 tried to start a young communist branch in Wales -- the band presents itself as a communal effort with group meetings involving 15 people and approval necessary before anything was played and produced.

Skank Bloc Bologna, their first single, made with £500 borrowed from Tom's brother, was released mid 1978 on their own St Pancras label and distributed through Rough Trade Records. Initially only 2,500 copies were pressed. But it sold out quite quickly and was subsequently re-pressed 5 more times for a total of 15,000 copies. By 1979, the band was supporting Joy Division and Gang of Four on tours. In October 1979, a 12" EP, Four A-Sides, was released and a 7" EP John Peel Session followed in November, though it was recorded prior to Four A-Sides during their second Peel Session.

Then Green suffered a psychosomatic paralysis en route to a gig, overdosed on some drugs, and had to be finally shipped back home to Wales to recover. At the same time there were also dissensions in the group about Green because of the musical direction he wanted to go -- towards Pop. And the chapter closed on phase 1 of Scritti Politti with Green spending 9 months of 1980 at home reading and writing in an attempt to justify the next phase of Scritti.

( . . . . . 77-79 articles listing )

Click on the in the 7", 12", or LP column
to get more details on the single, EP, or LP.
Also available: complete SCRITTI POLITTI songs listing

song title	7"	12"	LP
5.12.78
Disenfrachised
Doledrums
Knowledge and Interest
Perfunktory
The Humours of Spitalfields
The New One
Is And Ought The Western World
Skank Bloc Bologna
Scritlocks Door
OPEC-Immac
Messthetics
Hegemony
P.A.s
Confidence
Bibbly-o-tek
Doubt Beat