On their second album, Scritti Politti essentially was Green Gartside, who directed drummer Fred Maher, keyboardist David Gamson, and a multitude of studio musicians through a state-of-the-art, immaculately constructed set of catchy synth pop on Cupid & Psyche 85. The results are as impressive as Songs to Remember and produced the hit singles "Perfect Way" and "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)."One of the most brilliant synth-dance singles of all time, "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)" is a pinnacle of the form. The arrangement, by singer/songwriter Green Gartside and his co-conspirators David Gamson and Fred Maher, combines with Arif Mardin's seamless production into a textbook example of how to make a dance track that's so kinetic that it's impossible not to move to, but so clever and rich-sounding that it's equally fun to listen to alone on headphones with the lights off. Gartside's lyrics are among his most allusive and playful, mixing soul homage and his usual hyperactive wordplay, and his helium-pitched vocal style (imagine Boy George channeling the prepubescent Michael Jackson) is one of the most bizarre and wonderful musical personas of its era. Not a US chart hit, but a dancefloor classic, "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)" is a frothy, almost silly masterpiece.
(Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85)
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