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Scritti Politti are a Welsh musical group.
Formed in 1978 in Leeds, England, Scritti Politti is primarily a musical vehicle for singer-songwriter Green Gartside (real name Paul Julian Strohmeyer) (b 22 June 1955, Cardiff, Wales).
Initially a left-wing-inspired post-punk British rock group, Scritti Politti developed into a more mainstream pop music project in the early to mid-1980s, enjoying significant success in the music charts in the UK and US. The band's music was characterized by sophisticated studio production and Green Gartside's sly, punning wordplay influenced by his reading of deconstruction (the group's 1982 debut album, Songs to Remember, features a song called "Jacques Derrida").
The group's most successful album, 1985's Cupid & Psyche 85, was innovative in its early use of the techniques of sampling and MIDI sequencing and produced hit singles including "Perfect Way", "The Word Girl", "Wood Beez" and "Absolute". Following this period of fame, Gartside became disillusioned with the music industry and retired to the South Wales of his childhood for nearly a decade. He returned to music-making in the late 1990s, releasing two critically acclaimed albums in 1999 and 2006.
Like many Welsh singers, Gartside is known for his distinctive vocal style — in this case, an effeminate, archly cooing falsetto-tenor; he was described by one critic as having "a voice that's eternally 14 years old".
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