Cupid & Psyche 85
| Cupid & Psyche 85 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Scritti Politti | ||||
| Released | 10 June 1985 | |||
| Recorded | 1983–1985 at Minot Sound, The Power Station, Atlantic in New York; Eden, Wessex Sound, Sarm West, Sarm East in London | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 38:50 (LP) 63:11/62:40 (CD) |
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| Label |
Virgin (UK) Warner Bros. (US) |
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| Producer | Scritti Politti and Arif Mardin | |||
| Scritti Politti chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Cupid & Psyche 85 | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Melody Maker | very favourable |
| NME | unfavourable |
| Rolling Stone | average |
| Sounds | |
| Spin | very favourable |
| The Village Voice | A− |
Cupid & Psyche 85 is the second album by the British/American pop group Scritti Politti, released in the UK on Virgin Records on 10 June 1985. The release continued frontman Green Gartside's embrace of mainstream pop music stylings, drawing on modern production techniques and contemporary black music, while its lyrics evidence Gartside's concern with issues of language and politics.
It remains the band's most successful album, reaching No. 5 in the UK, and was certified Gold by the BPI for 100,000 copies sold. The album contained five singles, three of which were top 20 hits in the UK. The single "Perfect Way" became a surprise hit in the US, reaching No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in a 25-week run on the chart.
Scritti Politti's debut album Songs to Remember had been released in September 1982, but even before the album's release frontman Green had expressed in interviews his frustration at the limitations of being signed to an independent label like Rough Trade Records. After Songs to Remember he began to talk to major record labels, a move reluctantly supported by Rough Trade who wanted to keep him but realised they could not support him financially with the budget for the type of record that Green wanted to make. At the same time Green had been distancing himself from the Marxist collective that Scritti Politti had originated from, and by the time of the album's release Scritti Politti was effectively his solo vehicle, the other original members having left during the album's recording or shortly afterwards.
During the recording of Songs to Remember Rough Trade had introduced Green to New Yorker David Gamson. Gamson was a keyboard player/programmer and an assistant engineer for the label who had used some studio downtime to record a demo version of the Archies' 1969 hit song "Sugar, Sugar". Green and Gamson hit it off and decided that they would work together in future as they had similar ideas about the type of music they wanted to make.
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