"The 'Sweetest Girl' " is a song written by the Welsh singer Green Gartside. It was originally performed by Gartside's band Scritti Politti, and released in October 1981 as a single. The single peaked at No. 64 in the UK Singles Chart.[1] The keyboards are played by Robert Wyatt.[2]
The song became a marginally bigger hit five years later, when covered by ska and pop band Madness. Their version of the song peaked at No. 35 in the UK and No. 29 in Ireland in early 1986. Madness changed the title of the song slightly, losing both the definite article and the quotation marks around the last two words in "The 'Sweetest Girl'", thereby rendering it as "Sweetest Girl".
As with the cover artwork for all of the singles from Songs to Remember (1982), "The 'Sweetest Girl'" pays homage to the packaging of a luxury consumer item, which in this case was Dunhill cigarettes.[3][4] Gartside claimed that the idea behind the singles' sleeves was to "convey a sense of a common, available thing which is classy, like our records now".[3]
The cover of the song by the ska and pop band Madness was included on their sixth studio album Mad Not Mad (1985), and released as a single the following year. The song spent six weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 35. Whilst reflecting on the Mad Not Mad album, the band's lead vocalist Suggs said that "The Sweetest Girl" was my idea – let’s get really serious and take a song that we don't even understand."[7]
Upon its release as a single, Simon Witter of NME noted how Suggs' "slightly monotone delivery is bolstered by gorgeous harmonies and an inventive rearrangement". He predicted the song would be a hit.[9] Dave Rimmer of Smash Hits described it as "a rather strained version of the first decent song Scritti Politti ever wrote" and added that it "limps and stumbles all the way through".[10] Frank Hopkinson of Number One commented, "The record's light, slow with subtle changes of pace and Suggs singing at his most plaintive."[11]
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For other uses of Sweetest Girl see Sweetest Girl disambiguation The Sweetest Girl is a song written by the Welsh singer Green Gartside It was originally performed by Gartside s band Scritti Politti and released in October 1981 as a single The single peaked at No 64 in the UK Singles Chart 1 The keyboards are played by Robert Wyatt 2 The Sweetest Girl Single by Scritti Polittifrom the album Songs to RememberB side Lions After Slumber UK US Germany Confidence France Japan ReleasedOctober 1981GenreSynth pop reggae fusionLength4 37 single version 6 18 album version LabelRough TradeSongwriter s Green GartsideProducer s Adam Kidron Scritti PolittiScritti Politti singles chronology 4 A Sides 1979 The Sweetest Girl 1981 Faithless 1982 The song became a marginally bigger hit five years later when covered by ska and pop band Madness Their version of the song peaked at No 35 in the UK and No 29 in Ireland in early 1986 Madness changed the title of the song slightly losing both the definite article and the quotation marks around the last two words in The Sweetest Girl thereby rendering it as Sweetest Girl Contents 1 Scritti Politti version 1 1 Artwork 1 2 Track listing 1 2 1 7 and 12 vinyl UK US Germany 1 2 2 7 vinyl France Japan 2 Personnel 3 Madness version 3 1 Music video 3 2 Critical reception 3 3 Track listing 3 3 1 7 vinyl 3 3 2 12 vinyl 3 4 Charts 4 References 5 External linksScritti Politti version EditArtwork Edit As with the cover artwork for all of the singles from Songs to Remember 1982 The Sweetest Girl pays homage to the packaging of a luxury consumer item which in this case was Dunhill cigarettes 3 4 Gartside claimed that the idea behind the singles sleeves was to convey a sense of a common available thing which is classy like our records now 3 Track listing Edit The B side Lions After Slumber takes its title from and quotes in its final lines from the 1819 political poem The Masque of Anarchy by Percy Bysshe Shelley 7 and 12 vinyl UK US Germany Edit Side oneNo TitleLength1 The Sweetest Girl 4 34 Side twoNo TitleLength1 Lions After Slumber 4 58 nbsp The Sweetest Girl Sample source source An audio sample of The Sweetest Girl 1981 Problems playing this file See media help 7 vinyl France Japan Edit Side oneNo TitleLength1 The Sweetest Girl 4 37 Side twoNo TitleLength1 Confidence 3 04Personnel EditSource 5 Robert Wyatt keyboards Green Gartside vocals guitar Joe Cang bass Nial Jinks bass Lorenza Mae Jackie chorus Tom Morley LinnDrum Jamie Talbot saxophone Lions After Slumber 6 Madness version Edit Sweetest Girl nbsp Single by Madnessfrom the album Mad Not MadB side Jennie A Portrait Of Released10 February 1986 1986 02 10 GenreReggae popLength4 20 single version 5 46 album version 7 01 dub mix 6 34 extended mix LabelZarjazzSongwriter s Green GartsideProducer s Clive Langer Alan WinstanleyMadness singles chronology Uncle Sam 1985 Sweetest Girl 1986 Waiting For The Ghost Train 1986 Music videoMadness Sweetest Girl on YouTubeThe cover of the song by the ska and pop band Madness was included on their sixth studio album Mad Not Mad 1985 and released as a single the following year The song spent six weeks on the UK Singles Chart peaking at No 35 Whilst reflecting on the Mad Not Mad album the band s lead vocalist Suggs said that The Sweetest Girl was my idea let s get really serious and take a song that we don t even understand 7 Music video Edit The song s music video was featured in the 1986 BBC Omnibus documentary Video Jukebox 8 Critical reception Edit Upon its release as a single Simon Witter of NME noted how Suggs slightly monotone delivery is bolstered by gorgeous harmonies and an inventive rearrangement He predicted the song would be a hit 9 Dave Rimmer of Smash Hits described it as a rather strained version of the first decent song Scritti Politti ever wrote and added that it limps and stumbles all the way through 10 Frank Hopkinson of Number One commented The record s light slow with subtle changes of pace and Suggs singing at his most plaintive 11 Track listing Edit 7 vinyl Edit Side oneNo TitleWriter s Length1 Sweetest Girl Green Gartside4 20 Horns Gary Barnacle Backing Vocals AfrodiziakSide twoNo TitleWriter s Length1 Jennie A Portrait Of Lee ThompsonDaniel Woodgate3 24 12 vinyl Edit Side oneNo TitleWriter s Length1 Sweetest Girl Dub Mix Gartside7 01 Side twoNo TitleWriter s Length1 Sweetest Girl Extended Mix Gartside6 342 Jennie A Portrait Of ThompsonWoodgate3 05 Charts Edit Chart 1986 PeakpositionUK Singles Chart 12 13 35Irish Singles Chart 14 29References Edit The Official Charts Company Scritti Politti Sweetest Girl Official Charts Retrieved 10 January 2009 Old music Scritti Politti the Sweetest Girl TheGuardian com 17 October 2011 a b Dwyer Simon 29 May 1982 The Polittics of ecstasy Sounds Reynolds Simon 2005 Rip It Up and Start Again Postpunk 1978 1984 London England Faber and Faber p 366 ISBN 978 0 571 21570 6 Robert Wyatt with Friends Songs to Remember CD booklet Scritti Politti Rough Trade Records 1982 a href Template Cite AV media notes html title Template Cite AV media notes cite AV media notes a CS1 maint others in cite AV media notes link Madness on their best albums We were full of ideas 15 November 2019 Collections Search BFI British Film Institute Collections search bfi org uk 9 May 1986 Retrieved 25 October 2016 Witter Simon 25 January 1986 Singles New Musical Express p 8 Rimmer Dave 15 January 1986 Review Singles Smash Hits p 39 Hopkinson Frank 25 January 1986 Singles Number One No 136 p 36 everyhit com search results Retrieved 10 January 2009 The Official Charts Company Madness The Sweetest Girl Official Charts Retrieved 10 January 2009 irishcharts ie search results Retrieved 10 January 2009 External links EditThe Sweetest Girl on YouTube Scritti Politti Released on 2005 02 22 The Sweetest Girl on YouTube Madness version Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The 22Sweetest Girl 22 amp oldid 1180296557, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
