[6] Initially formed as a punk-aligned underground act influenced by leftist politics, they transitioned into a commercial pop music project in the early 1980s, achieving success on the record charts in the UK.

[9] The punk rock group Sex Pistols 'Anarchy' tour, which included the Damned and the Heartbreakers, was launched at the Polytechnic on 6 December 1976.

It inspired Gartside to form a band with his childhood friend Nial Jinks and fellow student Tom Morley.

[9] Scritti Politti originally consisted of Gartside as the lead vocalist, Jinks as bass player, and Morley as drummer, with Matthew Kay as their manager who sometimes played the keyboard.

The name Scritti Politti was chosen as a homage to the Italian Marxist writer and political theorist Antonio Gramsci.

Gartside changed it to Scritti Politti as he thought it sounded more rock and roll, like the Little Richard song "Tutti Frutti".

[11] Alongside other groups of what has been termed the DIY ethic or movement (notably The Desperate Bicycles and Steve Treatment, the latter being associated with Swell Maps), Scritti Politti released a DIY record titled "Skank Bloc Bologna" (a sort of ode to the traditionally leftist Italian city of Bologna) on their own St. Pancras label in 1978.

Scritti Politti began planning their debut album in 1979, but the recording had to be delayed when Gartside collapsed after a gig supporting Gang of Four in Brighton in early 1980.

Returning home to south Wales at his parents' insistence for a nine-month convalescence period, Gartside had plenty of time to think about the direction the band and where their music was going.

He explained his reasons for abandoning the band's original "do-it-yourself" philosophy to Smash Hits in November 1981: In simple terms, we were sick to death of the ghetto of the independent scene.

[16]As well as his musical change of heart, Gartside had also abandoned the strict Marxist philosophy of the early Scritti Politti ideas and recordings, saying that "a lot of the very oppositional politics that we'd been involved in lost their appeal and credibility for me.

I wanted to go very poppy, but Tom [Morley, drummer] and Nial [Jinks, bassist] weren't very keen on the idea, so in coordinance with the old bookwormish Scritti Politti I decided to make some notes – which in retrospect is a ridiculous thing to do – about the theory and politics of it, and why it was a good thing to do, as opposed to keep slogging away at St. Pancras Records [Scritti Politti's self-financed independent record label].

[9] Also during this period, Gartside recorded a duet with Annie Lennox on the Eurythmics track "Wrap It Up", for their Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) album released in early 1983.

[9] Collaborating with veteran producer Arif Mardin, David Gamson and Fred Maher, the first recording to emerge from these sessions was the single: "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)".

[21] In June 1985, Scritti Politti released their second (and most successful) album, Cupid & Psyche 85, with songs produced by Arif Mardin and performances by numerous session musicians.

[8] The personnel for Cupid and Psyche 85 differed from that of their first album, and featured keyboardist David Gamson and ex-Material drummer Fred Maher, both of whom would collaborate with Gartside on songwriting and production duties.

[25] This track also appeared on the next Scritti Politti album, 1988's Provision, which continued Gartside's development into synth-funk as well as reggae and other styles.

The roster of session players became even more notable, including contributions from Roger Troutman, Marcus Miller and Miles Davis, who performed on the single "Oh Patti (Don't Feel Sorry for Loverboy)", a UK No.

[24] Scritti Politti entered the UK charts again in 1991 with their cover of the Beatles' "She's a Woman", which featured guest vocals from Shabba Ranks and a remix version by William Orbit.

[21] This was swiftly followed by the release of "Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me"', a cover of the Gladys Knight song, featuring guest vocals from Sweetie Irie, which failed to chart inside the top 40.

[9] The now bearded Gartside dived directly into the now commercially accessible hip hop scene, borrowing tradesmen of the genre such as Mos Def and Jimahl amongst others.

This band, including journalist/musician Rhodri Marsden on keyboards, Dicky Moore on guitar and Ralph Phillips on drums, played a number of concerts previewing a new album, White Bread, Black Beer, which was released on Rough Trade on 29 May 2006.

The pair met at the Mercury Music Prize ceremony, and played a concert supporting Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid at KOKO in London in March 2007.

A subsequent live 15-track CD was released, including Gartside's version of Drake's "Fruit Tree" which he also performed at The Barbican, London.

[28] The Tracey Thorn Christmas album Tinsel and Lights, released in October 2012, featured a duet with Gartside and a cover of the song "Snow in Sun" from White Bread, Black Beer.

[32] Richard Thompson references the band in his song "A Bone Through Her Nose" from his 1986 release Daring Adventures ("Her boyfriend plays in Scritti Politti...").

Kurt Feldman (the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, the Depreciation Guild) stated that the band's music is a major inspiration for his work.

Other artists who have cited Scritti Politti as an influence include Kylie Minogue,[34] Matty Healy[35] of The 1975, Carly Rae Jepsen,[36] Dirty Projectors,[37] Hot Chip, Max Tundra,[38] and Haim.