Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)
| "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Scritti Politti | |
| from the album Cupid & Psyche 85 | |
| Released | February 1984 |
| Format | Vinyl, cassette tape, Compact disc |
| Recorded | December 1983 |
| Genre | Synthpop |
| Length | 3:34 (7") 4:48 (album) 5:54 (Version) |
| Label |
Virgin Records (UK) Warner Bros. (US) |
| Writer(s) | Green Gartside |
| Producer(s) | Arif Mardin |
"Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)" is the seventh single released by the British/American pop group Scritti Politti, issued in the UK on Virgin Records in February 1984. It later appeared on the album Cupid & Psyche 85 (released in June 1985) and was produced by Arif Mardin. The song's subtitle is a reference to "I Say a Little Prayer", Aretha Franklin's biggest UK hit, which was also produced by Mardin.
The single was Scritti Politti's breakthrough hit in the UK singles charts, where it peaked at #10 in a 16-week chart run. It was also a Top 30 hit in Australia and New Zealand.
Writing in a 2011 interview with Green Gartside, Robin Turner said:
In April '84, "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)" crackled over airwaves from Anglesey to Arizona like an alien radio transmission beamed out to an unsuspecting planet. A gleaming, chromium nugget molded by ultra-modernist studioheads, it heralded in three and a half minutes the dramatic, bravura transformation of a band called Scritti Politti. Formerly a DIY squat punk band, they were now a group doused in glinting pop sheen. ... The resultant LP, Cupid and Psyche 85, yielded a string of radio-slaying singles ("Wood Beez...", "Absolute", "The Word Girl" and "Perfect Way") that segued fluently between ultra-slick robotised funk and meticulously constructed swoonsome lovers rock. Huge sales followed.
The extended version is subtitled "Version". It appeared on the CD release of the album and also on the 2005 compilation 12"/80s, which prompted AllMusic to call its inclusion "smart" and Pitchfork Media to note the extended version's "ultra-brite (p)op-art stabs and gimmicky samples are a mini-essay in mid-80s remixing-- as well as on what the 80s did to punk."
The song appears in Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City's fictional radio station Vice City FM.
...
Wikipedia