Green Gartside first conceived Scritti Politti as doctrinaire post-punk socialists alongside similarly strident acts like The Mekons and Gang of Four. But when Green heard Michael Jackson's Thriller, he realized that it would be more fun to deconstruct pop music from the inside. Upon moving to New York, he recorded the glossy and brilliant Cupid & Psyche 85, an intelligent and tuneful pop record that was an international smash. Mission accomplished, Gartside released occasional and stylistically varied indie albums over the next few decades.