the Why & Whereof...of...AoF

Who are the staff of AoF and why are they so frivolous? If you've even bothered to ask, you've probably also figured out that AoF is merely another alias of Erika Chang a.k.a. taliesin a.k.a. [numerous other names].

As for being frivolous, well, if you're too earnest you'd be frivolous too, albeit from a different point of view. It's a lose-lose situation and so I gave up trying too hard to pull a serious face. Besides, it'd be boring and redundant for all the Scritti fansites to be alike. So I leave the serious Scritti research to those who are especially good at organization and clarity of expression, like James Lawrence in London.

As for qualification and authority to write about Scritti...none whatsoever. Not a musician, not even an avid listener of pop music. Not a theoretician either. Not British. Not of the same generation as Green. Not male. Not caucasian. Not connected with Scritti or its various associates in any capacity. And not a clue what Green's on about--sometimes not even sure what words Green's singing.

So why AoF? Because A) the net is still cheap, B) there isn't much information on the net about Scritti--at least not when I started AoF, and lastly C) I still have the time, resource, and enough stupidity and interest in Scritti to make a big ass of myself and a big fuss about Scritti.

As for expectations...none whatsoever. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I do this for myself and perhaps a couple of other Scritti fans who are like me. If one expects to be appreciated by the band et co. for being a busybody, one's setting oneself up for a big let down. It's fun from a fan's point of view, but perhaps it'd be a "horrid" from band's perspective.

And how it all began...I, like James, started late--also in 1988. In fact, my brother, not I, bought Cupid & Psyche '85 and I thought nothing of the LP until later. What got me hooked initially, I'm ashamed to admit, is Green looking like the characters in my favourite Japanese comic books at the time. Exhibit no.1...

...Yes, that's Green, named after none other than the Mighty Ambiguous Bright One himself. And that's Pia, after whom I named myself when I finally got fed up with having an unpronounceable Chinese name. Sickly cutesy isn't it? (Now why couldn't I have just adopted a meaningless name, like "Green"?)

And if you think it's just some weird coincidence, witness exhibit no. 2...

and exhibit no. 3...

I don't suppose this is the sort of pop culture Green was thinking of, is it? Be that as it may, why we choose to do something and what we inherit have too much to do with chance. It's what you make of what you inherit that counts, right? Once I became a convert, it's hard to fathom how I ever not picked up on the Scrits the first time I heard Cupid & Psyche '85.

Being in NYC, it was still relatively easy to amass a Scritti collection in both music and words. I guess it's a question of personality, the anal arrangements just appealed to me. And while the early Scritti weren't synthpop, one can still clearly discern an ear for good arrangements. The voice is just divine and the lyrics have the right mix of banality and absurdity to make paying attention to them bearable and even inviting to ponder on just a bit longer than usual.

Where my pondering took me was to college and a major in fine art/art history. Basically I took the lyrics and interviews on cue and dabbled in whatever Green said he was interested in. Now, I'm actually not that bad--at least I haven't become a Derrida disciple on Green's account! (JCG de l'objet petit lacanian à l'école freudienne, are you reading closely?) Where there's a short supply of role models and the line of inheritance is kaput, this adoption of Green as an unwitting and unwilling God-father just gives one--both directly and inversely--a narrative structure to follow in life, that's all.

Then came She's A Woman Tautology Business Mix while I was finally attempting to read the smallest Derrida book I can find, The Archeology of the Frivolous. And even though I probably missed what both were intended as, put two and two together and they signaled to me the futility of my project, the inevitable differences that will always sabotage my attempt to be the same. Same as Green, which is impossible. But one is tempted to try anyway by that irrational desire to consummate--even though one does not know how--the pleasure provoked and germinated by the music and whatnot. (Now don't get the wrong ideas; I'm really a prude or attached. The pleasures and desires are abstract.) What does it mean to be a follower? There lies the logic of this AoF.