The "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.{{cite magazine |first=Simon |last=Dwyer |title=The Polittics of ecstasy |magazine=Sounds |date=29 May 1982}}{{cite book |first=Simon |last=Reynolds |author-link=Simon Reynolds |title=Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984 |url=https://archive.org/details/ripitupstartagai00reyn |url-access=registration |publisher=Faber and Faber |location=London, England |year=2005 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ripitupstartagai00reyn/page/366 366] |isbn=978-0-571-21570-6}} 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".

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.

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = The 'Sweetest Girl{{'-}}

| length1 = 4:34

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title1 = Lions After Slumber

| length1 = 4:58

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = The 'Sweetest Girl{{'-}}

| length1 = 4:37

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title1 = Confidence

| length1 = 3:04

}}

Source:{{Cite web|url=http://www.disco-robertwyatt.com/images/with_friends/index.htm|title = Robert Wyatt - with Friends}}

• 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"){{cite AV media notes|title=Songs to Remember|others=Scritti Politti|year=1982|publisher=Rough Trade Records|type=CD booklet}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Sweetest Girl

| cover = Sweetest Girl.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Madness

| album = Mad Not Mad

| B-side = Jennie (A Portrait Of)

| released = {{Start date|1986|2|10|df=y}}

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = * Reggae

• pop

| length = 4:20 (single version)
5:46 (album version)
7:01 (dub mix)
6:34 (extended mix)

| label = Zarjazz

| writer = Green Gartside

| producer = * Clive Langer

• Alan Winstanley

| prev_title = Uncle Sam

| prev_year = 1985

| next_title = (Waiting For) The Ghost Train

| next_year = 1986

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|DduE7ZtxPrs|Madness – "Sweetest Girl"}}}}

}}

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."{{cite web | url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/interviews/madness-on-their-best-albums-we-were-full-of-ideas-121773/3/ | title=Madness on their best albums: "We were full of ideas!" | date=15 November 2019 }}

The song's music video was featured in the 1986 BBC Omnibus documentary Video Jukebox.{{cite web|url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150238263 |title=Collections Search {{pipe}} BFI {{pipe}} British Film Institute |website=Collections-search.bfi.org.uk |date=1986-05-09 |accessdate=2016-10-25}}

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.{{cite magazine |last=Witter |first=Simon |date=25 January 1986 |title=Singles |magazine=New Musical Express |page=8}} 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".{{cite magazine |last=Rimmer |first=Dave |date=15 January 1986 |title=Review: Singles |magazine=Smash Hits |page=39}} Frank Hopkinson of Number One commented, "The record's light, slow with subtle changes of pace and Suggs singing at his most plaintive."{{cite magazine |last=Hopkinson |first=Frank |title=Singles |magazine=Number One |date=25 January 1986 |issue=136 |page=36}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Sweetest Girl

| writer1 = Green Gartside

| length1 = 4:20

}}

• Horns:- Gary Barnacle
• Backing Vocals:- Afrodiziak

{{track listing

| headline = Side two

| title1 = Jennie (A Portrait Of)

| writer1 = {{hlist|Lee Thompson|Daniel Woodgate}}

| length1 = 3:24

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Sweetest Girl

| note1 = Dub Mix

| writer1 = Gartside

| length1 = 7:01

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title1 = Sweetest Girl

| note1 = Extended Mix

| writer1 = Gartside

| length1 = 6:34

| title2 = Jennie (A Portrait Of)

| writer2 = {{hlist|Thompson|Woodgate}}

| length2 = 3:05

}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{youTube|JXH1vSVF2Yk|The Sweetest Girl}} – Scritti Politti (Released on: 2005-02-22)
• {{youTube|DduE7ZtxPrs|The Sweetest Girl}} – Madness version

{{Scritti Politti}}

{{Madness}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweetest Girl, The}}

Category:1981 songs

Category:1981 singles

Category:1986 singles

Category:Articles with quotation marks in the title

Category:Scritti Politti songs

Category:Madness (band) songs

Category:Songs written by Green Gartside

Category:Rough Trade Records singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Clive Langer

Category:Song recordings produced by Alan Winstanley

Category:Zarjazz singles