Even by Eighties standards, Scritti Politti had one of the weirdest pop journeys ever. Green Gartside started out as a U.K. post-punk anarchist. But then he decided to make an even kinkier avant-garde statement by crashing the Top 40 with New Romantic synth-pop hits about feminist theory. Absolute is the definitive Scritti anthology, and the first attempt to tell the whole story on one album, along with two electro-minded new gems. From the art-damaged funk of "Perfect Way" to the poignant ballad "Oh Patti," it sums up Gartside as a uniquely deranged pop mastermind.

“Oh Sherrie”

Steve Perry's girlfriend Sherrie Swafford was actually in the studio when Perry began writing this song--his lone Top Ten hit as a solo act--with two co-writers. The trio began at midnight one night with just "Oh, Sherrie!" and "hold on, hold on." Three hours later, they had a complete song. Swafford, however, had to wait until the next day to hear it. "Sherrie actually got tired and went to bed," Perry said. She also appeared in the video, but their relationship did not hold on for long.