CLOSE-UP : THE CINERAMA SINGLES (Part 4)

A GUEST SERIES by STRANGEWAYS

Close Up: The Cinerama Singles #4 :  Disco Volante singles (1)

September 2000 would see the release of second Cinerama LP Disco Volante (yet another Bond reference, this time named for the luxurious yacht used by the villain Emilio Largo in the 1965 film Thunderball).

Two singles warmed us up for the new LP – we’ll cover those in this post – and a further two went out post-release. It was an unusually high number, but one that would provide space for some high-quality B-sides.

mp3: Cinerama – Wow

Wow indeed. An absolute must-listen, Wow hit the racks in June 2000. Theme-wise we were on hardly new ground here, but musically this was ferocious and graced by a really robust sing-along chorus. Wow was possibly the first Cinerama-song-that-could-have-passed-as-a-Wedding-Present-song. It also featured the greatest use of flute in a pop tune since My Bloody Valentine stuck one on When You Sleep.

Not to be deliberately a nuisance, but it’s well worth noting that an extended mix of Wow is found on Disco Volante. Thanks to a thrilling must-hear instrumental coda, it’s almost three minutes longer than this single cut and in my view is the finer of the two tracks.

B-sides here contributed to a terrific single release. Whereas for me Wow leaned towards The Wedding Present, 10 Denier went the other way and possibly perfected the Cinerama sound. Piano-led and elevated by harmonies and strings a-go-go, was 10 Denier the greatest Eurovision song there never was?

mp3: Cinerama – 10 Denier

Gigolo, the final track on the Wow single, was a harder counterpoint. Fragmented and angular, it was closer in tone to the material that would present itself a couple of years later on Cinerama’s next LP.

mp3: Cinerama – Gigolo

Wow also marks the point at which bass guitarist Terry de Castro would join Cinerama. Formerly of the Nude Records band Goya Dress, de Castro is well worth a mention as she would become a long-time creative collaborator, make the switch to guitar, and contribute backing vocals (and one lead) across -spoiler alert – subsequent Wedding Present output.

From Wikipedia:

Luigia “Gina” Lollobrigida (4 July 1927 – 16 January 2023), known professionally as Gina Lollobrigida, was an Italian actress and photojournalist. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s, a period in which she was an international sex symbol.

If we count the admittedly different version of Wow as a Disco Volante single, the second track taken from the LP would be Lollobrigida. It emerged in late August 2000, just a few weeks prior to the album’s release. Like all eleven Disco Volante tracks, Lollobrigida was recorded by Steve Albini, the producer and sound engineer hardly noted for the gauzy, accordion and keyboard-accented confections that characterise this song.

mp3: Cinerama – Lollobrigida

Beginning with a trademark intake of breath, this is one of Cinerama’s most delicate compositions. Sleeve-wise, Lollobrigida was wrapped in a rosy, harshly cropped image of the eponymous actress. A version, sung in French, featured on a Peel session broadcast on 17 September 2000, just a day prior to the release of Disco Volante.

mp3: Cinerama – Lollobrigida (French Version – Peel Session)

B-sides? See Thru is another of Gedge’s quietly bawdy Cinerama titles (see also 10 Denier, Unzip, Quick, Before It Melts, Tie Me Up and Sparkle Lipstick). It’s antsy, restless and concerned with the perennial topic of deception. Here the offender does his best to make lemonade with lemons by asserting that You say I never tell the truth, at least you know when I am lying. It’s an admirable comeback, but one unlikely to prevail.

mp3: Cinerama – See Thru

On the Second flip, Sly Curl is a finer fit to its A-side. Here the pace drops, a dependable pop trope – ‘why do you have to go out with him/her when you could go out with me?’ – is expressed before the late comedian, actor, writer and Weddoes nut Sean Hughes’ affectingly delivered spoken words close a gentle, very Cinerama number.

mp3: Cinerama – Sly Curl

It’s tracks like Sly Curl, and several on Disco Volante (the chorus-monster Heels, plus Après Ski and Let’s Pretend) that make me think this was the point at which Cinerama perfected its sound and hit the sweet spot: far enough from The Wedding Present, familiar enough to connect. Hey, it’s just my take on it, but it strikes me that this was a band with, broadly speaking, three distinct eras, each one defined by its LP and by extension those records’ associated singles and B-sides.

Purely for trivia: it’s been edited out, but once upon a time Wikipedia’s Gina Lollobrigida entry, under the In popular culture section, referenced a group that’s been featured right here on the (New) Vinyl Villain. Here’s what Wikipedia noted: English rock band Cardiacs included a song titled “Gina Lollobrigida” on their 1984 album The Seaside.

With customary thanks for making it this far, our next post will focus on the remaining two singles of Cinerama’s Disco Volante era.

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