"Albinoni vs Star Wars" is a song by British band

Sigue Sigue Sputnik Sigue Sigue Sputnik were a British new wave band formed in 1982 by former Generation X bassist Tony James. The band have had three UK top-40 hit singles, including "Love Missile F1-11" and " 21st Century Boy". The band's music, image and insp ...

released in May 1989 as the third single from their second album ''

Dress for Excess ''Dress for Excess'' is the second album by British band Sigue Sigue Sputnik, released in December 1988 in Brazil and in April 1989 in the UK and US. Release The album was released in Brazil before anywhere else, to make way for the band's Brazi ...

''. It was their last single to chart, peaking at number 75 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Background and release

"Albinoni vs Star Wars" is a version of " Adagio in G minor" (attributed to

Tomaso Albinoni Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (8 June 1671 – 17 January 1751) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. His output includes operas, concertos, sonatas for one to six instruments, sinfonias, and solo cantatas. While famous in his day as an opera comp ...

but largely written by

Remo Giazotto Remo Giazotto (4 September 1910, Rome – 26 August 1998, Pisa) was an Italian musicologist, music critic, and composer, mostly known through his systematic catalogue of the works of Tomaso Albinoni. He wrote biographies of Albinoni and other ...

). Tony James originally retitled it "Tarzan vs IBM" (originally a working title of

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran� ...

's 1965 film '' Alphaville''), but had to change it after finding out both

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

and IBM brand names were copyrighted and unable to be used. "Albinoni vs Stars Wars"

interpolates In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one often has a n ...

the original composition using electronic percussion and synth and was programmed and produced by Stephen Hague. It was released as a

double A-sided The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

single. The first side, parenthesised 'Part 1', features the interpolation of "Adagio in G minor" throughout and, as stated above, was produced by Hague. The other side, parenthesised 'Parts 1 and 2', features the interpolation for the first minute and a half, before transitioning into 'Part 2', produced by

Neal X Neal X (born Neal Whitmore) was the guitarist with the British band Sigue Sigue Sputnik. They had a No. 3 UK hit single with "Love Missile F1-11" in 1986. He has also worked as a sideman for Adam Ant and Marc Almond. Whitmore founded the Montecri ...

, featuring drum loops and guitars. This is the version found on the ''Dress for Excess'' album and production is credited to Hague and X. The 12-inch single features extended versions of Parts 1 and 2, although unlike the 7-inch single, the flip side only consists of Part 2. A CD single was also released, consisting of the 7-inch Part 1, the two extended versions from the 12-inch single and an exclusive track with the parenthesis 'Bonus Beats'. The cover features a cartoon illustrated by Ron Smith, best known for his work for the comic '' 2000 AD''.

Music video

The music video is in the style of a film

opening credits In a motion picture, television program or video game, the opening credits or opening titles are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen ...

sequence and imitates the ''Star Wars'' opening crawl in displaying crawl text outlining the backstory and context to a film about a "Dark Secret" of Tomaso Albonini that remained unrevealed until 1989. The background throughout is a fixed shot of a sunset. The cast and crew credits include a number of fictional, made-up and real-life people: for example, Countess Almaviva (from ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'');

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...

; and Desmond True and Noble Strongheart playing two swordsmen.

Reception

Reviewing for ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'', Win member

Davy Henderson David Alexander "Davy" Henderson (born 1962) is a Scottish singer and guitarist whose career began in the 1970s. He is best known for his work with The Fire Engines, Win, The Nectarine No. 9, and more recently The Sexual Objects and Port Sulphu ...

wrote that the song "starts off a bit Franko, ie Frankie-ish" and that "it's actually better at 33rpm; you get a Mario Puzo,

zabaglione Zabaione () or zabaglione (, , ) is an Italian dessert, or sometimes a beverage, made with egg yolks, sugar, and a sweet wine (usually Moscato d'Asti or Marsala wine). Some versions of the recipe incorporate spirits such as cognac. The dessert v ...

Once Upon A Time In America ''Once Upon a Time in America'' ( it, C'era una volta in America) is a 1984 epic crime film co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The film is an Italian–American venture produce ...

', ' Godfather', ' Scarface' kind of feeling. This record actually gives you audience participation, you slow it down for the strings and bring it up for the guitars". Bandmate Mani Shoniwa described it as "a real red winer, and it's a hittie. It's got to be Single Of The Week".

Track listings

7": Parlophone / SSS 4 # "Albinoni vs Star Wars" (Part 1) – 5:14 # "Albinoni vs Star Wars" (Parts 1 and 2) – 4:40 12": Parlophone / 12 SSS 4 # "Albinoni vs Star Wars" (Part 1 Extended) – 6:28 # "Albinoni vs Star Wars" (Part 2 Extended) – 5:29 CD: Parlophone / CD SSS 4 # "Albinoni vs. Star Wars" (Part 1) (7" Version) – 5:12 # "Albinoni vs Star Wars" (Part 1 Extended) – 6:28 # "Albinoni vs Star Wars" (Part 2 Extended) – 5:29 # "Albinoni vs Star Wars" (Part 2) (Bonus Beats) – 2:26

Personnel

* Martin Degville – vocals * Tony James – "space" guitar, vocals, design *

– guitar * Miss Yana Ya Ya (Jane Farrimond) – keyboards, effects, vocals * Chris Kavanagh – drum sampling * Ray Mayhew – drum sampling * Bill Mitchell – vocals ("deep voices") *

Sylvia Mason-James Sylvia Mason-James (born 8 December 1958) is a British singer who has worked extensively as a backing vocalist and solo artist. Early life and career Mason-James was born on 8 December 1958 in south London, United Kingdom to immigrants from J ...

– vocals ("girly voices") * Cheyne – vocals * Mark Laff – vocals * Stephen Hague – computer programming, producer * Bill Smith Studio – design * Ron Smith – illustration

Charts

References

{{authority control Sigue Sigue Sputnik songs 1989 singles 1989 songs Songs written by Tony James (musician) Songs written by Stephen Hague Song recordings produced by Stephen Hague Parlophone singles