"And Guess What I Found..." (Introduction)

 

Between October 2020 and January 2021 I wrote a blog called Suddenly It's Tuesday, which ranked all 223 Wedding Present songs. I signed off by saying that I would get to Cinerama 'in a couple of weeks'. In my defence, I have been pretty busy with Fall stuff...

Anyway, I'm doing it now, so let's get cracking...

Cinerama (1998-2004)

The Wedding Present released Saturnalia in September 1996 and toured extensively that year to promote the album. However, after three final gigs in January 1997, Gedge decided to take an extended sabbatical from TWP. 

After the heady heights of achieving a dozen top 30 hits in 1992, he had clearly become, if not disillusioned, then at least keen to try out new approaches. 1994's Watusi had certainly broadened The Wedding Present's sound (with mixed results), and whilst Mini and Saturnalia were still filled with the trademark sounds and lyrical themes established in the late 80s/early 90s, it was clear that David was itching to head off in a different direction.

Contractual obligations meant that there were a handful of further TWP releases that emerged in the late 90s - such as Peel Sessions 1992-95 (1998) and Singles 1995-97 (1999) - but 1998 saw the dawn of a new Gedge era with Cinerama's first single, 'Kerry Kerry'.

The Cinerama sound and image revolved around some of David's favourite cultural touchstones: 60s kitsch, film soundtracks, spy movies, classic Hollywood stars, strings and woodwind. Many of the lyrical themes remained the same (infidelity, betrayal, seduction) but with a slightly more knowing and lightly saucy touch. To begin with, at least - as time went on, both words and music began to morph back into TWP territory.

The nucleus of Cinerama was David and his then partner Sally Murrell. The broadening of the sound to include oboes, flutes, etc. meant that a wide range of musicians contributed to Cinerama shows and recordings. Particularly notable contributors included Simon Cleave, Terry de Castro and Finnish drummer Kari Paavola.

Cinerama Releases

[Not intended to be exhaustive - just the main stuff.]

• 'Kerry Kerry' (single) - July 1998
• Va Va Voom (LP) - July 1998
• 'Dance Girl Dance' (single) - November 1998
• 'Pacific' (single) - August 1999
• 'Manhattan' (single) - February 2000
• 'Wow' (single) - June 2000
• 'Lollobrigida' (single) August 2000
• Disco Volante (LP) - September 2000
• 'Your Charms' (single) - October 2000
• 'Superman' (single) - April 2001
• 'Health and Efficiency' (single) - October 2001
• 'Quick, Before It Melts' (single) - March 2002
• Torino (LP) - July 2002
• 'Careless' (single) - September 2002
• 'Don't Touch That Dial' (single) - October 2003
• 'It's Not You, It's Me' (single) - June 2004

Although I was an avid TWP fan in the late 80s and early 90s, I rather lost touch with Gedge's work around the beginning of the new century. I was aware of Cinerama's existence via a couple of tracks that a friend put on mixtapes he sent me, but it all passed me by to a large extent.

Things changed when a work colleague heard me listening to The Wedding Present and told me that her husband was a big fan. This led to the inevitable swapping of top 20 lists and then to Ian (aka Gricey aka Iggy) and I going to see Cinerama at the New Roscoe in Leeds in July 2002. 

Leading up to the gig, we had heard rumours that Cinerama were going to play some TWP songs (up to this point, DLG had curtly dismissed requests for TWP songs at Cinerama gigs) and sure enough they opened with 'Bewitched'. And from this point on, TWP/Cinerama became a little blurred: 'Don't Touch That Dial', for example, was released under both names. 

Things became clearer in 2005 when a fully-fledged Wedding Present tour took place (I saw them play at Leeds, where they played astonishingly epic versions of 'Perfect Blue' and 'What Have I Said Now'), but there was a bit of an overlap period. As a result, there are a few songs from the Take Fountain era that are going to appear as part of this blog even though they were also released as TWP songs. 

Cinerama (The Later Years)

Cinerama have never actually gone away. Most notably, Gedge's mini-festival 'At The Edge Of The Sea' (and, while it lasted, 'At The Edge Of The Peaks') has regularly featured a Cinerama set. The one-off single 'I Wake Up Screaming' was released in 2013, and in 2018 their cover of 'The Name of the Game' backed the Wedding Present's take on 'White Riot'.

In 2015, a reworked version of TWP's Valentina was released under the Cinerama name. Most TWP fans find Gedge's continued willingness to try something new and expand his horizons very admirable. However, it's safe to say that this was a particular divisive release amongst the fanbase, and we will be seeing quite a lot of it in the first couple of posts...

I have compiled an A-Z of Cinerama Songs which lists the 86 songs I'm going to cover

There's also a main page, which sets out how I'm going to organise the blog and will contain all the relevant links.

That's it for now, see you next week for number 79 - 86!