Cristina (singer)
Cristina | |
---|---|
Birth name | Cristina Monet-Palaci |
Born | January 2, 1959 |
Genres | No wave |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instruments | Vocals |
Years active | 1978–1984 |
Labels | ZE Records |
Cristina Monet-Palaci[1] (born 2 January 1959), known professionally as Cristina, is an American singer and writer, best known for her no wave recordings made for Ze Records around 1980 in New York.
A Harvard drop-out,[2] and the daughter of a French psychoanalyst and an American illustrator-novelist-playwright, she was working as a writer for The Village Voice when she met Michael Zilkha, who later became her husband.[3] A wealthy heir to England's Mothercare retail empire, Zilkha was just starting ZE Records with Michel Esteban. Zilkha persuaded her to record a song called "Disco Clone", an eccentric pastiche dance record written by Ronald Melrose, a classmate of hers at Harvard.[4] The original recording, released as ZE001, was produced by John Cale and was the first to be issued on the ZE label.[5] A later version featured the uncredited Kevin Kline trying to seduce the breathy Cristina.[3]
"Disco Clone" was a cult success and encouraged ZE to release a full-length album in 1980, which was produced by August Darnell of Kid Creole & The Coconuts.[3] The album was later reissued as Doll in the Box. Cristina also issued, on a 12" single, a poker-faced cover of Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?" with new lyrics which led its authors, Leiber and Stoller, to sue and get it withdrawn for many years.[2] Later, she released a cover of the Beatles' "Drive My Car" (also released as "Baby You Can Drive My Car"). She also released a track, "Things Fall Apart", produced by Was (Not Was), on ZE's Christmas Record, in 1981.
Cristina's second album, Sleep It Off, was produced by Don Was and released in 1984 with a sleeve design by Jean-Paul Goude (a year before he used the same idea for Grace Jones). Her lyrics dryly detailed a world of urban decadence, but the record flopped, and Cristina retired to domestic life in Texas. She and Zilkha divorced in 1990 and she returned to New York.[3] She has more recently contributed learned essays and reviews to publications such as London's Times Literary Supplement, while battling a debilitating illness.[3] Her two albums for ZE were reissued in 2005.[6]
Discography
Cristina discography | |
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Studio albums | 2 |
Singles | 6 |
Studio albums
- Cristina (1980, Ze Records)
- Sleep It Off (1984, Ze Records)
- Doll in the Box (2004, Ze Records) – Expanded re-issue of Cristina
- Sleep It Off (2004, Ze Records) – Expanded re-issue
Singles
- "Disco Clone" (1978)
- "Is That All There Is?" (1980)
- "Drive My Car" (also released as "Baby You Can Drive My Car") (1980)[7]
- "La Poupée qui fait non" (1980)
- "Things Fall Apart" (1981)
- "Ticket to the Tropics" (1984)
References
- ↑ Cristina Monet- Palaci And Michael Zilkha Engaged – New York Times
- 1 2 Cristina * Boston Globe article (1980)
- 1 2 3 4 5 Cristina * Time Out New York article (2004)
- ↑ Strange Days magazine: 2009 interview with Michel Esteban Archived 14 February 2011 at WebCite
- ↑ Cristina – Disco Clone Prod. By John Cale | Line Out | The Stranger's Music Blog | The Stranger | Seattle's Only Newspaper
- ↑ Dusted Reviews – Cristina
- ↑ Discogs. "Cristina – Drive My Car". Retrieved 2014-07-25.
External links
- Fan site
- Discography on ZE Records
- 2004 interview
- 1980 review
- Dusted review of album reissues
- 1982 New York Times wedding notice
- Essay by Richard Strange
- Discography Information