Reviews - Review of "Goodbye Gemini" in Music from the Movies
Reviewed by: Alistair Hewitt
Set in London’s swinging 1960s, Goodbye Gemini (also known in the USA by the more appropriate name of Twinsanity) is an involved story about manipulating brother and sister twins (Judy Geeson and Martin Power) that meet another couple at a party on a houseboat and entice them into their web of a lifestyle. From seemingly innocent beginnings the net tightens towards an evil and bloody conclusion. The score may have been Christopher Gunning’s first venture in the world of film and television music, but it was both an impressive demonstration of the composer’s talents as well as a portent of melodies to follow that have included music for Poirot, Wild Africa, The Big Battalions, Karaoke, Cold Lazarus, Middlemarch, When the Whales Came, Under Suspicion, Firelight and the wonderful Yorkshire Glory, netting him Ivor Novello and BAFTA awards along the way. However, he has never really returned to the fun, semi-jazz style he adopted for Goodbye Gemini, although some of the music with a more wistful style has resurfaced in later works.
The album opens with a swinging, evocative 1960s vocal, ‘Tell The World We’re Not In’ from The Peddlers, but, in contrast, the composer’s first cues, ‘Jacki And Julian’ and ‘Houseboat Party No. 1’ have a wonderful laid-back almost romantic feel with flutes and strings giving a Barryesque atmosphere. The composer was also responsible for the music for next stirring pop vocal ‘Nothing’s Good and Nothing’s Free’, sung by Peter Lee Sterling who also wrote the lyrics. A further interesting, smoochy vocal, ‘Forget About The Day’ is included, sung by Jacki Lee (famed for her hit ‘White Horses’).
The score contains many cues, like ‘Woodlands Hotel’ and ‘Houseboat Party No. 2‘, that aptly depict the cool music of the 1960s; music with soul and heart. Other cues like ‘Houseboat Party No. 3’ and ‘Vauxhall Tavern Strip Medley’ are more lively and brassy. Even the moments of horror, such as ‘Ritual Murder’, retain the elements of melody, although with a menacing undertone and it is only ‘Jacki’s Nightmare’ that demonstrates any discord. The album concludes with a pensive reprise of ‘Jacki And Julian’.
At a time when the moody scores for films based on the 1960s swinging scene seemed to be thrown together using the newly found Hammond electronic organ, Christopher Gunning’s score for Goodbye Gemini was like a fresh breeze of crafted music tailored for the film’s suspenseful plot and makes a fascinating album, even after 35 years. For those that like light airy music, Christopher Gunning or just the 1960s this is another must-have Harkit album.
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