1980s New York produced a shocking amount of music. Being ground zero for a great deal of punk, post punk, jazz, new wave and experimental music, a few bands rose to the top, and a huge amount were ultimately relegated to footnotes in history, at best. Cristina was one of them.
Cristina, the musical persona of Cristina Monet-Palaci, was part of the no-wave movement in New York. Her first single was called "Disco Clone" and was released on her husband Michael Zihlka's ZE Records. It was a left-field hit and ending up putting ZE on the map. ZE ended up releasing material from many notable musicians including Alan Vega, James Chance, John Cale, Kid Creole and The Waitresses, amongst others.
Cristina recorded two albums, her first in 1980, a self-titled effort, and her second, Sleep it Off, in 1984. She was known for a deadpan vocal delivery, which she showed off in two offbeat covers, Peggy Lee's famous jazz standard, "Is That All There Is" and the Beatles' "Drive My Car". Her music was a strange mix of Lydia Lunch style talk/singing, disaffected Eurotrash pop and snotty punk.
I'll admit, I hadn't heard of Cristina until I heard "What's a Girl to Do" on Ladytron's 2003 DJ mix/album Softcore Jukebox. That album is a wonderful mash up of retro electronics and oddball electro-rock. There's more that's worth looking at in future installments of Forgotten Music, like Fanny Pack, Pop Levi and Dondolo.
Cristina's career was very short, just five years. She now works as a writer in New York. Her two albums were re-released by ZE Records in 2006. "What's a Girl to Do" was from her second and last album, Sleep it Off.
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