Albinoni vs Star Wars

Background and release

The track is a version of "Adagio in G minor", attributed to Tomaso Albinoni but largely written by Remo Giazotto. Tony James originally titled it "Tarzan vs IBM", a working title of Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 film Alphaville, but changed it after discovering both Tarzan and IBM were copyrighted. The song interpolates the original composition with electronic percussion and synth, programmed and produced by Stephen Hague. It was issued as a double A-sided single.

One side, parenthesised 'Part 1', features the interpolation throughout and was produced by Hague. The other side, parenthesised 'Parts 1 and 2', includes the interpolation for the first minute and a half before transitioning into 'Part 2', produced by Neal X, with drum loops and guitars; this version appears on the Dress for Excess album, with production credited to Hague and X. The 12-inch single contains extended versions of Parts 1 and 2, though the flip side only has Part 2.

A CD single includes the 7-inch Part 1, the two extended versions, and an exclusive track titled 'Bonus Beats'. The cover features a cartoon by Ron Smith, known for his work on the comic 2000 AD.

Music video

The music video is styled as a film opening credits sequence, imitating the Star Wars opening crawl with text that outlines the backstory of a "Dark Secret" of Tomaso Albinoni that remained unrevealed until 1989. The background is a fixed shot of a sunset. The cast and crew credits include fictional, made-up, and real-life figures, such as Countess Almaviva from The Marriage of Figaro, Georges Bizet, and Desmond True and Noble Strongheart playing two swordsmen.

Did You Know?

• Reviewing for Record Mirror, Win member Davy Henderson wrote that the song "starts off a bit Franko, ie Frankie-ish".
• Bandmate Mani Shoniwa described it as "a real red winer, and it's a hittie. It's got to be Single Of The Week".
• Henderson also noted that the record "gives you audience participation, you slow it down for the strings and bring it up for the guitars".