Following my accidental discovery that Lene Lovich wrote the lyrics, here is French disco artist Cerrone’s electronic opus Supernature.
It’s best heard in all its ten-minute disco glory – or on side one of the eponymous album – but this great video is shot to fit the short three-minute edit.
Cerrone is the percussionist, composer and producer and Kay Garner is the singer (not to be confused with singer-turned-photographer Kate Garner, fka Haysi Fantayzee, who once shot the pics for an Observer interview I did in LA).
Supernature recalls and rivals Moroder’s work with its relentless groove, that simple synth melody playing over the propulsive electronic sequencers and insistent bassline, while Lovich’s dystopian sci-fi lyrics lend it an environmental theme that’s never been more topical.
Her words imagine a gloomy yet all-too-plausible future in which the use of artificial chemicals in agriculture has caused humans to mutate, creating a superior race that emerges from “down below” to “take their sweet revenge” against mankind.
At the beginning of his career Cerrone was accused of copying the style of Donna Summer Love To Love You Baby with his porno disco Love In C Minor… and he did. But he supercharged the beat up to 120 and in doing so, ended up with his first huge hit.
Since then he has sold millions of records worldwide – the Supernature album alone sold eight million copies – and released numerous club hits that have been endlessly sampled and remixed (particularly this one).
Marc Cerrone grew up obsessed with soul and psychedelic rock and started his career as part of Kongas, a band who combined hard rock with Afro-beat and funk, before he began releasing ambitious, orchestral disco suites matched to risqué artwork.
A remake of Supernature featuring Beth Ditto from The Gossip was released in 2015 while Cerrone revisited his Afro-beat roots with the 2016 EP Afro, which featured drummer Tony Allen and Manu Dibango, including a spectacular version of Funk Makossa – followed in 2018 by Afro II.
Cerrone’s most recent release was DNA, recalling his late-Seventies albums and soundtrack work, released in 2020.