Svegliati e Uccidi (aka Wake Up and Die) is a crime drama made in 1966 by director Carlo Lizzani. Robert Hoffmann and Lisa Gastoni star as a criminal and the nightclub singer he falls in love with, embarking on a spree of increasingly dangerous jewellery robberies. It’s loosely based on the true story of Luciano Lutring, also known as “the machine gun soloist” (an important note when it comes to the music…)
Said music is provided by Ennio Morricone, an early entry into this genre for the composer and one where he really established a sound. The album begins with a brilliant song “Una Stanza Vuota” which benefits from the sultry vocal performance of Lisa Gastoni. It’s a little dark but powerful and lustfully alluring, a wonderful piece of mid-1960s Europop that oozes cool. The main melody also serves as the love theme and a particular highlight is the guitar solo version that appears early on the album.
Behind the main melody line Morricone uses a staccato piano motif as part of his arrangement and that motif goes on to serve as the basis of the dynamic main theme of the score. It’s a real gem, one of the stars of the show, a frantic explosion of brass with some gunfire sound effects that work brilliantly in adding to thrills. It appears in closely-related form in several tracks – the distinctive vocals which accompany “La prima vittima” are prime Morricone, “Svegliati e uccidi” itself the purest expression of violent action, the reprise of the stylish piano effect from the opening song brilliantly contrasting with the electric guitar and frenzied brass. The combination of jazz funk and orchestral theatrics is pure dynamite. In some of the action cues, Morricone honours the character being the “machine gun soloist” by employing… a machine gun soloists as part of his percussion section. (Well, I assume it’s an electronic approximation of the sound, but still.) It’s not the only time he did that but it seems gloriously appropriate in this case.
Elsewhere, “Un uomo solo” is, as its name suggests, a great “lonely guy” theme, a melody being passed between various soloists which is full of a kind of macho determination but with a hint of smoky romance too, always accompanied by a little bass guitar riff. My favourite piece of all is “Una tromba a Dallas”, with a dynamic trumpet solo, pounding piano, great 60s Hammond organ and choir added to the action mix. It’s such a wonderful track, insanely catchy, and you could (in the unlikely event the mood took you) dance to it.
Add in a nice piece of source music – “Sul lago di Lugano” – and you’re left with a fantastic album, one of the best of Morricone’s crime thriller scores of the period, which should appeal to fans of scores like Città Violenta and Revolver (and in my experience the only people who are not fans of Città Violenta and Revolver are people who haven’t heard them). It’s been released on album many times but only the recent Quartet release is in stereo throughout.
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