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Billboard Review:
Pop 
Motion Picture Soundtrack:
Burnzy's Last Call
Producer: Crispin Cioe
Cellsum/Ripe & Ready 2230
Don't feel left out if you've never heard of "Burnzy's Last Call." Despite winning an award at the Atlantic City Film Festival and airing on the Sundance Channel, the flick hasn't exactly burned up the silver screen, despite a cooler-than-cool soundtrack and an ensemble cast that includes David Johansen and actors from "Law & Order," "ER," and "The Sopranos." Spearheaded-and largely written and produced-by Uptown Horns saxophonist Crispin Cioe, "Burnzy's Last Call" operates on a simple principle: well-known artists (Johansen, Deborah Harry, the Smithereens, Graham Parker, Evan Dando, et al.) are "cast" as fictitious one-hit wonders and asked to contribute original songs in the style of a predetermined performer. Approached in an appropriately lighthearted vein, the formula yields wonderful results, particularly in cuts by Johansen (the David Bowie glam sendoff "Space Monkey" and the Louis Prima-inspired "I want to Be at My Own Funeral"), Harry (the unabashed Mary Hopkin rip-off "So We Danced Again), and Lou Christie, the only artist on the soundtrack who plays himself, contributing the tune, "I Can't Stop The Rain." Other highlights include the Smithereens' Gene Pitney-esque "I Don't Want To Look Into the Mirror" and the Four Seasons-patterned "What Will I do With My Heart," written and performed by Smithereens drummer Dennis Diken and musical collaborator Pete DiBello. A great idea that makes you wonder why no one thought of it sooner."
Rock & Rap Confidential Review:
No. 168/December 1999 - January 2000
Burnzy's Last Call soundtrack (Cellsum) --The film's so obscure we may never know what role its off-kilter cosmic jukebox really plays in the plot. But who cares? Right here you can hear David Johansen's brilliant "Space Monkey" (the greatest David Bowie parody of all time), Evan Dando's approximation of the Standells on "Baby You're a Drag," Soozie Tyrell's mock-torch ballad "Small Talk," and the return of Lou Chrisitie's helium tenor on "I Can't Stop the Rain" ("she saw through me like cellophane"). That's not to mention Johansen's "I Want to be at My Own Funeral," which is what we want the people who plan ours to be listening to (Box 1070, Ft. George Sta., NYC 10040).
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