by Steven McDonaldA highly popular South African pop-rock duo (Jarrod Aston, vocals, and Mike Todd, guitars and keyboards) who tended to alternate between original material and performing covers of songs popular in the U.S. and U.K., Cinema had all but thrown in the towel by 1994. The music business in South Africa had shifted in a fairly radical way in the early '90s, leaving Cinema, who had scored a series of number one and Top Ten records in South Africa, with sinking sales and a likely return to paltry club and pub gigs. 1993's compilation and hits outing, From a Whisper to a Scream, was considered by the band to be the finish line.
It was to the great surprise of the band members, then, that they received word in 1994 that "Strangers Again," a new song, had hit the top of the charts all over Asia, pulling sales of From a Whisper to a Scream with it, and generating enough interest for significant record company offers to finance a new album, which resulted in 1996's Once In Your Life and the opportunity to tour the East. The band continued on in South Africa, with their touring including a multimedia hits show, Stargaze, but subsequently Aston and Todd went their separate ways. Aston has a solo album, tentatively entitled Free, in the works for a 1998 release, while starring in a theatrical music production. He is also producing and composing.