|
Aldo e i Falisci |
 A
group from Civita Castellana (Lazio) founded by the singer Aldo Angeletti.
Discography: Le rondini bianche
(dedicated to
Martin
Luther King)
/
Preludio alla fine - CDB db 1129 - 1968
[Aldo Angeletti (voice), Goffredo Chiodi (guitar), Marco Manoni
(bass), Franco Spitoni (drums)] |
|
Ancients |
A group founded
in Rome by Federico
D'Andrea, Manuel De Sica, Stefano Marcucci and Bruno Biriaco. Bruno Biriaco
will be afterwards the drummer of the famous Italian jazz-rock band
Perigeo, and Manuel De Sica, son of the famous director Vittorio De Sica,
a soundtrack composer.
Discography: Ci ripenserai / Non penso più a lei (Edibi 1966), Quando
verso sera / Questa squallida città (Parlophone 1966).
[Manuel De Sica (guitar solista and voice), Federico D'Andrea (guitar
ritmica and voice), Bruno Biriaco (drums), Stefano Marcucci (bass and
voice)] |
|
Angeli |
A different
group, not related with the well known Nuovi
Angeli from Milan, were founded in Chiedti (Abruzzo) from
previous members of a group with the same name and the Savage.Discography:
Dove vuoi" (a cover from "I'm a Boy",
Who) / Butta la corda (Pake).
[Alfonso Di Berardino (guitar and voice), Ettore Desiderio (guitar),
Fabrizio De Angelis (guitar), Tonino Taddeo (bass), Ernesto De Angelis
(drums)] |
|
Anonima
Sound |
 The
first group of Ivan Graziani, in the following years an
important and popular singer and author in the Italian music scene.
Discography: Fuori piove / Parla tu (CBS
3048 - 1967), L'amore mio, l'amore tuo / I tetti (CBS 3418 - 1968),
Josephine / Mille ragioni (CBS 4214 - 1969), Ombre vive / Girotondo
impossibile (Numero Uno 50006 - 1969) (In the image of the three "Anonima sound", Ivan Graziani
is in the middle) |
|
Apostoli |
A group of
Rome, founded in 1965, frequently
in concert at the famous
Piper Club.
Discography: Robinson / Chi mai lo sa?
(Sunstar sp 216 - 1965), Il lupo e l'agnello / Sento già andar l'estate
(RCA 1966, inedito), E' meglio che mi muova / Le cose che tu cercherai (Roman
rm 001 - 1968).
"Chi mai lo sa" is a cover of Where
Have All The Flowers Gone by Pete
Seeger, wth lyrics by Daniele Pace. "Sento già andar
l'estate" is a cover of the same song, with different lyrics written
by Ettore Paparazzo.
[Angelo Piperno (voice), Francesco Berichelli (guitar), Angelo
Alessandra (tastiere), Ettore Paparazzo (bass), Roberto Conrado
(drums)] |
|
Astrali |
An Italian pshychedelic group from Turin. Gli
Astrali (The Astral Men) have performed many concerts but no discs
during their period of activity (1967 - '68). A LP almost ready at that
time, "Viaggio allucinogeno"
(hallucinatory travel) was edited on CD many years later (1995) by the
label Destination X. In the album were included
Yardbirds' covers (Mr. You Are a Better Man Than
I, in italian "Noi non siamo come voi", we aren't like you), Byrds (Eight Miles
High, "Vado su in alto") and an original suite la instrumental suite "Un Altro Viaggio
Allucinogeno" (another Hallucinatory travel). The LP: 1) Non
Siamo Come Voi 2) Viaggio Allucinogeno 3) Improvvisazione 4) Credi (Rari
by The Standells) 5) Vado Su In Alto 6) Una Notte Al Bar 7) La Libertà 8)
Intro / Un Altro Viaggio Allucinogeno.
[Dante Menotti (voice and guitar), Angelo Presti (keyboards), Terry
Fanelli (bass), Vito Salice (drums)] |
|
Balordi |
 Discography:
Vengono a portarci via, ah! Ah! / Don Chisciotte
(1966 Durium Ld A 7494), Domani devo fare una cosa! / Buona fortuna (1967
Durium Ld A 7516), '0 matusa / A cammesella (1967 Durium LJ A 7525), Non è
Francesca / Guardando te (1967 Durium Ld A 7538), Diamoci la mano / Fateli
tacere (1968 Carosello CI 20204)
[Gianni Muratori (voice, bass el.), Andrea Muratori (guitar, fratello
di Gianni), Bruno Pellegrini (guitar), Beppe Panzironi (drums); then Pino
Matteucci instead of Pellegrini, andMarco Ferradini instead of
Gianni "Gion" Muratori. |
|
Barabba |
A group from Bologna, founded in 1966 by the sax player Mike Alfieri
together with Robert Gillot, an english keyboardist at that time living in
Bologna, and that would be in the same year one of the founder of the
Pooh, the most famous italian group
remained after the beat era.
Discography: Barabba / Caino (River rl
0516), Sono stufo di te / Non hai capito (CBS 2414 - 1966) |
|
Bisce
|
A group from Milan. The name (Le bisce = The grass snakes), as reported by
Franco Ruggiero, first guitar, derived by a car accident: the four members
escaped the revolted car creeping as snakes. Only one single in their
career, label North Star, year 1967: "La danza della morte" / "Una che
dice sì", cover with unraletad lyrics of "Here There And Everywhere"
by The Beatles.
[Roberto Bernucca (keyboards and main voice), Franco Ruggiero (guitar
and voice), Franco "Franchino" Mariani (guitar and voice), Luigi Di
Santo (bass), Albertino (drums)]
|
|
Bisonti |
 At the beginning their name was
Bruno
Castiglia e i Bisonti, then simply
I Bisonti (The Bisons). After a first period as concert band in
many dance-halls in North Italy, they had the opportunity to publish many
singles, in comparison with other Italian groups of that period. Globally
11 singles and 2 LPs between 1965 and 1970, all with the same label, a
small indie of Milan called City Records (still
in the music business). Almost all the songs published were originals,
including their minor hit
Crudele
(1967).
[Bruno Castiglia (voice), Fulvio Carotti (guitar), Paolo Cocchi (electric bass), Gianni Calabria (drums), Paolo Pasolini (keyboards), Giorgio Speranza
took the place of Fulvio Carotti in 1967 approx.]
See also: Bisonti's discography. |
|
Blacks
|
A group of Milan very much appreciated
during their period of activity. During a concert at the Shaker night club
in Milan, in 1966, a very well known Italian talent scout, Piero
Trombetta, proposed them a contract with the EMI label. The single published
by The Blacks soon after included "Tu sei come me"
(you're like me), a cover of Hot Pastrami of
The Dartells, and "Rimani" (stay with me) (disc EMI
PATHE' AQ 1334).
Under the direction of the famous music manager Leo Watcher The Blacks
were in tour in Sardinia for a long period in 1967, together with Pino Donaggio,
I Giovani Giovani, Vittorio Inzaina, Wilma Goich, Arturo Testa, Gilda.
[Flavio "Stecco" Maggioni (first guitar), Edo
"Pelato" Muti (rythmic guitar), Eros "Gitano" Catania
(bass), Leo Catania (drums), Eros e Leo Catania will be in the following
the founders of the Rubi Strubi]
|
|
Le Blande figure |
 
A group that started the activity in Modena
(Emilia) in 1965, their first name was The Garden.
Discography: Il
mondo non lo sa / Nemmeno una lacrima, 1967, Plaisir d’amour / Un nuovo giorno,
1968, Sei come il mare / Quando chiuderai la porta, 1969, all published
with the label Cgo.
[Gildo Orsini, Gianni Orsini, Franco Zona, Silvano Corradini, Vanni
Baisi, Alfonso Seghedoni] |
|
Chetro
& Co.
|
A very peculiar group, in the Italian musical scene of mid sixties.
Founded by Ettore
De Carolis (Chetro), in the following years co-founder of the Nuovo
Canzoniere del Lazio, a philological folk group, the other
members of Chetro & Co. were Franco Coletta (guitar) and Gianni Ripani
(electric bass); they remained in the beat history for their first (and
last) single (1967) published with the label Parade. On the A-side a long suite written by De Carolis and
called
"Danze della sera" (evening's dances), based on lyrics of
the great Italian contemporary poet Pier
Paolo Pasolini, on B-side "Le pietre numerate"
(milestones),
based on the classical and homonym tune of Miles Davis.
One of the most remarkable examples in the italian psychedelia, completed
by a "monster" cover, on six pages with a collage of strong and surprising
images. (see
all the images).
|
|
Chewing
Gum |
Between the few groups that can be considered part of the psychedelia in
Italy they can be included the Chewing Gum
from Florence, Tuscany. Their first names was The
Black Angels then, after the way out of the american electric
bass player Richard Ursillo (in the following years member of a well known
group of the Italian progressive scene, i Campo
di Marte) that joined another group of Florence (I
Tremendi), they changed their names in Chewing Gum. The producer
Moreno Polidori gave them the opportunity to publish a single for the
major label RCA, in 1967. On the A-side an impressive tune called "Senti
questa chitarra" (hear this guitar) and on the B-side "Tu sei al buio"
(you're in the dark). Both songs are characterized by strong solos played
by the lead guitarist Flavio Cucchi, at that time very young (18 years),
surprisingly modern. Cucchi embraced, after this experience, a brilliant
career as guitar solist of classic and contemporary music. |
|
Chiodi |
 
A beat group from Bergamo, Lombardia. The
story of I Chiodi (the nails) started in the beginning of the decade, their
acknowledge between the most known groups dates to the years 1965-67. In
this two years they published several singles, including some covers, as Accendi una stella
(turn on a star)
from
I'm A Believer, the
famous international hit by The Monkees, in Italy known, nevertheless,
mostly for the cover by Caterina Caselli with the title
Sono
bugiarda (I'm a liar). On the B-side of the same 45rpm another cover,
from
Homeward Bound of
Simon & Garfunkel, in italian
"Mai mi fermerò" (I'll never stop).
Chiodi's front-man Silvio Rossi
started a solo career in 1967, and another disc was published as Nuovi
Chiodi. "I Chiodi" are still on the road, and information about them
can be found on their site
www.ichiodi.com.
Discography
- I Chiodi: Ai au a et a ae? / 100 Lire Mamma! (Novelty 801 –
1965), Goldfinger / L’uomo che non sapeva amare (Novelty 802 – 1965),
Quando la mamma la fa i calsett / Tu, tu solo tu (Novelty 803 – 1966), Nel
solaio dei tuoi sogni / Quando in cielo (Novelty 808 – 1966), Mai mi
fermerò / Accendi una stella (Losiérès 3002 -1967), L’amore ha cambiato
anche te / Soltanto allora siamo noi (Losiérès 3004 -1967),
Il mondo così
non va / Ti devi lavare il cervello (Losiérès 3006 -1967) //
  Nuovi Chiodi: Canta e balla / Il tuo viso
(Vedette 33178 – 1969) // Silvio Rossi:
Arcobaleno / Se rimango qui (Losiérès 3007 -1967) //
Annamaria Mazzola & I Chiodi: Torno a
pregare / Come ti amo (Novelty 804 – 1966) //
Loro Cinque: Ruzzola l'onda / Dolce mistero (1967?).
[Silvio Rossi (voice), Andrea "Rino" Denti (guitar), Dario
Capelli (bass), Gigi Rossi (tastiere), Franco Carminati (drums)]
Per saperne di più:
intervista a Dario Capelli dei Chiodi, Il
sito dei Chiodi |
|
Cuccioli
|
A "mod" group from Varese, I Cuccioli
(the pets) were very well knownn for their concerts in North Lombardia and
they published a single
45 rpm in the sixties: "La strada che cerco / Tu non sai". The B-side
was a cover of "The Kids are All Right" of the Who, the song dedicated to
the young british "mods". I
Cuccioli are most known anyway as the nucleus of an Italian progressive
group of the next decade, called Franchi-Giorgetti-Talamo (by the names of
the three members) that published in 1972 an interesting LP called "Il
vento ha cantato per ore tra i rami dei versi d'amore" (the wind has sung
for hours love lyrics between the branches), with arrangements by the
composer Nicola Piovani.
[I Cuccioli were: Danilo Franchi, electric bass, Bruno Casagrande drums,
Roberto Carlotto alias "Hunka Munka" on keyboards (afterwards he
will join Dik-Dik, one of the most famous Italian groups of the sixties), Vittorio Giorgetti
on guitar, Marco Gusmini
on lead guitar; on the keyboards also, for a short period, Flavio Premoli,
in the following in the PFM(Premiata Forneria Marconi), the Italian rock
group most famous abroad; Oliviero Talamo,
guitar, joined the group in the seventies] |
|
Evy |
 Evy
(Evelyn Lenton Verrecchia) was one of the few beat singers and performers
active in Italy during the sixties. She's grow up in France, and she
started her career as a singer there. When she arrived in Italy she
started to publish some traditional song ("Giochi proibiti"), arriving
soon after to the beat genre with "protest songs" as "L'abito
non fa il beatnik" (it's not enough to dress as a beatnik) and "Domani
il mondo sarà nelle nostre mani" ("the world will be ours tomorrow", a
song about "women liberation", many years in advance). She remained in the
world of music in the following decades, working in England and in France.
|
|
Fantom's
|
The group named I Fantom's (something as The
Ghosts) was founded in Turin in 1963. In their first years, as many others
Italian groups, their source of inspiration were Beatles and Rolling
Stones, but in the middle of the decade they were among the firsts to
propose the new psychedelic sound in Italy. During 1966 they published
their first EP single "Le Insegne Pubblicitarie" (the neon signs); on the
other side "Nadia" and "Il Treno". In the following year they recorded and
issued a second 45 rpm containing a cover of "We Shall Overcome", and
another one by "Come by Here" (Kumbaja), with Italian title "Vieni Qui
Vicino" (come close to me).
[Luigi Nagliero (lead guitar), Walter Nagliero (guitar ritmica),
Spartaco Nagliero (bass), Gino Nagliero (drums), Gino Amatone
(keyboards)] |
|
Ferry,
Franco, Renè, Danny & Gaby |
The New Dada were one of the most
influential beat group of the sixties in Italy. Troubles between the
members led the group to a separation in the first months of the 1967 and
to the birth of a new formation. The new band was formed by Ferry Sansoni
(the keyboardist), Franco Jadanza and Renè Vignocchi (guitars) of the
original group and Gaby Lizmi (drummer in the Patrick Samson Group) and
Danny Besquet (bass player of the group I Profeti). The name was simply
Ferry, Franco, Renè, Danny & Gaby (maybe inspired by the UK group Dave,
Dee, Doozy, Beacky, Mick & Tich).
During the same year they had the opportunity to be the special guest
group during the Italian tour of the Rolling stones and to publish two
singles: Un treno che parte,
Se te
lo raccontassi. |
 :
Frome the left: Danny, Ferry, Gaby, Franco, Renè |
|
Frenetici |
Since the beginning of their activity in
1959 in Voghera (Pavia, Lombardia), I Frenetici (the frantics) was more a
pop group than a beat one, but they had the opportunity to participate to
several concerts and events, even in television, and also at European
level (Oscar della canzone 1968, in Switzerland). They are known in Italy
also as the group in which started his activity Giampiero Anelli, who will
become in the seventies and in the '80s a very much popular Italian singer
and performer with the name Drupi.
Discography: Non t'amo più / L'amico
Gianni (Tiffany 510 - 1966), E loro dicono / Il matusa (Tiffany 523 -
1967), Qualche santo pregherà per noi / Fatalità (cover of the homonym
song by the Bertas) (Tiffany 537 - 1967).
[Gian Paolo Romanelli (guitar), Antonio Maitilasso (guitar and voice), a
cui è subentrato nel 1967 da Drupi (Giampiero Anelli) proveniente da Le
Calamite, Bruno Risi (keyboards), Enrico Moi (bass), Maurizio Legè was the
lead guitar in the first years, when the group was "Paolo e i Frenetici"] |
|
Fuggiaschi |
The support group of the famous italian singer and musician Don Backy during his first years within the Clan, the
label and the team of the well known italian rocker Adriaino Celentano (Don
Backy was in turn a brilliant performer and author, active also in the
following decades). They came from Mantova (Lombardia), their first name
was I Delfini (the dolphins) then they choose I Fuggiaschi (the escaping
men) from the lyrics of a Don Backy's song.
Discography: "Droga" / "Nulla
per me" (1964), "Tipperary" (lyrics by Don Backy) / "Proprio lei", "Una
ragazza facile", "Gira Gira" (cover of "Reach Out, I'll Be There" by
The Four Tops) / "Saludos Amigos" (label Jolly 1967)., "Niente di niente"
/ "Cos'è l'amore" (1967)
[Aldo e Mario Pavesi, (bass and lead
guitar ), Claudio Paterlini (keyboards), Rinaldo Schilingi
(drums). After the death in a car accident of
Aldo Pavesi (1965) Carlo Alberto "Charlie"
Paterlini (brother di Claudio) took the second guitar and Maurizio Bellini
the electric bass] |
|
Generali
|
  I
Generali were
for a short period the support band of Riki Maiocchi (previously the front-man of one
of the best known Italian "complessi": I Camaelonti). From Milan, their
line-up included a keyboardist (not a common choice at that time), they were also in the cast of a movie of
that period, inspired by the famous song of Don Backy "L'immensità".
Only one 45 rpm single disc in their career: "La vita è una battaglia",(the
life is like a battle), "Pensaci un po'" (think about it) (1966).
[Tommaso "Thomas" Cafagna keyboards, Nino
Cafagna lead guitar, Angelo Cafagna drums (three brothers), Santino
Martoscia bass and voice, Danilo Zoletti, editing and support)
|
|
Gene
Guglielmi
|
One of the first beat singers and performers in Italy, one of their single
discs was "I
capelli lunghi" (long hair), a sort of declaration of the
beat principles, another one about this movement was "Preghiera Beat"
(beat prayer). Afterwards he interpreted and published in Italian two
french hits of Jacques Dutronc:
Et
moi, et moi, et moi" and "Mini, mini, mini". Gene Guglielmi
abandoned the musical scene when the beat movement started to disappear,
to escape a commercial career.
|
|
Gens
|
A group from Messina (Sicily) of the last
years of the sixties. They are well remembered for their hit "In fondo al viale"
(at the end of the alley), their song for the summer event "Cantagiro" in 1969 (inspired
to the alley "Viale San Martino" of the sicilian town). The B-side of this
45 rpm single was "Laura (dei giorni andati)" (something like
"remembering Laura"). During the seventies a participation to the Sanremo
Festival (the main musical event in Italy, then and now) with "Lo
schiaffo" del 1971), the first place at the Cantagiro in 1972 with
the song "Per chi" (cover of "Without you" by Harry Nilsson), and a LP
inspired to the progressive rock "Gens" in 1974).
Other discs: "La stagione di un fiore", "Cara amica
mia", "Anche un fiore lo sa", "La nostra
realtà".
[William Ricciardi, "il Baronetto" voice, Pippo Landro
keybooards, Pino Salpietro drums, Ettore
Cardullo electric bass, Gilberto Bruno guitar, then Mauro Culotta].
Official site: www.igens.net
|
|
Pipers |
 A
group created by te well known music manager Alberico Crocetta, the owner
of Piper
Club, the most famous dance hall in Italy during the sixties, to
capitalize his brand and to act as "house" group and support group of
Patty Pravo the famous "Ragazza del Piper" (Piper's girl). The
four "pipers"
came from Milan, and participated also to the soundtrack of the film "L'estate"
(the summer) by Paolo Spinola
(1966, with Enrico Maria Salerno and Mita Medici, a girl that was another
icon of the Piper) and (as actors) to
"Una ragazza tutta d'oro" by Mariano Laurenti (1967, with Iva Zanicchi
and Enrico Simonetti). To register also their participation in the opera beat
Then an Alley by Tito Schipa Jr.
Discography: Amore lo
sai / Pagherò (ARC 1966), La bamba / Cherry Cherry (ARC 1967), Un sogno
dopo l'altro / Anni '30 (Kansas 1967)
[Augusto "Ago" Ancillotti (guitar), Alberto Visentin
(keyboards), Virgilio "Billy" Anastasi (bass and voice), Achille "Kiaki" Manzotti
(drums)]
|
|
The Pops |
 Discography: Un uomo rispettabile
/ Lalla Chicchi (GTA 1966), La ruota / Uomini uomini (GTA 1966), Il
successo / Se la tua mano (Cinevox 1967)
[Aldo Besozzi, Massimo Brambilla, Giuliano Votta, Nino Sfregola, Marco
Battistella] |
|
The
Planets |
 A
group active in Rome in the mid sixties, coming from the town of Taranto
(Puglie). Even if they did not publish any 45rpm single, they had the
opportunity to publish an entire LP for a major label, RCA, in 1967
(see the LP's cover image on the right) , including many original songs
and some covers.
The title of the LP was "The Planets"
and the songs' list was: 1) Ci piace star cosí (Bumble bee dei Searchers); 2) Sono
una roccia
 (I
Am a Rock di Simon & Garfunkel); 3) Puoi farmi piangere (I Put a Spell
on You); 4) Beatniks; 5) Sono stanco; 6) Ma perché 7) No, non temere; 8)
Requiem per un ricordo; 9) Perché te ne vai (Just Like Me di Paul Revere);
10) Più di un Re; 11) La pagherai; 12) Non c'é amor. I brani 5,6,7 e 12
erano scritti dagli stessi Planets (Chimenti e Cirelli).
[Silvano Chimenti (guitar solista), Nello Lentinello (guitar ritmica),
Tonino Cirelli (bass), Alberto Maggi (drums), Marco Cippitelli (voice)]
See also: Sito di Silvano
Chimenti' site
(in the image on the left the Planets with the Italian singer Gianni
Morandi) |
|
Ragazzi
del Sole
|
 A
group from Turin remarkable for their genuine rock approach, expecially in
their famous song
Atto di forza n.10 (a sort of premonition of the "hell's angels"). In
the following years they published also some more traditional and melodic
songs, and several covers.
Their LP and their singles are the most requested by the Italian discs'
collectors.
It's possible to see also their
complete
discography
[Danilo Pennone (guitar); Arcangelo Aluffi (drums); Carlo Marcoz
(bass); Pier Carlo Bettini (keyboards); Franco Castellani (voice)
then Paolo Melfi]
|
|
Rogers |
 Discography: 1966: "Quanto ho
pianto" / "Se tu mi lascerai" (disco Kansas, una etichetta
di proprietà di Duilo Del Prete, allora collegato al Clan Celentano),
"Ma con chi" / "Guardo l'ora" / "Se con me vuoi
tornare" (45 giri con tre brani, sempre etichetta Kansas),
"Little Man" / "Non chiederò aiuto" (vincitrice a Bandiera
Gialla); 1967: "Chiedimi tutto" / "Ho tanta
paura" (et. Bentler, con il lato A partecipano al Cantagiro 1967 nel
girone cantanti come "Frankye e i Rogers", 1968:
"Guarda" / "Cos'è l'amore" (et. Bentler, il loro più
grande successo), "Chewy Chewy" / "Vorrei davvero" (et.
Bentler, il lato A è una cover del successo bubble-gum music degli Ohio
Express), "Tam Tam" / "Vorrei davvero" (il lato A era
una cover di "Come Together" dei Beatles); 1970:
"Cristina" / "In questa città" (nuovamente su
etichetta Kansas).
[First band (1966): Piergiorgio Bussacchetti (guitar and voice),
Romy Regruto (bass), Carlo Reposi (drums), Gerardo Monteforte
(guitar and voice), Bruno Bosio (keyboards); in the second half of the
year the singer Frankye Florio joins the band, during 1967 and '68 all the
original members left the group, only Frankye Florio remained of the '66
group)] |
|
Rokketti |
 From
Civitavecchia (Rome) their career started in 1965, they were guest band
many times at the famous Piper Club.
Discography: Il settebello / Zorba's
Dance (CDB 1072 - 1965), Una bambolina che fa no, no, no / Ha ha (CBS 2427
- 1965), Goodbye My Love / Chi vince in me (CDB 1073 - 1965), Black Time /
L'amaro in bocca (CDB 1101 - 1967), Ti rivedrò tra gli angeli / Non ti
fermare mai (CDB 1116 - 1967), Black Time / Mr. Gold (CDB e-003 - 1967, il
retro Mr. Gold faceva parte della colonna del film citato in precedenza),
Due ali nel cuore / Sei tu (CDB 1142 - 1968), Una serata al Piper (LP ARC
sa 9 - 1966) (I Rokketti eseguivano due cover in inglese [Wooly Bully di
Sam The Shame e Candy Man] in questo LP antologico)
[Santino Rocchetti (guitar and voice), Mario Rocchetti (guitar), Mario
Paparozzi (bass), Gianni Bonavera (sax e tromba), Giorgio Grandi
(drums); in '66 Gianni Rocchetti instead of Bonavera and
Tassilo Burckard instead of Grandi] |
|
Satelliti |
 A
group created in Livorno (North Tuscany) by five friends in the year
1964, their first name was The Criker's. As many other groups the first
activity of I Satelliti was in the dance halls, mainly in Tuscany.
During a concert in Certaldo (a small town near Florence) they had the
opportunity to perform their set soon after Ricky Gianco, one of the
first Italian rockers, and at that time still famous (he will became
during the sixties and afterwards also an appreciated songs' author).
Gianco had been positively impressed by the five boys and had decided to
propose them a contract as his group.
Included in the agreement the change of the name, from Crikets' to an
Italian one: I Satelliti (The Satellites) and the opportunity to publish
a single.
Their choice was an Italian version of a well known song, For Your Love
by The Yardbirds. In Italian the title was Finirà (it will end up) and
the performance of the Italian boys was not so far from that of the
famous UK group of Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton.The disc was their key
access to the Piper Club, the famous dance hall in Rome, in which the
five Satellites have performed their songs and many covers for almost a
month.
The following year they had the opportunity to sign a contract with the
most important Italian label of that period, Dischi Ricordi, and to
publish another 45 rpm single with other Italian versions (covers) of
You Didn’t Have to be So Nice” by The Lovin’ Spoonful, in Italian
“Perché non scegli me” (Why you don't prefer me?), and “Catch the wind”
by Donovan, in Italian “La vita è come un giorno” (Life is as a day).
Their greater successes will arrive in the following two years, with
other covers, Ba-ba-ba-ba (from With A Girl Like You by The Troggs) and
"Loro sanno dove" (they know where) from Holiday by The Bee Gees.
This disc was a good success but it was also the last recording from the
group of Livorno, as many others Italian's "complessi" they disbanded at
the end of the decade. |
|
Scooters
|
 From Ovada (Alessandria,
Piemonte) they started as a band for dance-hall in 1964.
Discography: La motoretta / Credimi
amore mio (Jolly 20357 - 1966), Le pigne in testa / Una minigonna (Jolly
20400 - 1966), Mi seguirai / Ieri, oggi e domani (Jolly 20412 - 1967), La
figlia del re del pomodoro / Se fossi re (Jolly 20434 - 1967), Zum bai bai
/ Nasce una vita (Victory 018 - 1968), Divorzista / Romanzo (Victory 021 -
1968)
[Franco Sorrenti (lead guitar solista), Mirko Mazza (rhythmic guitar),
Alfredo Ferrari "Fred" (keyboards), Mario Bocca (bass), Dino
Crocco (drums)]
In the image on the cover of their first single the scooter ("la
motoretta" in Italian) is a model from the factory Inoocenti, called
Lambretta, the preferred one by the mods in UK. Most famous in Italy was
nevertheless at that time the Vespa by the Piaggio industries, in
production (with a different model, but the same approach, also nowadays).
|
|
Le
stelle di Mario Schifano |
Mario Schifano
was a famous Italian artist, a painter that, during the sixties, as Andy
Wharol, became a multimedial artist, expanding his interests to theater,
music, scenography and more.
"Le Stelle di Mario Schifano" (The
stars of Mario Schifano) was his project in the musical area. Together
with the guitar player Urbano Orlandi and other musicians acting then in
Rome, he created one of the first groups of the Italian psychedelia,
together with Chetro
& Co., Chewing Gum, Fantom's, Astrali
and few others. A collaboration that resembles the partnership between
Wharol and the Velvet Underground of Lou Reed, Nico and John Cale. The
group was very interesting indeed, being their first (and last) work, the
1967 LP "Dedicato a... " (dedicated to ...) closer to the forthcoming
progressive scene that to the contemporary psychedelia. On the first side
a long suite with a very long title: "Le ultime parole di Brandimarte,
dall'Orlando Furioso, ospite Peter Hartman e fine (da ascoltarsi con TV
accesa, senza volume" (the last words of Brandimarte from the Orlando
Furioso (the poem of Ludovico Ariosto), special guest Peter Hartman and
end, to be listen to with the TV set switched on, but the audio switched
off), and five songs on the other side of the vinyl disc. In the
following year their single "E il mondo va / Su una strada" (and the world
goes on / on a road) and the conclusion of the interesting experiment.
The LP was printed only in 500 copies and became during the following
years one of the rarest discs, not only for the italian musical scene,
being very much requested even in Japan.
Remarkable also their concerts, with a innovative (for the period) light
show, in particular those in the famous dance-hall of Rome, the Piper
Club.
[Urbano Orlandi (guitar),
Nello Marini (keyboards),
Giandomenico Crescentini (bass), Sergio Cerra (drums), Peter Hartman
(voice on LP), Ettore Robosch (piano), Anton Mario Semolini (flute),
Francesca Camerana (images)] |
|
Uragani
|
 
Gli Uragani (the hurricanes) were a group formed in Mestre (Venezia) in
1963, active since 1967. During the 1965 they were selected by the
Piper Club of Rome, the famous dance
hall, to perform their concerts. They gathered a good success by the young
people frequenting the club and so they had the opportunity to sign a
contract with the Carisch label (one of the most active at that time in
Italy, the label of the Beatles in Italy). With the Carisch label they
published four 45rpm singles during the two years period 1966-'67, mostly
excellent covers from Who, Animals, Cuby & The Blizzards. Their sound was
very well focused and their playing technique very professional, in
comparison with many others groups of that time, and they let so a good
memory among beat era fans.
Their first name was The Sharks and they won with this name the contest
"La Pennetta d'Oro" in Mestre, performing "Be-Bop-A-Lula" by Gene Vincent,
an Italian cover from The House of the Rising Sun ("La casa del sole" in
Italian) and a song by The Rokes.
 Their
discs have gathered a good success and were presented also on the Italian
radio, specifically during the most known program of the period (Bandiera
Gialla [yellow flag], by Gianni Boncompagni and Renzo Arbore).
During the 1968 they were forced anyway to close the activity, for the
same reasons of many other groups of the period: military service,
wedding, changing of the public expectations.
Discography:
Con quella voce /
Questa è la
mia vita (vca 26180 - 1966), Vuoi arrivare su
/ Giusto o no (vca 26182 - 1966), Mary Anna / Lei
(vca 26186 - 1967), Al primo che dirà / La città è vicina
(vca 26190 - 1967)
[1963-'64: Erminio Baso (keywords), Franco Carradori (drums and voice), Luciano Carradori (voice,
he was the brother of Franco), Mario Zanetti (bass), Silvano Bertaggia
(lead guitar), Fabio Vio (second guitar
); in the following years Gianni Da Re and Dario Rigato
(guitar) in place of Bertaggia e Vio]
Other information on:
www.uragani.com. |
