Tombstone Mountain Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Pooh (named after Winnie the Pooh) are not a group. They are an institution. You don't grow up in Italy and NOT go through a Pooh phase. You just don't. Starting off as a beat-pop band, they morphed briefly into a prog band with the Parsifal concept album, and then proceeded to craft their own style of bombastic, stage friendly pop-symphonic-melodic-rock. They probably have released even more albums than Rush.This is from their heyday in the 70s, and yes, they look kinda like a 4-piece EL&P. Killer guitar, though. Dodi Battaglia is a true axeman. http://youtu.be/zoXWfarzMngI guess "Pooh" is to italians what "Menudo" is to Mexicans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted August 3, 2013 Author Share Posted August 3, 2013 Pooh (named after Winnie the Pooh) are not a group. They are an institution. You don't grow up in Italy and NOT go through a Pooh phase. You just don't. Starting off as a beat-pop band, they morphed briefly into a prog band with the Parsifal concept album, and then proceeded to craft their own style of bombastic, stage friendly pop-symphonic-melodic-rock. They probably have released even more albums than Rush.This is from their heyday in the 70s, and yes, they look kinda like a 4-piece EL&P. Killer guitar, though. Dodi Battaglia is a true axeman. http://youtu.be/zoXWfarzMngI guess "Pooh" is to italians what "Menudo" is to MexicansYou mean the band or the soup? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted August 7, 2013 Author Share Posted August 7, 2013 "Heeey, H.P.L.!" I hear you saying "This is all nice and such, but you surely know that one of the main reasons Italy is famous in the world is your HOT WOMEN!!! And so far you've just posted videos of beardos! Surely you do have a bucketload of sexy chics in your sleeve, don't you?"Well, it's certainly true that in the 60s and 70s we had her: And her:http://gracija.pancevac-online.rs/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/sophia-loren-03.jpg And her:http://s1.stliq.com/c/l/7/7c/20270764_il-pondus-alto-di-modesty-blaise-2.jpg But still, being sexy on italian public Catholic-governed television was a whole different matter. For a while, inthe late 60s, the sexiest women on tv were... German!The infamous Kessler twins, and their galactic legs. Probably the hottest chanteuse ever is Patty Pravo, the italian Nico. Great voice and a greater ability to play it subtle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted August 7, 2013 Author Share Posted August 7, 2013 Here's another sexy one:http://youtu.be/Bf6RxpSuD6M But if you want to go down to DIVA territory, there's only one name. The voice, the eyes, the everything. MINA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted August 7, 2013 Author Share Posted August 7, 2013 You want virtuoso? You get virtuoso!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted August 7, 2013 Author Share Posted August 7, 2013 But this (first) glimpse into italian great divas wouldn't be complete without her.Dancer, singer, sex symbol, gay icon. The absolute blueprint for Madonna and Lady Gaga.The scandalous Raffaella Carrà. http://youtu.be/ZhzWzANy4YY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted August 7, 2013 Author Share Posted August 7, 2013 http://youtu.be/CX9WvsBsd_4 And with all this hotness, H. P. L. goes on holiday. The exploration will resume in september. Be good, kids! And go easy on PFM. It's dangerous. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 Aaaaand... here we go again!Everyone with a heart has had a broken heart, and every italian guy with a broken heart has found solace in this song: Teorema by Marco Ferradini.It's a very clever song. It features the immortal line: "Take a woman / treat her like s*it" and goes on to list all the wicked things you have to do to a woman "and she will love you". Try to be a good guy, write her love songs, "and she will leave you". But just when you think this is just a bitter, chauvinistic song, the second part comes in and you realize it's all a dialogue between a cynic guy and a nice, optimistic, dating guy. So, in the end, all's well that ends well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 If you were to ask me: Hey HPL, which is the best, greatest, awesomest, briliantest, smartest, thought-provoking, beautiful, poetic, awe-inspiring, kick-ass-est single album published in Italy in the 70s?Well, you wouldn't probably put it like that since your english is sturdy and literate, but you get the feeling.Pretty heavy question to answer if you consider the international market, isn't it?But for me the answer is mightly easy, and not for lack of contenders, but for the absolute awesomeness of the album in question: Burattino senza Fili by Edoardo Bennato, aka "The Bob Dylan of Naples". A concept album of sorts, based on the world-famous Pinocchio and addressing questions such as feminism, the need for instruction, the gap between childhood and adulthood, is a true work of genius. 8 songs spanning different generes, from Dylan strumming to acoustic folk, from string quartets to pure unadulterated rock and roll, not a single note wasted, not a bad one in the bunch. This album came out in 1977 and is still fresh, relevant and unparalled today, even by his own master. We are lucky enough to have 2 videos made directly during the sessions, featuring also actors playing the parts of the characters of the novel.Here's the electric tarantella of Mangiafuoco: And here's the Jerry Lee Lewis homage of In Prigione: True, you need to understand the lyrics to get this album, but trust me, it kicks all PFM records down the gutter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted September 13, 2013 Author Share Posted September 13, 2013 It was the beginning of the 80s and we Italians were busy inventing our own brand of disco-pop, but we weren't an island. There was a band looking at what was happening far, far away in the UK and in the States. And tried to make it their own.What they ended up with is a strange mix of Devo, Buggles, OMD, NY wave and "punk" (yes, they were branded punk in Italy!).That band was Decibel, and this is their greatest hit song. Singer Enrico Ruggeri would leave the band soon after, and start a succesful solo career, producing some hundred albums and still going strong today.Anyway, this is a stage presence to be proud of. Even the two keyboardists. http://youtu.be/C3U26kCMZ1I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 Why do you write a song?You have something to say. Or you want to point out what's wrong with society. Or you want to give people something to hold on to in dire times. Or, better still, you want to make 'em dance.In this post I will guide you three songs with a common theme: the mandatory military service that every Italian guy had to endure. Myself included.It's only been recently that our Army has become volunteers-based only. Back in the day, every sparking dude had to give one year of his life (and before that 18 months, and before that 2 years) to the defence of his Country. It was a coming-of-age experience, and still a traumathic one. And also it affected family and loving ones. You were gone for a long time, usually VERY far, in shitty places, with shitty people, shitty food and useless fatigues.But with an emotional background shared by thousands, it should be easy to write a song about it, isn't it? The first song is by Boston-born, Italian rebel Eugenio Finardi (more on him on following posts). His message is shared by many: you're in the prime of your life and you have to go in the army. No no no. The second one, and the proggiest of the three, is by uber-intellectual Italian Militant Progressive band: Stormy Six. The song is called The Barber because, you know, you had to cut your hair in the Army. It's bone-dry nihilism on a cosmic scale: "Only someone slashes his wrists, the others know how to wait". http://youtu.be/KvQXWCSPe5U Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 On a totally different approach stand Santo California, a pop band which had its biggest hit right with this song. It's a ballad for couples and it's about a couple that is soon to be broken because He has to go in the army. But, as the immortal line goes: "One year is not one century. I WILL BE BACK!".Yeah yeah it's ridicoulous as it can get, but try to listen to it on a cold winter night, stranded on your bed in a cold room full of strangers dressed in green, and try not to get a teary eye. As Chris Claremont would say, if you get to the first minute it will feel like your nervous system is dipped in honey. If you make it to the second minute, the sugar level in your blood will rise to dangerous levels. If you ever get to the end, tonight you will kiss your wife like you didn't in a long time and she will ask: what's up? and you'll just go: nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted September 26, 2013 Author Share Posted September 26, 2013 Hard-boiled.What an American word, isn't it?And still, back in the 50s, there was one singer who tried to bring hard-boiled in Italy. He even caused scandal, with his irresistible swing and his stories full of cigarettes, booze, femme fatales, treachery, money and death. A million miles away from the (sex-removed) love stories that made up the bulk of songwriting in Italy back then!!His name was Fred Buscaglione, he was one of my father's favourites and even Mike Patton felt compelled to go back and sing some of his songs.This is his most well-known song.http://youtu.be/-mBvFcZbpac And another: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted September 26, 2013 Author Share Posted September 26, 2013 And here's another one, taken from a movie. Talk about stage presence... He was one of a kind, that's for sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 Today I'm going to take you through time again, and guide you through the discovery of another great Italian band with a superb singer and a decade-spanning career.Their name? Matia Bazar.The best thing about them was singer Antonella Ruggiero and her incredible voice. She could be the Italian Sandy Denny and Kate Bush mixed together. But also, they could write great pop songs. Aahhh... vintage playback! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 Can you believe they could also "do" disco?? Towards the 80s, they changed their sound to a very refined synth-pop. Here's another good song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 Here they are, dabbling in Talking Heads territory... http://youtu.be/y2lJI2HI5zo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 After a while Antonella left to get into more "serious" world music, and the band carried on with a slew of other singers. Still, some decent songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted October 15, 2013 Author Share Posted October 15, 2013 Whatever RUSH come up to, some Italian already did it. :lol: OK, I'm bragging here, but long before Neal even dreamed of Caravan, Naples genius Renato Carosone had already made a song with (almost) the same title. He made it in 1958, to be precise.It's world music before anyone else. Peter Gabriel? Poser. Yossou n' Dour? Latecomer.The song is a satire about the poverty of Naples: one guy gets a camel, goes around the city dressed as an emir and dreams of finding petrol in the city and become rich. It's still a piece of swing-jazz to be reckoned with.And with drummer-singer Gegè di Giacomo unique verve (Carosone is playing the piano). Enjoy!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citizen of the World Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 My stupid work computer is blocking the videos, but I don't hear Premiata Forneria Marconi mentioned. Love their stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted October 15, 2013 Author Share Posted October 15, 2013 My stupid work computer is blocking the videos, but I don't hear Premiata Forneria Marconi mentioned. Love their stuff.And you won't. This thread is dedicated to the worthy Italian bands and artists you couldn't possibly know, unless you have an Italian auntie. PFM, Banco, Orme... you already know their stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted October 30, 2013 Author Share Posted October 30, 2013 (edited) The greatest thrash metal singer that never was?Well ok, that may be a little bit too much, but there's no doubt Riccardo Cocciante had (and still has today) a pair of pipes to be reckoned with. He entered the music world with his own style, footed in tradition but deeply renovated as far as delivery, content and vocal style go. In his early years, due to his vocals, he was known as "L'arrabbiato", or "The pissed off one" if you prefer.Here are a couple of his best songs. http://youtu.be/DEKuHTmDxMw http://youtu.be/xTZYhF8rUXA Edited October 30, 2013 by H. P. L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted October 30, 2013 Author Share Posted October 30, 2013 And probably his absolute best: http://youtu.be/X7l4uCc-34I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted November 7, 2013 Author Share Posted November 7, 2013 Yay! What better way to celebrate my 2000th post than to unleash some Italian Cantautore on you all?Cantautori (a neologism based on the literal translation of "singer/songwriter") were a funny bunch in the 70s. Their history is long and complex and deserves a rigorous approach, but I'm such a lazy cat right now, I'm just gonna shove this down your throath.His name is Roberto Vecchioni, high-school teacher by day, but ready to prey on a superstitious cowardly lot by night playing high-brow "author" songs.These two come from his best works. The firts one, a song about the explorer Velasquez told by the POW of a member of his crew, features an extended, great introductory guitar solo. Check it out. Another one, world music before its time. Drug references. Exotic cities. Femme fatales. http://youtu.be/6WwUqnAa1Dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H. P. L. Posted November 14, 2013 Author Share Posted November 14, 2013 Black metal was born in the Middle Ages.La Danse Macabre, the personalization of Death into the figure of the Grim Reaper with the skeleton and the scythe, the obsessive refrain that everyone must die, the notion that noone is safe from Death, not the young, not the rich, not the beautiful, was painted on churches walls all over northern Europe, with Death dancing, literally, with every piece of the human consort he/she could find.Flash forward to 1976: Angelo Branduardi, the most folk-influenced Italian cantautore, takes the text of a Danse Macabre from the wall of a church, adds some traditional XVI century music, and composes a dance of Death for the prog age. As it turns out, it's ageless. http://youtu.be/mHeM7kmKmhY 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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