Artist
FLASHMEN
Silver Scivoli (keyboards, vocals)
Luciano Spotti (guitar)
Gigi Puzzo (bass)
Roberto Caroli (drums)
Around 1971-72
Puzzo replaced by:
Giuliano Quarantotto (bass, vocals)
This melodic pop band was formed in Cremona around 1967, and had a rather anonymous career with the early production, their only interesting album being the nice Pensando from 1972.
Their first album Cercando la vita contains the typical italian melodic pop of that era, with the voice in evidence and the organ as the main instrument, a short (around 30 minutes long) LP that includes eight tracks all around three minutes with the sole exception of the long title track; the album was re-released a year later as Hydra with just an extra track.
Pensando is a surprisingly good album, mainly organ-driven and with some fuzz guitar. Vocal parts are good despite some melodic influences and not great lyrics typical of the italian post-beat groups. There are very nice tracks on it like Un pugno di mosche, also on single, Maria and Amo mia madre, but the 10 tracks, all in the 3-4 minute range could have better instrumental developments.
The band disbanded around 1975 and their last production was again in a commercial direction, their last single Piccolo amore was presented at that year's Disco per l'Estate contest.
| LP | |||
| Cercando la vita | Kansas (SLP 8) | 1970 | single cover |
| Hydra | Kansas (LDM 17001) | 1971 | single cover |
| Pensando | Kansas (LDM 17003) | 1972 | gatefold cover |
| Flashmen | Kansas (LDM 17005) | 1972 | single cover |
| Sempre e solo lei | Kansas (LDM 17012) | 1973 | single cover |
| I Flashmen | Kansas (5300 501) | 1974 | single cover |
CD |
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| Cercando la vita | Vinyl Magic (VM 025) | 1991 | reissue of 1970 album |
| Pensando | Mellow (MMP 222) | 1994 | reissue of 1972 album |
| Flashmen | Mellow (MMP 301) | 2007 | reissue of 1972 album |
SINGLES (with picture cover) |
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| Il mondo aspetta te La donna che ho |
Decca (C 17005) | 1969 | |
| Una parola L'incertezza |
Kansas (DM 1133) | 1970 | both tracks from Hydra and Cercando la vita |
| È tardi ormai ???? |
Kansas (DM 1142) | 1971 | side A taken from Hydra and Cercando la vita |
| Puoi dirmi t'amo Un anno nero |
Kansas (DM 1149) | 1971 | both tracks from Hydra |
| Ma cosa fai Non sei solo |
Lunapark (28008) | 1971 | |
| Sogni e delusioni Fortuna e ragione |
Lunapark (28020) | 1972 | both tracks from Pensando probably a promo |
| Un pugno di mosche Ciao felicità |
Kansas (DM 1153) | 1972 | side A taken from Pensando |
| Guarda Mes amis |
Kansas (DM 1157) | 1972 | |
| È la vita Una ragazza semplice |
Kansas (DM 1163) | 1973 | both tracks from Flashmen (1972) |
| Sempre e solo lei I giorni del sole |
Kansas (DM 1167) | 1974 | side A taken from Sempre e solo lei |
| Vestita di ciliege E restare con te |
Kansas (5100 405) | 1974 | both tracks from I Flashmen (1974) |
| Amare lei Dolce amica mia |
Magic (MRNP 1000) | 1975 | |
| Piccolo amore La stagione dei fiori |
Joker (M 7190) | 1975 | |
PROMOTIONAL AND JUKEBOX SINGLES (with blank cover) |
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| Il mondo aspetta te La donna che ho |
Decca (C 17005) | 1969 | jukebox single |
All the Flashmen albums are very rare, with Pensando,
reputedly their best and rarest. They've never been reissued on vinyl but a CD
reissue exists for three of them.
Hydra and Pensando have also been reissued on CD in Japan (Edison
ERC-29238 and ERC-29239 respectively).
No counterfeits exist, nor foreign vinyl reissues.
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Cercando la vita - LP |
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Hydra - LP |
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Pensando - gatefold cover (from CD reissue) |
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Flashmen (1972) - LP |
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Sempre e solo lei - LP |
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I Flashmen (1974) - LP |
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Il mondo aspetta te - 7" single |
Una parola - 7" single |
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Puoi dirmi t'amo - 7" single |
Un pugno di mosche - 7" single |
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Guarda - 7" single |
È la vita - 7" single |
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Sempre e solo lei - 7" single |
Amare lei - 7" single |
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Piccolo amore - 7" single |
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Thanks to Giuliano Semprucci and John Elvis Gualtieri for pictures and information contained in this page
