The full list
Discography:
45 - Good morning love/The man and the sparrow (Apollo ZA 50225 - 1972)
Only one single to mention, with tracks composed by
Maurizio
Bigio, for this female trio, whose career lasted until 1980. The style is rather commercial and
can hardly be described as progressive.
Baba Yaga also played in the soundtrack composed by
Albert Verrecchia for the movie
Roma drogata: La polizia non può intervenire, from 1975, but only issued
on CD in 2007.
Line up:
Silver Soprani (vocals, guitar)
Marco "Jimmy" Villotti (guitar)
Claudio Golinelli (bass)
Gilberto "Attila" Rossi (drums)
Discography:
45 - Povero cane/Strada bianca (CBS 3838 - 1968)
45 - Il successo della vita/Torna (CBS 4168 - 1969)
45 - Cerco lei/Scende la notte (CBS 4772 - 1970)
I Baci, from Forlì, were formed in 1968 and only released three singles
on CBS. The second one is the closest to the contents of this site, with great fuzz guitar work by Villotti.
The original name of the group was I Phedia, changed upon advice of their
producer Checco Marsella (one of I Giganti). The
early line-up included Soprani, drummer Luciano Tassinari and bassist Beppe Pippi,
coming from I Lorenz and later with Forum
Livii, but after a short time Tassinari was replaced by Gilberto Rossi and a
second guitarist was added, Jimmy Villotti from I Meteors.
This line-up recorded the first single, Povero cane, that went unnoticed
and only sold around 800 copies. Pippi decided to go back to his old group, I
Lorenz, and was replaced with Claudio Golinelli, the new group was admitted to
the Cantagiro 1969.
The second single, Il successo della vita, was the most successful one,
with over 10,000 copies sold, but a road accident that stopped them for a few
months and the disappointment for the lack of the huge expected success, moved
Villotti to try a different way (with a group called
Jimmy
Mec), while the others went on as a trio.
The third and last single, from 1970, was unsuccessful and the group broke up
when Golinelli was called up for his army duties.
Golinelli and Pippi later played in Reattori
Caldi.
Soprani formed a new group called Silver e i Baci, including Enzo Vallicelli
(drums), Gabriele Biondi (bass), Mario Valmori (keyboards) and Vanni Meleni
(horns), which participated in the "Festival di Avanguardia e Nuove Tendenze di
Viareggio" in june 1971, playing many times at the Altro Mondo in Rimini
supporting the most important italian groups. In 1971 they recorded various
demos for Ricordi, which opted to release in 1972 a
solo single by Silver (Soprani), Bella mia/L’erba bianca, that was
selected for the Sanremo Festival. Soprani also issued a self-produced cassette album.
Vallicelli quit in november 1971 to form
Hellza Poppin, replaced by Nicola Venditto, while the group broke up in
1975.
Discography:
LP - Ballettirosadimacchia (Rockit Enterprises RIES 74 - 198? - Canada)
Little is known about this mysterious group, whose only good album has never been reissued on
CD and often
changed
hands for incredible prices before people started to realise it's not a real
italian 70's rarity.
Even the year of
recording is uncertain. Some say it is from 1974-75, and for this reason it's
included here, but it seems more likely that it
came out in the second half of the 80's or early 90's.
The album was printed in Canada with a german producer, the music is good
organ and mellotron-led prog sung in italian with a strong foreign accent and
often incomprehensible lyrics:
this is almost certainly a foreign group, probably japanese, playing under fake
italian names, and even the incredibly high number of errors in the cover notes
and lyrics confirms this impression.
The line-up mentioned on the cover includes Tonino Leo Ucchi
(vocals, bass, acoustic guitar, flute, keyboards),
Antonio Sassada (guitar),
Gianni Mazzi (keyboards) and Marcello Taddeo Matteotti (drums, percussion,
keyboards).
The LP has also been reissued in Japan or Korea with a plain white cover.
Discography:
LP - Il Vangelo secondo Barabba (Elledici AZ 332 - 1977)
A concept album, with lyrics written by young students based on Gospel
themes, and music composed by former Circus
2000 guitarist Marcello "Spooky" Quartarone, released by a small
label from Turin.
The LP is rather short, around 30 minutes, and many musicians from the Turin
area play with Quartarone, among them Giovanni Vigliar and Arturo Vitale of Arti & Mestieri,
Piercarlo Bettini, Sandro Gianotti and Gianni Bianco from Living
Life, and Max Aimone from Venegoni & Co.
The instrumental parts are on a good level, though not particularly elaborated,
while the vocal parts are sung by different singers at the same time.
Discography:
45 - Cosa conti tu/Il viaggio (Saint Martin 460 - 1969)
I Funamboli, from Vigevano, issued many singles since 1966 in a beat style. The last of their singles is this, released with singer Barbara, closer to a rock sound and with a voice that sometimes reminds Lydia e gli Hellua Xenium.
Discography:
LP - A' puddara è un vulcano (Elektra T 52028 - 1975)
Born in Turin, Donatella Bardi was very active in the open-air festival
circuit of the early 70's, collaborating with many musicians of the Milan scene, such
as Il Pacco, Eugenio Finardi, Claudio
Rocchi.
Her LP from 1975 is a very good song album, Donatella's nice voice is supported
by the help from important session musicians, her brother Lucio Bardi (guitar), Gianfranco
"Pepè" Gagliardi (keyboards), Paolo Donnarumma (bass) and Antonello
Vitale (drums). It was housed
in a nice tri-fold cover.
After the album release, Donatella Bardi continued her musical and theatrical
career, until her death in 1999.
Line up:
Sergio De Francesco (keyboards)
Antonio Lombardi ( guitar)
Giuseppe Massaglia (bass)
Antonio D'Ambrosio (drums, percussion)
Discography:
LP - Beia come Aba (Mu UM197 - 1979)
One of many jazz-rock groups from Turin, their one and only album was released in 1979 with two different covers.
Discography:
LP - Nel paese di Susi (RCA PL 31407 - 1978)
Though the album mainly included children songs, it's interesting to mention it for its arrangements and the help from Arturo Stalteri of Pierrot Lunaire.
Line-up:
Peppe (guitar)
Gianni (keyboards)
Amedeo (bass)
Nando (drums)
Discography:
45 - Cronaca nera/Subito dopo (First FR 5025 - 1970)
Only a good single for this band, that disappeared without trace. They also
played as backing band for the singer Giovanna in her remake of their single (Cronaca
nera/Un momento nella sera - Ariston AR 0372 - 1970).
The B-side of their only single, Subito dopo, was composed by Claudio
Rocchi.
Discography:
LP - Ad ovest c'è il mare (Apollo ZSLA-55142
- 1972)
LP - Rock Bigio blues (It ZSLT 70020
- 1973)
+ singles
Despite the name of the second album by this talented guitarist from Perugia,
his songs are rather commercial and not so close to rock and blues.
Bigio collaborated with such artists as Francesco De Gregori and Edoardo De
Angelis, and also appears on
a single from 1977 by the group Motouniversale (E la mia musica
sale in cielo/Se mi vuoi se ti vuoi - Dany Records DR 1007).
Discography:
LP - Human glow (CBS 69124 - 1975)
45 - Human glow/Uskudarra (CBS 3196 - 1975)
A mysterious band that only released a mediocre commercial album, it included some former members of Il Volo.
Discography:
45 - Smog/Chissà chi, chissà che (Bang Bang BG 024 - 1974)
A group from the Treviso area, that only left a single with a good song on
the A-side.
Their style brings to mind Fabio Celi & gli Infermieri,
with a vaguely sixties sounds and protest lyrics. The B-side is a slow melodic
song.
Only the name of the bass player is known, Bruno Schiavon, currently with the
Turnover Country Band.
Discography:
45 - Risveglio/Mondo nuovo (Polimusic PL001 - 197?)
Maybe these are the same Black Stones that released a beat single (Ho un quiz per voi/Non dovevo - Discobolo DIS 52 - 196?), these four musicians issued in the early 70's this single in sixties rock style, with organ and fuzz guitar to the fore.
Discography:
45 - Hot rock/Madness (Bla Bla BBR 1308 - 1971)
Under this name there was Ghigo Agosti, popular singer in the 60's, with an
original voice, who was often censored by the italian radio for the outrageous
contents of his songs.
This soul-styled single needs to be mentioned because it was released on Bla
Bla and also included in the rare Tarzan
compilation on that label. The A-side, Hot rock, was a remake of a
1965 song by Ghigo himself, Non voglio pietà.
During his career Ghigo has also used other nicknames like Mister Anima, Rico
Agosti, Probus Harlem.
Discography:
45 - You turn me on/Blowing my life (Studio SM 7007 - 1973)
Similar to the sound of Osage Tribe, this single was released on the same label that issued Living Totem, and it's likely that the musicians were the same.
Line up:
Maurizio Giammarco (sax, flute, keyboards)
Roberto Ciotti ( guitar)
Sandro Ponzoni (bass)
Alfredo Minotti (drums)
Discography:
LP - Blue morning (Tomorrow ZSTOM 2000 - 1973)
Closer to jazz than to rock, this rare album was the only record release by Blue Morning,
a Rome quartet that featured future solo blues guitarist Roberto Ciotti and well
known jazz player Maurizio Giammarco. A fifth musician, percussionist Alvise
Sacchi, collaborated playing in some of the album tracks, as well as designing
its memorable cover.
The album includes five long compositions,
some Soft Machine influences can be heard but it won't appeal to rock fans.
Discography:
45 - Chicago/Gipsy (Thuban Six CPI 7010 - 197?)
45 - Lady in black/And the day will be so kind (Thuban Six THS 16001 - 197?)
45 - Lady in black/Gipsy (Thuban Six THS 16001 - 197? - promo-only)
+ LP
Two singles (and a third only released as a promo) appeared for this group, all covers of popular songs played
rather well, and both were probably issued around 1971.
Only one of their four known songs is original, And the day will be so kind,
while there are two Uriah Heep's covers and one by Graham Nash. Their style is
hard prog with a good use of organ.
Two instrumental LP's were also issued under the name Blue Sharks, and some say
that behind this name hid the composer Stelvio Cipriani, as many of the tracks
are credited to his nickname Ipcress. The albums are Funny walk (Leonardi
L 20) and It became crystal (Leonardi SL 27), and both came out in the
early 70's.
Discography:
LP - Delicato a te (Spark SRLP 260 LG - 1972)
+ others
Like the Donatella Bardi album
mentioned above, this is a songs album, though more folky and less rock-inspired,
and is notable for the strong cover design, conceived by Gianni Sassi,
in Battiato's Fetus style.
This singer-songwriter from Piedmont also produced a second album in 1979 with
children songs, and took part in many TV shows and a Sanremo festival. She died
in 1997
Line up:
Fernando Ciucci (vocals, guitar)
Piero Calabrese (keyboards, vocals)
Romano Musumarra (keyboards, flute, vocals)
Masimo Calabrese (bass, vocals)
Alberto Bartoli (drums)
Discography:
LP - La Bottega dell'arte (EMI 3C064-18106 - 1975)
LP - Dentro (EMI 3C064-18248 - 1977)
LP - L'avventura (EMI 3C064-18423 - 1979)
LP - Forza 4 (Sound NWLP1701 - 1984)
45 - Addio/Notturno per noi (Tomato ZZ999 - 1974)
+ many other singles
A group from Rome, that's often described as prog or soft-prog, but their
large production of albums and singles is mainly in the commercial pop style.
On their 1974 debut single, Notturno per noi is a nice long instrumental
track in classical prog style, then their first album from 1975, the most interesting for progressive fans, as it contains
some good instrumental parts though most tracks are in a melodic vein, like
Come due bambini, their biggest hit single. The rest of their production is
in a commercial pop style.
Keyboardist Musumarra was involved in the Automat
project.
Discography:
45 - Perché tu non vuoi/Solo con te (ALE 002 - 1973)
A group from Brescia that apparently released only this nice single with good organ and guitar playing, with a late 60's/early 70's feeling. They played in some open-air festivals at the time. In the line-up there were drummer Roberto Benedini (later with Ash) and bassist Giorgio Moser, both coming from the JB Club group.
Discography:
45 - Un paese senza nome/Cosa sono io per te (RiFi RFN-NP 16632 - 1976)
45 - Umanità/A modo suo (RiFi RFN-NP 16710 - 1977)
La Bottega delle Verità from Verona released two singles for RiFi in a rather commercial style, and only Umanità from their second single has some progressive elements. The singer Paolo Tosi remained in the music field.
Discography:
LP - Underground (Liuto LRS 0044 - 1971)
LP - Temi ritmici e dinamici (Liuto LRS 0055 - 1973)
A mysterious studio group, whose albums for the Liuto label, founded by
composer Piero Umiliani, are incredibly sought-after and reach high prices.
The style is not far from other ghost-groups of the same period, instrumental
music that could be used as a film soundtrack, with fuzz guitar and keyboards to
the fore, and probably more psych-oriented than others.
It's certain that behind the name Braen's Machine hid Umiliani himself and
Alessandro Alessandroni, as they appeared with their nicknames Braen and Gisteri
as the album tracks composers. The name Braen also appears as composer in
the two Pawnshop singles.
Discography (italian issues):
LP - Cottonwoodhill (Hallelujah X 606 - 1971)
LP - Psychonaut (Durium 30-219 - 1972)
LP - Celestial ocean (RCA DLISP 34158 - 1973)
+ other records not released in Italy
Formed by belgian-born Joel
Vandroogenbroeck, this band was in fact a multinational group, including
musicians from various countries.
For some years they were based in Italy, where
their second album Psychonaut (with a nice cover by Living
Music's Umberto Santucci) and the third, Celestial Ocean, were recorded.
A track from this album was also included on the
Free dimension compilation.
Vandroogenbroeck also collaborated with some italian musicians during 1972-73
and he also played on Riccardo Cocciante's first
album Mu.
Brainticket kept playing in the following years, and their later record releases
came out in the 80's.
Line up:
Antonio De Laurentis (guitar)
Roberto Ciccone (flute)
Nino Marulli (bassoon)
Mauro Liberatore (keyboards, vocals)
Enrico Sconci (bass)
Enrico "Jeff" Gianforte (drums)
A group from L'Aquila, they played in some open-air festivals in 1972-73, and received
some offers for a recording deal, but they sadly didn't opt for a professional
musical career.
The original drummer was later replaced by Giancarlo Canelli, and the group
broke up in 1974.
Discography:
LP - Overground (Sincro SEM 1001
- 1970)
An instrumental record not far from the style of
Blue Phantom and The Psycheground Group.
Brugnolini released this LP on his own label and composed it along with Luigi
Malatesta. It was recorded at Dirmaphon Studio (Rome) in march 1970.
Among the musicians playing on the album were
Silvano Chimenti (guitar), Giorgio Carnini (piano and organ) and future
Perigeo bass player Giovanni Tommaso.
Line up:
Giorgio Bertolani (vocals)
Mauro Falzoni (guitar)
Celso Valli (keyboards)
Paride Sforza (sax, clarinet)
Alan Taylor (bass, vocals)
Roberto Poli (drums)
Discography:
LP - Doggy doggy (Blue Jean JBLP 701
- 1975)
LP - Explosive Bulldog (Blue Jean JBLP
702 - 1976)
LP - Bulldog hits (Spark RGLP 4002 - 1978)
45 - Doggy doggy/Where did she go
(Blue Jean BJ 601 - 1975)
45 - Black Emanuelle/Robin Hood (Blue Jean BJ 602 -
1975)
45 - Candida/In my dreams (Blue Jean BJ 604 - 1976)
45 - A man before your time/Jennifer (Blue Jean BJ
606 - 1976)
45 - Chicken every day/La porta dell'estate (Blue
Jean BJ 609 - 1977)
45 - Que sera sera/Morning sun (Blue Jean BJ 615 -
1978)
45 EP - Doggy doggy/ Robin Hood/Chicken every day/Geronimo
(Orange RG 505 - 1978)
Including five of the six members of Ping Pong, this group followed their habit of mixing rock and commercial pop songs. They released three LP's and many singles, mostly film soundtracks, in the mid 70's.
Thanks to Giuliano Semprucci, Claudio Checchi, Antonio Rosetti, Valerio D'Angelo, Matthias Scheller for some of the pictures and information on this page
Other alphabetical index pages
A B C
D E F
G HIJK L
M N O
P QR S
T UV WXYZ
