Artist
GIGI PASCAL E LA POP COMPAGNIA MECCANICA
Gigi Pascal (vocals)
Arturo (guitar)
Mario (organ)
Franco (bass)
Fulvio Marzocchella (drums)
The neapolitan singer Gigi Pascal (real name Giancarlo
D'Auria) had a long career as soloist in the melodic pop field, with some
singles dating from the end of the sixties.
As many others he was attracted by the newly born rock groups of the early 70's,
and assembled one with the odd name Pop Compagnia Meccanica. This group had a similar story to Fabio
Celi & gli Infermieri, also from Naples, as they released an album
in 1973 that sounds like it had been recorded three or four years earlier.
Only the first names are known of the other musicians playing with Pascal, the only known member was
drummer Fulvio Marzocchella, that played with pop artists such as Umberto Bindi,
Nico Fidenco, Patty Pravo and Orietta Berti.
Debut is a very short album (eight songs for
around 26 minutes) with the organ as main instrument and, where Fabio
Celi's
album had frantic vocals, this has a softer, more relaxed voice that owes much
to the melodic italian pop of the 60's, but always well mixed with the band's
sound.
The music has some nice classical influences, like in the instrumental Fuga
in Si minore, or Crescente and the long Un concerto with a
very good and complex arrangement, but sometime the sixties' sound is more
evident, like in the opening La tua voce.
Gigi Pascal also released two more singles in 1975 before disappearing, one of them still with the name of Pop Compagnia Meccanica.
| LP | |||
| Debut | Fans/Phonotype (GPX9-001) | 1973 | single cover - black label with white/silver writing |
| Fans/Phonotype (GPX9-001) | 90's | as above with white label - 500 numbered copies reissue | |
CD |
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| Debut | Mellow (MMP 202) | 1994 | reissue of 1973 album |
SINGLES (with picture cover) |
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| Alla fine della strada Cosa hai messo nel caffè |
Danvox (25009) | 1969 | as "Gigi Pascal" |
| Questa sera piangerò È la mia pena |
Zeus (BE 275) | 1970 | as "Gigi Pascal" |
| Il giorno dell'addio Istoria de un amor |
Zeus (BE 299) | 1970 | as "Gigi Pascal" |
| Ricominciare Tanti auguri señora |
Zeus (BC 5033) | 1975 | as "Gigi Pascal" |
| Amarti come non mai La terza luna |
Zeus (BC 5036) | 1975 | as "Gigi Pascal e la Pop Compagnia Meccanica" |
PROMOTIONAL AND JUKEBOX SINGLES (with blank cover) |
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| Amarti come non mai La terza luna |
Zeus (BC 5036/BE 449) | 1975 | white label jukebox single - as "Gigi Pascal e la Pop Compagnia Meccanica" |
A very rare album, probably pressed in
just a few hundreds copies, Debut has been reissued in the 90's having the
same silver coloured single sleeve as the original, but different label. Original
labels were black with a silver and white writing, reissues are white with black
writing.
The vinyl reissue, made by the Milan label Kaliphonia, was officially released in 500
numbered copies (with a sticker on the back cover), probably taken from the original matrix.
Along with these numbered copies, many others exist without the sticker, meaning
that the pressing was probably higher than the declared quantity.
No counterfeit exists, nor foreign reissues.
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Debut - LP |
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Gigi Pascal/Alla fine della strada - 7" single |
Gigi Pascal/Questa sera piangerò - 7" single |
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Gigi Pascal/Il giorno dell'addio - 7" single |
Gigi Pascal/Ricominciare - 7" single |
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| Amarti come non mai - 7" single | |
Thanks to Federico Bordo, Alos, Gabriele Pierdomenico, for some of the pictures.
