Artist

PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI

1970-73
Mauro Pagani (vocals, flute, violin)
Franco Mussida (guitar, vocals)
Flavio Premoli (keyboards, vocals)
Giorgio Piazza (bass, vocals)
Franz Di Cioccio (drums, vocals)

1974
Piazza replaced by:
Patrick Djivas (bass, vocals)

1975
enters:
Bernardo Lanzetti (vocals, guitar)

1976
Pagani quits, replaced by:
Greg Bloch (violin)

1977
Bloch quits

Much has been written and said in Italy about Premiata Forneria Marconi, and they have surely been the most popular band here for many years. No one who was in his teens in Italy during the 70's, doesn't know È festa or Impressioni di settembre. They were also the first (and last, probably) Italian band to have some success abroad, playing some good european and American tours, and even playing the popular Reading festival in England.

The band was formed in Milan around 1970 when the ex-Quelli (a popular beat band during the 60's) Mussida, Premoli, Piazza and Di Cioccio met multiinstrumentalist Mauro Pagani from Dalton. 
The four Quelli had a change in their musical style near the end of the 60's and even made a single as I Krel, before the new name was adopted.

The new band had a long name, as it was the tendency for the prog-oriented Italian bands of the time, and were usually referred to as "La Premiata" and later PFM. Their live beginnings, recently documented in the 10 anni live 71/81 box set, included many covers, especially by the likes of King Crimson and Jethro Tull that were among their strongest influences.

In June 1971 Premiata Forneria Marconi were invited at the first "Festival d’Avanguardia e Nuove Tendenze" in Viareggio, and they won it, along with Osanna and Mia Martini.

But their first single, coupling La carrozza di Hans with Impressioni di settembre, began a highly original musical style, where the foreign influences had been mixed with classical music and some typical mediterranean sounds, creating the distinctive "italianprog" sound that has been later perfectioned by many others.

First album, Storia di un minuto in 1972 is a milestone in the genre, the quintessence of the Italian prog, and few others can be compared with this that's surely one of the top five Italian LP's for its contents and energy. Tracks like the two on the single, È festa and Dove.. quando are still among the finest example of their distinctive sound. The fine playing of Mauro Pagani, Franco Mussida and Flavio Premoli, despite the lack of a good role singer (always one of their limits), create a highly regarding sound that's still valid today.

The same year saw the release of their second LP, Per un amico, containing the same elements as the previous one with cuts such as the title track, Generale, Il banchetto. Both the albums were very successful and, along with the first Banco del Mutuo Soccorso album, opened the way to a large audience recognition of the new musical style.

Third album, Photos of ghosts, contained mostly reworkings of old tracks in English version, and represented the first attempt by Italian rock bands to break the foreign markets. The LP was released abroad by ELP label Manticore (just like Banco's fourth eponymous album) and gave the band a huge success in the USA.

In 1974 the fourth album, L'isola di niente, also had an English version released with the same track listing, called The world became the world. A new bass guitarist had joined the band, Patrick Djivas from Area (Giorgio Piazza formed the short-lived Crystals), and English lyrics were by Pete Sinfield. The album was again very successful and the band embarked in their first US tour, documented in their Live in USA album.

The lack of a lead singer in the band had always been marked by the press as PFM's main defect, and for this reason the group enroled Bernardo Lanzetti from Acqua Fragile. Lanzetti had lived in the States and with his distinctive voice could solve the major problems for the band, singing and speaking English! The first (and sadly the only) release by the new six-piece was Chocolate kings, the first album only released with English lyrics (and their least successful so far for this reason in Italy). Containing some very good songs such as the title track and Out of the roundabout, the album had probably lost some of the typical Italian feel of their previous works, going closer to the foreign markets' taste. A successful album abroad, it gave the band new chances to play in foreign countries, with new tour in Europe, USA and Japan.

But after the long tour, Pagani, tired of the hard life on the road, decided to quit the band. The band tried to replace him with American violinist Greg Bloch (from Flock and It's a Beautiful Day) but their decline had started. Jet lag, released in 1977 on the new Zoo label, still has very discordant reviews, its sound being very far from past glories, and Passpartù in 1978, with lyrics written by Italian songwriter Gianfranco Manfredi, saw a strong turn towards pop music. 

In 1979 a successful tour brought PFM all over Italy as backing band to the singer-songwriter Fabrizio De André, and two live albums were released by Ricordi (Fabrizio De André e la PFM In concerto voll. I & II).

The band released the good Suonare suonare  in 1980 with new member Lucio Fabbri (on violin and keyboards, from Piazza delle Erbe) but some low level albums followed during the 80's, wit the group still continuing its successful live activity in Italy, and members Mussida and Di Cioccio also released solo albums. 
After Miss Baker in 1987, PFM members concentrated on their solo activities, without ever officially declaring the end of the group. The reunion of the basic four piece of Mussida, Premoli, Djivas and Di Cioccio came in 1997 with the Ulisse LP, and the band had some successful tours in the following years, well documented by the live www.pfmpfm.it, a sort of "live greatest hits" album as stated in its subtitle Il Best.

A new studio CD, Serendipity, came out in 2000, followed by another double live CD, Live in Japan 2002 (better than the previous 1998 live), is another nice document of the group's concert energy, and this also includes two new studio unreleased recordings, a cover of Franco Battiato's Bandiera bianca (following Battiato's remake of Impressioni di settembre in his 2002 album) and a great Sea of memories with vocals by Peter Hammill. 
Summer 2003 sees the group playing all over Italy with renewed energy, with Mauro Pagani, Peter Hammill and other artists guesting in some dates. Another live album PFM+Pagani - Piazza del Campo was released in 2004: the live albums released by PFM during these years are surely better than the studio records.
In 2006 the group, always playing live all over Italy, had no less than three different shows going on, the classic PFM canta De André, the new Stati d'immaginazione, featuring improvisations built on original videos, and the rock opera Dracula. From these shows came three separate CD's, issued between 2005 and 2008.
In 2007, during the Stati di immaginazione promotional tour, keyboardist Flavio Premoli has left the group, replaced by Gianluca Tagliavini, who's still in the line-up now.

Since 2004 Di Cioccio has played from time to time with Slow Feet, a blues band featuring Lucio Fabbri, Vittorio De Scalzi from New Trolls, Paolo Bonfanti and Reinhold Kohl.

All the PFM albums have printed in large quantities in Italy and are all still easy to find now. No particular rarities exist, nor any counterfeits. 
The first two albums were originally issued with gatefold cover, but later pressings came with single covers and same catalogue numbers (which was shortened to ZSLN 55155 in the case of Per un amico).

Some copies (probably promotional) of Jet Lag contained a 12-page illustrated booklet entitled Comunicante n.1, with information on the album, on the group's history and discography.

Storia di un minuto has been reissued on CD in March 2003 by BMG with mini-LP cover and obi, as part of their "Dei di un perduto rock" series, and later repressed in October of the same year when a second batch of those CD's came out.
The CD was announced by BMG as being also available with standard jewel case (cat.no. 74321-98784-2) but was probably never issued in this form.
A new edition of this CD came out in 2011, again with a mini-LP cover (BMG 88697-85368-2).
All the albums are now easy to find on CD.

They've also been issued abroad, in Japan, USA, and various european and southamerican countries. 
Per un amico even had a brazilian issue, Photos of ghosts, The world became the world and Chocolate Kings were issued in UK on Manticore, Live in USA was issued abroad as Cook (in USA on Manticore MA6-502-S1 distributed by Motown!), while Chocolate kings and Jet lag had international releases with different covers. An US-only compilation, called The Award winning Marconi bakery (that's the English translation of the band's name) was also released by Peters.
A canadian issue of Photos of ghosts also exists, on Atlantic (MC 66668).
In Brazil Live in USA (RCA - 104.7059 , released in 1977) and Chocolate kings were released on both LP and CD, while Storia di un minuto and Photos of ghosts came out on CD only.
Venezuelan issues exist of Storia di un minuto (Historia de un minuto on label, RCA LPVS 1556, issued in 1975 with gatefold cover), L'isola di niente (RCA Victor LPVS 1471, with a gatefold cover containing Italian and Spanish lyrics), Per un amico (reversed gatefold cover containing the original issue's inner picture on the front) and Chocolate Kings (RCA LPVS-1592, again a gatefold with a band picture in the inner, some copies with poster; the cover contains the lyrics in Italian, though the record is sung in English!).
Storia di un minuto, Per un amico, Photos of ghosts and Live in U.S.A. all came out in Argentina on RCA Victor (AVS 4577, AVS 4476, AVS 4546 and AVSS 4479 respectively) with single cover and, as usual with southamerican releases, Spanish translation of the song titles (still sung in Italian).
A single with a nice picture sleeve, coupling Celebration with Old rain from the Photos of ghosts album, was released in France (HEVY2) by Manticore in 1973, though it's often credited as an UK issue (the English version has cat.no K 13501 and came with company sleeve). The same single, with different cover, appeared in Spain (12.275 A) and Japan (P-1283M). Another issue of the same single came out in Chile in 1974, reputedly in a limited pressing of just 250 copies (RCA Victor XXPBO 702) with blank cover.
Another UK single containing The world became the world backed with an unreleased live version of La carrozza di Hans (it is in fact a 1973 recording with fake audience effects), was issued by Manticore (K 13505) in 1974 with company sleeve.
A single with Celebration and Mr 9 till 5 was released in USA on Manticore (MC-2002) in 1973.
Another Spanish single was issued in 1974, including The world became the world and La carrozza di Hans (Manticore 13268). The same tracks appeared on a French single (Manticore 13505), with the B-side erroneously written as La carroza di Hans with a single "z".

Old Korean bootleg reissues of The world became the world (cat.no. 14) and Storia di un minuto (cat.no.114) also exist, both with single cover (unknown label reproduced original designs).

The box set 10 anni live 71/81 has also been released in Italy as four separate CD's, and also had a Japanese issue as Absolute live 1971-1978 on King label.
The 2005 CD Dracula, taken from the rock opera composed by the band, has also been issued in a limited release box set with 2CD's entitled Dracula Opera Rock - Original Cast Recording, and includes the entire play.

In the Quelli/Krel discography almost everything is rare, expensive and sought after. 
The top rarity is their 1969 Ricordi LP, that mostly included tracks from singles and mainly covers of foreign hits (among them Deep Purple's Hush and Aphrodite's Child's Rain and tears translated in Lacrime e pioggia). 
Even the LP reissue on the budget price series Orizzonte is now particularly rare, but it includes only nine of the original LP's 12 tracks, along with three more from singles, and has a revised cover design.
Both tracks from the Krel single, Fin che le braccia diventino ali and Il mondo cade giù appear on a Japanese 9-track promo compilation on Nexus, called Nexus International Italian Rock Special (cat.no.SSY-17) that also includes singles' tracks by Hunka Munka, New Trolls, Ricordi d'Infanzia and Patrizio Alluminio (Alluminogeni).
I Krel also appeared on the Sanremo 70 compilation singing Pà diglielo a mà, that was originally performed during the Festival by Rosalino Cellamare.

A late discovery in the PFM discography is a single from 1981, Flash...Gordon...Flash, theme of the Italian TV series Flash Gordon (RCA BB6501), sung by one Donno but surely played by the band members. On the B-side the nice instrumental Far away is credited to the Ianpatrick Group (Ian and Patrick are the first names of bassist Djivas!).

Storia di un minuto - gatefold cover
Per un amico - gatefold cover
Per un amico - Venezuelan issue LP
Photos of ghosts - LP
Photos of ghosts - Argentine issue LP
L'isola di niente - cutout cover and inner
The world became the world - cutout cover and inner
Live in USA - LP and booklet
Cook (US issue) - LP
Chocolate kings - LP	Chocolate kings - US issue LP
Chocolate kings - poster
Chocolate kings - Venezuelan issue inner gatefold
Jet lag - LP	Jet lag (US issue) - LP
Jet lag - Promotional booklet
Passpartù - LP
Suonare suonare - LP
Come ti va in riva alla città - LP
Performance - LP
The award winning Marconi bakery (US-only compilation) - LP
La carrozza di Hans - 7" single	Dolcissima Maria - 7" single
Harlequin - 7" single
Celebration/Old rain - French 7" single, front and back cover
The world became the world - 7" single (Germany)	The world became the world - 7" single (Spain)
10 anni live 4CD box set
www.pfmpfm.it - CD	Live in Japan 2002 - CD
PFM+Pagani Piazza del Campo - CD
Dracula - standard issue CD and Original Cast Recording box set
Stati di immaginazione - CD	A.D.2010 - La buona novella - CD
Bobo Club 2000 - 1972 - CD
Quelli - LP and label
I Krel - Finché le braccia diventino ali - 7" single
Donno/Ianpatrick Group - Flash...Gordon...Flash - 7" single

Click on pictures to enlarge

Live in Mondavio (PU)  11-jul-2003	Live in Mondavio (PU) 11-jul-2003
Live in Mondavio (PU) 11-jul- 2003	Live in Mondavio (PU) 11-jul- 2003  with Peter Hammill on vocals
Live in Mondavio (PU) 11-jul- 2003
Live in Siena 29-aug-2003 with Mauro Pagani	Live in Siena 29-aug-2003 with Mauro Pagani and Solis string quartet
Live in Siena 29-aug-2003 with Mauro Pagani and Piero Pelù
Franz Di Cioccio with Enrico Capuano 16-aug-2005 in Gubbio (PG)
Franz Di Cioccio at 70's Flowers Festival, Fano (PU) 29-set-2005
"PFM canta De André" - Città di Castello (PG) 16-dec-2005
"Stati di immaginazione" - Terni 8-feb-2006
"PFM canta De André" - Sesto Fiorentino (FI) 1-sep-2007
Live in Quebec City, Canada 23-nov-2008 Photos by Charles Terenzio
"35 e... 1 minuto" - Pietrafitta (PG) 6-aug-2009
Promotional photo 2010
Live at ProgExhibition 2010 Teatro Tendastrisce, Roma, 5-nov-2010
PFM with Ian Anderson at ProgExhibition 2010 Teatro Tendastrisce, Roma, 5-nov-2010

JET LAG - We're in 1977, and close to the death of progressive rock. A difficult style, a difficult story…and it's difficult to review a record like this. 
Jet Lag is the discomfort of the traveller going from a time zone to another, from a country to another, strained by check-ins and changes. 
Jet Lag is the discomfort of a band that's losing its roots, in a nation, the USA, that has little to give them. 
Jet Lag is a record that absorbes the grooves of the new refined music that's coming out in the States, jazz-rock and fusion. 
In fact this is a fusion album, rather than a progressive one, the Rhodes electric piano replaces the acoustic piano, the Moog shifts toward a Zawinul-inspired sound, there's much use of a fretless bass by Djivas. 
The American line-up includes a role singer (but for a short time), Lanzetti, and they take in Greg Bloch on violin to replace Pagani. 
This is the last record before the terrible fall that took them to release such albums as Miss Baker. 
To appreciate it, you must be broad-minded, and forget the band that gave us E' festa.
  Leonardo Gabrielli

The band has an official website at http://www.pfmpfm.it in Italian and English with detailed discography, information, lyrics.

The band's official fanclub also has its own website at http://www.fanzine.net/fanclubs/pfm/cw/
Founder member Mauro Pagani has an official website at http://www.mauropagani.com/  
Bernardo Lanzetti's official fanclub website is at http://digilander.iol.it/luctonal/bernardo_lanzetti/itaindex.html
Franz Di Cioccio's own label Immaginifica has a website at http://www.immaginifica.com, and they've released the second album Prismosfera by Italian band Stereokimono.
In the summer of 2005 Franz Di Cioccio guested in some concerts of the rock singer-songwriter Enrico Capuano, whose own website is www.enricocapuano.it 

Thanks to Manuel Da Achada, Pedro Leal, Massimo Caserio, Olivier Boigey, John Elvis Gualtieri, Mick Wilding, Alessandro Bronchi, Guilherme Tofani, Marzio Barbieri, Valerio D'Angelo, Charles Terenzio, Lorenzo Pittan of Amarcord, Marco Bonacchi, Gianluca Gallinelli, Massimo Pozzi, for info and pictures for this page.
Also a big GRAZIE to Franz Di Cioccio for friendship and encouragement.