Artist
LE STELLE DI MARIO SCHIFANO
Nello Marini (keyboards, vocals)
Urbano Orlandi (guitar, vocals)
Giandomenico Crescentini (bass, vocals)
Sergio Cerra (drums)
Little known in the world until a few years ago, Dedicato a... is among the most wanted and expensive Italian album nowadays. The 1999 Akarma reissue has finally given to many collectors the chance to hear an album that was only known by its fame.
Supported by the pop artist Mario Schifano (who was not a
musician, by the way), in the same way that Andy Warhol acted with Velvet
Underground, this band from Rome (though Crescentini and Marini were from Veneto
and Cerra from Alessandria) was created in 1967 and released their first
and only album the same year.
Bass player Crescentini, had briefly played before in the last
incarnation of New Dada, a very popular garage-beat group.
Housed in an incredible gatefold cover, painted by Schifano himself, the album
contains a side-long improvised track on side 1, with the long title of Le
ultime parole di Brandimarte, dall'Orlando Furioso, ospite Peter Hartman e fine
(da ascoltare con TV accesa senza volume), a surreal title just like the
track itself. Closer to avantgarde or contemporary music performances than to
rock, the stunning track gives a good idea of what the group's music and live
concerts were about. Side 2 is more conventional, with five short tracks with
psych influences.
The band only released another single, this time on
CBS, before splitting.
Keyboardist and singer Nello Marini tried a solo career with a commercial
single, L'amore è il mio mestiere/Il mio amore per te (CBS 3800) issued
in 1968, and later appeared on Venetian Power's
LP. In 1993 he released a self-produced CD, entitled Artista with
saxophonist Carlo Ponara.
| LP | |||
| Dedicato a... | BDS (M&F 001) | 1967 | gatefold cover with 8 page booklet - first copies on red vinyl |
| Akarma (AK 1008) | 1999 | cover as above - also exists on red vinyl and picture disc | |
CD |
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| Dedicato a... | Mellow (MMP 126) | 1992 | reissue of 1967 album |
| Akarma (AK 1008) | 1999 | as above with mini gatefold cover | |
| VARIOUS ARTISTS COMPILATIONS |
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| Oracolo (with Molto lontano (a colori)) |
Toast (TDLP 859) | 1988 | 2LP - foldout cover in plastic bag - 20-track compilation with 60's to 80's psychedelic artists |
SINGLES (with picture sleeve) |
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| E il mondo va Su una strada |
CBS (3442) | 1968 | both unreleased tracks |
PROMOTIONAL AND JUKEBOX SINGLES (with blank sleeve) |
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| E il mondo va Su una strada |
CBS (JB 3442) | 1968 | same as above, this is the jukebox white label version with blank cover |
An incredibly rare album, printed in a small pressing of probably around 500/1000 copies, the first batch of which (reputedly 50 copies, but probably a bit more) were on red vinyl. The cover is gatefold with a 8-page booklet glued in the inner.
The Akarma reissue faithfully reproduces the original, and, like that, it also had an early limited pressing (250 numbered copies) in red vinyl signed by bassist Crescentini. A limited pressing has also been issued as a picture disc.
No counterfeits exist nor foreign issues.
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Dedicato a... - LP |
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Dedicato a... - LP label (from original red vinyl issue) |
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E il mondo va - 7" single cover, front & back |
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E il mondo va - 7" single, standard & jukebox label |
Many thanks to Danilo Ragonesi for the scan of the original cover, and to Alos for supplying the scan of the 7" single in both versions.
