Premiata Forneria Marconi

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Premiata Forneria Marconi
Logo PFM.png
PFM at a concert in Lignano 2007
PFM at a concert in Lignano 2007
General information
origin Italy
Genre (s) Progressive rock
founding 1971
Website pfmworld.com
Current occupation
Franz Di Cioccio
Patrick Djivas
Lucio Fabbri
Drums
 Eugenio Mori
Keyboard
 Alessandro Scaglione
guitar
 Marco Sfogli
Keyboard, vocals
 Alberto Bravin
former members
Guitar, vocals
 Franco Mussida
Keyboard, vocals
 Flavio Premoli
Flute , violin, vocals
 Mauro Pagani
bass
 Giorgio Piazza
singing
 Bernardo Lanzetti
violin
 Greg Bloch
Drums
 Walter Calloni
Keyboard
 Vittorio Cosma
Keyboard
 Roberto Colombo
violin
 Stefano Tavernese
Wind instruments
 Phil Drummy
Keyboard
 Gianluca Tagliavini
Drums
 Piero Monterisi
various
 Damiano Della Torre

Premiata Forneria Marconi , or PFM for short , is an Italian progressive rock band. PFM celebrated its successes mainly in its home country, but also in English-speaking countries. Besides Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, she was the only Italian representative of her style to make it onto the international stage in the 1970s . Her albums Per un amico (1972) and L'isola di niente (1974) were also re-released in English-language versions tailored to the international market.

Band history

Foundation and international attention

The foundation stone for the band was laid in the summer of 1969 when the beat group Quelli (consisting of Franz Di Cioccio, Franco Mussida, Flavio Premoli and Giorgio Piazza) met Mauro Pagani (from the Dalton group ). They switched to the Numero Uno label and gave themselves the name Premiata Forneria Marconi (“excellent Marconi bakery”, after a bakery in Chiari ). Agent Franco Mamone organized appearances for the band as supporting act for Yes and Procol Harum and Deep Purple and in 1971 they made their debut at the Festival di Avanguardia e nuove tendenze in Viareggio with La carrozza di Hans . The song then appeared as a single on the B-side of Impressioni di September .

The band's debut album, Storia di un minuto , was released in 1972, followed by Per un amico just a year later . Through the mediation of Greg Lake , the Premiata Forneria Marconi was given the opportunity to perform in London . Peter Sinfield ( King-Crimson - and Emerson, -Lake - & - Palmer -Texter) produced the English-language album Photos of Ghosts with the group , which is the English version of Per un amico and was published in 1973 by Manticore . After Patrick Djivas joined the band, the next album was released in 1974, L'isola di niente , for the English version of The World Became the World Sinfield was again responsible.

International success and break

Between 1973 and 1974 the PFM toured Europe together with Ten Years After . Photos of Ghosts had reached the Billboard 200 , won a critics award in Japan , and came second in the newcomer category in a Melody Maker ranking . For the second English album, Manticore organized a promotional tour through the USA, from which the live album Cook (released in Italy as Live in USA ) emerged in 1975 . Then the group returned to Italy and recorded the album Chocolate Kings with the new singer Bernardo Lanzetti . Then Mauro Pagani left the band. In California, the PFM met Greg Bloch (of It's a Beautiful Day ) and recorded with him the next album, Jet Lag , which was released in 1977 and should complete the international phase of the band.

In 1978 the album Passpartù was released , for the subsequent tour Roberto Colombo (keyboard) and Roberto Haliffi (percussion) joined the band, while Bernardo Lanzetti left them again. After meeting with Cantautore Fabrizio De André , PFM decided to go on tour with him. In 1979 two successful live albums from this collaboration were released. In the 80s, Franz Di Cioccio finally became the group's front man, while Lucio Fabbri joined the group. The next album was Suonare suonare , after the release of which Flavio Premoli left. This was followed by Come ti va in riva alla città (1981) and the live album (1982), on which Walter Calloni could be heard on drums. On PFM? PFM! (1984) a stronger electronic influence was noticeable; the song Capitani coraggiosi from it was used as the theme song on television. In 1987 the album Miss Baker was released in collaboration with Vittorio Cosma . from this point on, the band took a longer break and its members took care of solo projects.

return

Patrick Djivas and Franz Di Cioccio in 2011

In 1996 the four-part live compilation 10 Anni Live - 1971-1981 was released and in the following year the band returned with the album Ulisse in the formation Franz Di Cioccio, Patrick Djivas, Franco Mussida and Flavio Premoli and also resumed their concert activities which flowed into the live album www.pfmpfm.it in 1998 . The album Serendipity (2000) also resulted in a tour and a live album, Live in Japan (2002). After another live album ( Piazza del Campo , 2004) the band was responsible for the rock opera Dracula , which at the end of 2005 also found its way onto an album of the same name. In 2006 Flavio Premoli left PFM for the second time since 1980. Many of the band's appearances were dedicated to Fabrizio De André, who died in 1999, in memory of the joint tour, and in 2008 the live album PFM canta De André was released accordingly . In 2010, AD 2010 - La buona novella was a new edition of De André's 1970 album La buona novella .

The compilation PFM in Classic - Da Mozart a Celebration came out in 2013, after which the band reissued their first five albums as part of the series Il suono del tempo , recorded live at a concert in Tokyo in 2012. The band performed at the 2015 Sanremo Festival as a guest together with a military band and played the overture from Nabucco . Shortly afterwards, founding member Franco Mussida announced that he was leaving the group.

occupation

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
IT IT US US
1972 Storia di un minuto IT3 (24 weeks)
IT 		-
Numero Uno, ZSLN 55055
in Edition Dischi d'oro 2000 place 65 (2 weeks) in FIMI charts
1973 Per un amico IT13 (7 weeks)
IT 		-
Numero Uno, DZSLN 55155
Photos of Ghosts IT21 (1 week)
IT 		US180 (6 weeks)
US
Numero Uno, DZSLN 55661 / Manticore
English version of Per un amico
1974 L'isola di niente IT4 (27 weeks)
IT 		-
Numero Uno, DZSLN 55666
1975 Chocolate Kings IT6 (21 weeks)
IT 		-
Numero Uno, ZSLN 55684
1977 Jet lag IT14 (16 weeks)
IT 		-
zoo
1978 Passpartù IT18 (6 weeks)
IT 		-
Zoo / Numero Uno
1980 Suonare suonare IT16 (11 weeks)
IT 		-
Numero Uno
1981 Come ti va in riva alla città IT16 (15 weeks)
IT 		-
Numero Uno
1997 Ulisse IT13 (2 weeks)
IT 		-
RTI
2000 Serendipity IT22 (7 weeks)
IT 		-
Sony
2005 Dracula Opera Rock IT25 (5 weeks)
IT 		-
Musiza
2006 Stati di immaginazione IT53 (2 weeks)
IT 		-
Sony
2010 AD 2010 - La buona novella IT26 (7 weeks)
IT 		-
  • The World Became the World (1974; Numero Uno, DZSLN 55669) - English version of L'isola di niente
  • PFM? PFM! (1984; Numero Uno)
  • Miss Baker (1987; Dischi Ricordi)

Live albums (selection)

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
IT IT US US
1975 Live in USA / Cook IT7 (12 weeks)
IT 		US151 (8 weeks)
US
Numero Uno, DZSLN 55676 / Manticore
1979 Fabrizio De André In Concerto - Arrangementi PFM IT7 (31 weeks)
IT 		-
Ricordi
Fabrizio De André & PFM
1981 Fabrizio De André in concerto vol. 2 IT13 (14 weeks)
IT 		-
Ricordi
Fabrizio De André & PFM
1982 performance IT15 (6 weeks)
IT 		-
Numero Uno
1998 www.pfmpfm.it (il Best) IT22 (5 weeks)
IT 		-
RTI
2002 Live in Japan 2002 IT36 (3 weeks)
IT 		-
Sony
2005 Piazza del Campo IT25 (3 weeks)
IT 		-
Sony
2008 PFM canta De André IT55 (12 weeks)
IT 		-
Universal / Dischi Ricordi
2012 Live in Roma IT85 (1 week)
IT 		-

Compilations (selection)

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
IT IT US US
2007 PFM 35 anni… e un minuto IT55 (3 weeks)
IT 		-
2012 Celebration 1972-2012 IT45 (3 weeks)
IT 		-
2013 PFM in Classic - Da Mozart a Celebration IT25 (9 weeks)
IT 		-
2016 Marconi Bakery 1973-1974 IT59 (2 weeks)
IT 		-
2018 TVB - The Very Best IT47 (2 weeks)
IT 		-

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
IT IT
1971 La carrozza di Hans
Storia di un minuto 		IT25 (1 week)
IT
Numero Uno, ZN 50126
B-side of Impressioni di settembre
1972 Impressioni di settembre
Storia di un minuto 		IT12 (11 weeks)
IT
Numero Uno, ZN 50126
2009 32nd place (3 weeks) on the FIMI charts
2008 Un giudice
PFM canta De André 		IT14 (1 week)
IT
Cover version, original by Fabrizio De André (1971)
  • Dolcissima Maria / Via Lumière (1974; Numero Uno, ZN 50326)
  • The World Became the World / La carrozza di Hans (1974; Manticore, AT 13268)
  • Chocolate Kings / Harlequin (1975; Numero Uno, ZN 50342)
  • Traveler / Cerco la lingua (1977; Numero Uno, ZBN 7021)
  • Come ti va / Chi ha paura della notte? (1981; Numero Uno, ZBN 7229)
  • Capitani coraggiosi / Sentimentalmente (1984; Numero Uno, PB 6780)
  • Un amore vero / Prima che venga la sera (1987; Dischi Ricordi, SRLM 2072)

literature

  • Franz Di Cioccio: PFM. Due volte nella vita . Mondadori, 1996, ISBN 88-04-41064-7 .
  • Donato Zoppo: Premiata Forneria Marconi 1971-2006, 35 anni di rock immaginifico . Editori Riuniti, Rome 2006, ISBN 978-88-359-5831-4 .
  • Enrico Deregibus: Dizionario completo della canzone italiana . Giunti Editore, 2006, ISBN 978-88-09-04602-3 , Premiata Forneria Marconi, p. 375 f .

Web links

Commons : Premiata Forneria Marconi  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c Chart sources (albums):
  2. ↑ Chart sources (singles):
    • M&D chart archive. Musica e dischi, accessed on November 16, 2016 (Italian, paid subscription access; until 1997).
    • Guido Racca & Chartitalia: Top 100 FIMI Singoli . Lulu , 2013, p. 133 .