Biography of P.F.M.


last update : 15 May 1998





The Premiata Forneria Marconi was probably the most representative band of the Italian progressive rock and the unique to receive a notable success to the foreign countries and particularly in the United States, arriving straight to reach the first positions in the American charts.
The history of the P.F.M. starts out during the period of the beat ('60 years), from a group called "Quelli" ("Those ones"), wich saw Pino Favarolo and Teo Teocoli at guitars and vocals, Franz Di Cioccio at battery and Giorgio Piazza at bass, that were later joined by Flavio Premoli at keyboards and Alberto Radius and Franco Mussida at guitars. The Quelli were pretty successfull in Italy mainly with cover of foreign songs, and (thanks to their musical skills) were also very popular and requested in recording studios as session musicians (they played as Quelli for Lucio Battisti and Fabrizio De André, while the individuals played in various formations for Mina, Nomadi and Camaleonti). In the 1970 Teo Teocoli left the group to work in cabaret, Radius left to form the Formula Tre and even Di Cioccio left for a few months to play with Nuova Equipe 84.
At the end of 1970 Di Cioccio, Mussida, Premoli and Piazza formed the Premiata Forneria Marconi; the name (that will often shortened in PFM) came from the place where they play, an old pastery shop in Brescia (near Milano) in Italy. Shortly afterwards the group was joined by Mauro Pagani (ex Dalton).
The debut happens in the 1971 at the Lyric Theater of Milan like support band for the Yes (at the first Italian tour), where they propose, in excellent manner, songs by english groups like the King Crimson; it was the chance to show how good they could play and how well prepared they were (technically speaking); immediately take an interest in their Mogol (one of the most famous italian songwriter and producer), that for the label Number One decides to produce the first album of the band.
This is published in the 1971 and reflects the quality the group had shown during the various live show (to note that before and after the exit of the first album they perform, ever like support band, at the concerts of Black Widow, Deep Purple and Procol Harum). The album is called "Storia di un minuto" and, also if it's still influenced, for obvious reasons, by the english stile, it proposes a rock veined by excellent classical tones and mediterranean influences.
After few months from the exit of the album the quintet is already famous and "Storia di un minuto" will taken like a model from numerous other groups.
In the 1972 is released the second album of the group, "Per un amico", that enfatizes its mathurity and its arrangements capacities ; but the real explosion of P.F.M. is in the 1973 : in this year is published for the foreign market "Photos of ghosts", a collection of the best of the released album and the group goes to the top of italian charts, while with "Photos of ghosts" it enter in the USA charts too.
In the 1974 is published "L'isola di niente", the first album with the bassist Jean Patrick Djivas (coming from the Area), in replacement of Giorgio Piazza (that goes to the Crystals). The album, released out of Italy with the name "The world became the world", is surely most sophisticated of the previous and it will assure to P.F.M. a good success during the tour in the USA like support band of Poco, Santana, Beach Boys and other very famous artists, a tour that will include many pop festival, and will be registered in the album "Live in U.S.A."("Cook" out of Italy).
In the 1975 enter the band Bernardo Lanzetti, from the Acqua Fragile, and is released the album "Chocolate Kings", a good album that will receive a bad feedback in the USA, mainly because of the boycotting after the partecipation of PFM to a concert (in Rome) in favor of the OLP. After a new tour in Japan, Mauro Pagani leaves the group (it seems for ideological dissents).
In the 1976 goes out for the italian market two collections of songs from the released album : "Prime impressioni" and "Celebration".
The next album,"Jet Lag", is released in the 1977 and is more orient to the jazz-rock as regards the precedents, thank you also to the contribution (only in this LP) of the violinist Gregory Bloch. In this year is published also a collection called "Antologia".
In the 1978 is published "Passpartù", with lyrics by the pop songwriter Gianfranco Manfredi : the album, less good than expected, withered almost unnoticed. After this album Lanzetti leaves the group for the soloists career, while enter the formation the violinist Lucio Fabbri.
In the 1979 the Premiata Forneria Marconi (with the cooperation of Roberto Colombo at keyboards) goes in tour with Fabrizio De André (one of most famous italian pop singer) : the music of the group will done a new light to the most famous songs of the singer, creating suggestive atmospheres in perfect tuning with the texts. The event is documented in the live LP "De André e P.F.M. in concerto", that includes ten songs, and, because of the good success, is followed after a few time by "De André e P.F.M. in concerto - Vol. 2".
In the 1980 is released "Suonare suonare", where the "symphonic" rock is replaced by rough city atmospheres.
The next album, with the same musical themes, is published in the 1981, is the first after the defection of Flavio Premoli, and is called "Come ti va in riva alla città".
With the exit of Premoli, stayed in the musical ambient like producer and author of music for advertisings, the demand is warned of relieve the assignment to the percussions of Franz Di Cioccio, more and more busy to the song, the drummer Walter Calloni, deriving from the "Cast", comes therefore introduced in formation.
In the 1982 the group has a tour during wich is registered the live album "Performance" and immediately after is released the new "Pfm ? Pfm !", wich contains a song that will has a good success in Italy, also out of PFM's usual public : "Capitani coraggiosi".
There is after a pause in the activity of the group, until the 1987, when is published "Miss Baker", an album where, with the introduction of the breaths, the music is perhaps nearer to the dance that to the rock.
After this experience the group decides to don't give more concerts and any element undertakes artistic and professional individual plans, also if officially the breakup of the Premiata Forneria Marconi won't ever be had.
In the next years there are on the Italian market the publications of two collections of the group ("L'album di... PFM" in the 1988 and "PFM - i grandi del rock" in the 1993) and the publication of the record of a show made in TV in the '70 years ("Impressioni vent'anni dopo").
We arrive therefore to what it's history of today, with the reunion, ten years after the last album of the group, of a formation wich see Di Cioccio, Djivas, Mussida and Premoli, and that, after promoted at the end of the 1996 the realization of one wonderful box by 4 CDs wich document the live activity of PFM from the 1971 to the 1981 ("PFM - 10 anni live 1971-81") and the release by Franz Di Cioccio of an interesting book with the history of the band ("PFM - Due volte nella vita", Ed. Mondadori), it reunites again in the recording room for give to the light April 24 1997 the new concept album by the Premiata Forneria Marconi : "Ulisse".
The new album has a good feedback, from old fans, like from the young public; someone say the genre is more pop than the old P.F.M. style, but about one thing all people agrees: the reunion of P.F.M. is not (only) a businnes-based operation, the "boys" are still great.
And it can be viewed in the italian "Ulisse Tour" wich is going from the end of 1997 to the begin of 1998, during wich is recorded the new live album: "www.pfmpfm.it (il Best)".




jimi_nirvana@oocities.com

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