Lucca
—  Comune  —
Comune di Lucca
Panorama of Lucca from the Torre Guinigi
Coat of arms
Lucca Location of Lucca in Italy
Coordinates: 43°51′N 10°30′E / 43.85°N 10.5°E / 43.85; 10.5
Country	Italy
Region	Tuscany
Province	Lucca (LU)
Frazioni	see list
Government
• Mayor	Alessandro Tambellini (PD)
Area
• Total	185.5 km2 (71.6 sq mi)
Elevation	19 m (62 ft)
Population (30 April 2009)
• Total	84,323
• Density	450/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
Demonym	Lucchese (plural, Lucchesi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	55100
Dialing code	0583
Patron saint	St. Paulinus
Saint day	July 12
Website	Official website

Lucca  listen (help·info) is a city and comune in Tuscany, the north-west of Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca. Among other reasons, it is famous for its intact Renaissance-era city walls.

History[link]

Ancient and medieval city[link]

Lucca was founded by the Etruscans (there are traces of a pre-existing Ligurian settlement) and became a Roman colony in 180 BC. The rectangular grid of its historical centre preserves the Roman street plan, and the Piazza San Michele occupies the site of the ancient forum. Traces of the amphitheatre can still be seen in the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro. Lucca was the site of a conference in 56 BC which reaffirmed the supremacy of the Roman First Triumvirate.^[1]

Piazza Anfiteatro and the Basilica di San Frediano.

Frediano, an Irish monk, was bishop of Lucca in the early 6th century.^[2] At one point, Lucca was plundered by Odoacer, the first Germanic King of Italy. Lucca was an important city and fortress even in the 6th century, when Narses besieged it for several months in 553. Under the Lombards, it was the seat of a duke who minted his own coins. The Holy Face of Lucca (or Volto Santo), a major relic supposedly carved by Nicodemus, arrived in 742. It became prosperous through the silk trade that began in the 11th century, and came to rival the silks of Byzantium. During the 10-11th centuries Lucca was the capital of the feudal margraviate of Tuscany, more or less independent but owing nominal allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor.

First republic[link]

After the death of Matilda of Tuscany, the city began to constitute itself an independent commune, with a charter in 1160. For almost 500 years, Lucca remained an independent republic. There were many minor provinces in the region between southern Liguria and northern Tuscany dominated by the Malaspina; Tuscany in this time was a part of feudal Europe. Dante’s Divine Comedy includes many references to the great feudal families who had huge jurisdictions with administrative and judicial rights. Dante spent some of his exile in Lucca.

In 1273 and again in 1277, Lucca was ruled by a Guelph capitano del popolo (captain of the people) named Luchetto Gattilusio. In 1314, internal discord allowed Uguccione della Faggiuola of Pisa to make himself lord of Lucca. The Lucchesi expelled him two years later, and handed over the city to another condottiere Castruccio Castracani, under whose rule it became a leading state in central Italy. Lucca rivalled Florence until Castracani's death in 1328. On 22 and 23 September 1325, in the battle of Altopascio, Castracani defeated Florence's Guelphs. For this he was nominated by Louis IV the Bavarian to become duke of Lucca. Castracani's tomb is in the church of San Francesco. His biography is Machiavelli's third famous book on political rule. In 1408, Lucca hosted the convocation intended to end the schism in the papacy. Occupied by the troops of Louis of Bavaria, the city was sold to a rich Genoese, Gherardino Spinola, then seized by John, king of Bohemia. Pawned to the Rossi of Parma, by them it was ceded to Martino della Scala of Verona, sold to the Florentines, surrendered to the Pisans, and then nominally liberated by the emperor Charles IV and governed by his vicar. Lucca managed, at first as a democracy, and after 1628 as an oligarchy, to maintain its independence alongside of Venice and Genoa, and painted the word Libertas on its banner until the French Revolution in 1789.^[3]

Napoleonic conquest[link]

Palazzo Pfanner, garden view.

Lucca had been the second largest Italian city state (after Venice) with a republican constitution ("comune") to remain independent over the centuries.

In 1805, Lucca was conquered by Napoleon, who installed his sister Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi as "Queen of Etruria".

After 1815 it became a Bourbon-Parma duchy, then part of Tuscany in 1847 and finally part of the Italian State.

[edit] Frazioni

The municipal territory of Lucca includes eighty-one “Frazioni”:

Main sights[link]

Duomo di San Martino (the Cathedral).

Autumn in Lucca.

A close up of the front façade of the San Michele in Foro.

The walls around the old town remained intact as the city expanded and modernized, unusual for cities in the region. As the walls lost their military importance, they became a pedestrian promenade which encircled the old town, although they were used for a number of years in the 20th century for racing cars. They are still fully intact today; each of the four principal sides is lined with a different tree species.

The Academy of Sciences (1584) is the most famous of several academies and libraries.

The Casa di Puccini will re-open to the public on 14 September 2011.^[4] At the nearby town of Torre del Lago, there is a Puccini opera festival every year in July/August. Puccini had a house there as well.

The Passeggiata delle Mura.

Church of San Michele of Antraccoli.

There are many richly built medieval basilica-form churches in Lucca with rich arcaded façades and campaniles, a few as old as the 8th century.

• Piazza dell'Anfiteatro
• Piazzale Verdi
• Piazza Napoleone
• Piazza San Michele
• Duomo di San Martino (St Martin's Cathedral)
• The Ducal Palace, built on the location of Castruccio Castracani's fortress. The original project was begun by Bartolomeo Ammannati in 1577–1582, and continued by Filippo Juvarra in the 18th century.
• The ancient Roman amphitheatre
• Church of San Michele in Foro
• Romanesque church of San Giusto.
• Basilica di San Frediano
• Church of Sant'Alessandro,^[5] an example of medieval classicism
• Torre delle ore ("The Clock Tower")
• Casa and Torre Guinigi - The Guinigi Tower with oak trees on top
• Museo Nazionale Guinigi
• Museo e Pinacoteca Nazionale
• Orto Botanico Comunale di Lucca, a botanical garden dating from 1820
• Palazzo Pfanner
• Villa Garzoni, noted for its water gardens.
• Church of San Giorgio in the locality of Brancoli, built in the late 12th century. It has a nave and two aisles with a single apse, and a bell tower in Lombard-Romanesque style ranked amongst the most beautiful in northern Italy. The interior houses a massive ambo (1194) with four columns mounted on notable sculptures of lions. Also having notable medieval decoration is the octagonal baptismal fount. The altar is supported by six small columns with human figures
• Church of San Michele, at Antraccoli. Founded in 777, it was enlarged in the 12th century and modified again in the 16th century with the introduction of a portico.
• Passeggiata delle Mura Urbane, a street all over the city on the bastions. It passes from these balconies: Santa Croce, San Frediano, San Martino, San Pietro/Battisti, San Salvatore, La Libertà/Cairoli, San Regolo, San Colombano, Santa Maria, San Paolino/Catalani, and San Donato; also pass over these gates: Porta San Donato, Porta Santa Maria, Porta San Jocopo, Porta Elisa, Porta San Pietro, and Porta Sant'Anna.
• Church of Santa Giulia, of Lombard origins, but remade in the 13th century.
• The fortified city is surrounded by the streets of: Piazzale Boccherini, Viale Lazzaro Papi, Viale Carlo Del Prete, Piazzale Martiri della Libertà, Via Batoni, Viale Agostino Marti, Viale G. Marconi (vide Guglielmo Marconi), Piazza Don A. Mei, Viale Pacini (vide Pacini), Viale Giusti, Piazza Curtatone, Piazzale Ricasoli, Viale Ricasoli, Piazza Risorgimento (vide Risorgimento) and Viale Giosuè Carducci (vide Giosuè Carducci).

Culture[link]

Lucca is the birthplace of composers Giacomo Puccini (La Bohème and Madama Butterfly), Nicalao Dorati, Francesco Geminiani, Gioseffo Guami, Luigi Boccherini, and Alfredo Catalani. It is also the birthplace of Bruno Menconi and artist Benedetto Brandimarte.

Lucca, Piazza Anfiteatro

Museums[link]

• National Museum of Villa Guinigi
• Museum of Villa Mansi
• Museo della Cattedrale
• Lu.C.C.A. Lucca Center of Contemporary Art
• Orto Botanico Comunale di Lucca

Festivals[link]

Lucca annually hosts the Lucca Summer Festival. The 2006 edition saw Eric Clapton, Placebo, Massive Attack, Roger Waters, Tracy Chapman and Santana play live in the Piazza Napoleone.

Lucca hosts the annual Lucca Comics and Games festival, Italy's largest festival for comics and related subjects.

Film and television[link]

Mauro Bolognini's 1958 film Giovani mariti with Sylva Koscina is set and was filmed in Lucca.

Lucca was featured on Top Gear during a Hot Hatch comparison in Episode 2 of Season 17. The city's narrow and one-way street layout played a large role in the segment.

International relations[link]

Twin towns — Sister cities[link]

Lucca is twinned with:

Notable natives and residents[link]

Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife by Jan van Eyck.

Vincenzo Lunardi

• St. Anselm of Lucca, (1036–1086), bishop of Lucca
• Giovanni Arnolfini, merchant and arts patron
• Saint Zita
• Zita of Bourbon-Parma, last Empress of Austria
• Pompeo Batoni, painter
• Luigi Boccherini, musician and composer
• Elisa Bonaparte, ruler of Lucca
• Castruccio Castracani, ruler of Lucca (1316–1328)
• Alfredo Catalani, composer
• Gusmano Cesaretti, photographer and artist
• Mario Cipollini, cyclist
• Matteo Civitali, sculptor
• Ivan Della Mea, singer-songwriter
• Theodor Döhler, composer and pianist; lived in Lucca from 1827–1829
• Amerigo Fabbri, Pierson College Dean, Yale University
• Saint Frediano
• St. Gemma Galgani, mystic and saint
• Francesco Geminiani, musician and composer
• Gioseffo Guami, composer
• Pope Lucius III
• Vincenzo Lunardi, pioneer aeronaut ^[6]
• Felice Matteucci, engineer
• Leo Nomellini, athlete
• Marcello Pera, politician and philosopher
• Giacomo Puccini, composer
• Marco Rossi, athlete
• Renato Salvatori, actor
• Rolando Ugolini, athlete
• Giuseppe Ungaretti, poet
• Antonio Vallisneri, scientist and physician

Economy[link]

Tourism[link]

Tourism is a source of income. The following events are attended by a number of people from outside the area:

• Lucca Comics and Games, the most important^{[citation needed]} exposition of comics and games in Italy, the second in Europe^{[citation needed]} and the third in the world.^{[citation needed]} It takes place at the end of October.
• Viareggio's Carnival^[7]
• Lucca Summer Festival, an international music meeting.^[8]
• Lucca Film Festival^[9]
• Lucca Digital Photo Fest^[10]
• Procession of Santa Croce, on 13 of September. Costume procession through the town's roads.^{[citation needed]}
• Lucca Jazz Donna^[11]

See also[link]

• Castruccio Castracani
• Duchy of Lucca

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lucca

• Municipality website

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2012)

This article is an orphan, as few or no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; suggestions may be available. (February 2009)

DJ Lucca (real name Lucie Kvasnicová) is a Czech DJ playing techno and minimal music. She started her career in 1999 in the Boby center club in Brno. As of now she can be regularly seen playing in clubs and on festivals in the Czech Republic and all over the world. XMAG magazine described Lucca as the most famous Czech DJ in 2003. In 2004 she founded her own label Acapulco Records.

Discography[link]

• Thrilla in Manila E.P. (392 TEKKnik eXPrimental REC, October 2006)
• Iguazu (392 TEKKnik eXPrimental REC, April 2006)
• Kenguru (Funktion, April 2005, with Chris Cowie)
• Mirage Remixes (F1, September 2005, with Chris Cowie)
• Towers (Acapulco, June 2005)
• Octanum (LTD, April 2005, with Chris Cowie)
• Freedom (Acapulco, September 2004)
• Fast Life (Definition, February 2004)
• Mirage 02 (Exwired, May 2003)
• Mirage 01 (Aquatrax, April 2003)

CD compilation[link]

• Live at Hradhouse DVD + CD (Acapulco, 2005)
• Hradhouse Warm Up (for magazine XMAG, June 2005)
• United DJs vol. 3 (Matrix Muzik Slovenia, May 2005, with Joel Mull)
• May Nights (for magazine XMAG, June 2004)
• The Sound of Hradhouse (for magazine XMAG, August 2003)
• Supersonic Garage (for magazine Rave, October 2002)
• Official CD Hradhouse 5th Anniversary mixed by DJ Lucca (for magazin Bassline, July 2002)

External links[link]

• Official websites
• Acapulco Records

Tony Lucca
Background information
Birth name	Anthony James Lucca
Born	(1976-01-23) January 23, 1976 (age 36) Pontiac, Michigan, United States
Origin	Waterford, Michigan
Genres	Rock, folk, acoustic, singer/songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, bass
Years active	1991 to present
Labels	Rock Ridge Music, Lucca Music
Associated acts	TFDI
Website	Official Web Site

Tony Lucca (born Anthony James Lucca on January 23, 1976, in Pontiac, Michigan), is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and sometime actor. He is perhaps best known for starting his career on the Mickey Mouse Club. After the Mickey Mouse Club, Lucca went to LA for a brief career as an actor, then became a full-time musician, releasing over seven studio albums and five EPs. He is a consistent touring artist and has toured with a multitude of acts, including *NSYNC, Marc Anthony, Josh Hoge, Sara Bareilles,^[1] the late Chris Whitley, Matt Duke and Tyrone Wells. He was the second runner-up on the second season of the American reality talent show, The Voice.

Early life[link]

Lucca was born in Pontiac, Michigan, the son of Sally and Tony Lucca.^[2] Lucca is of Italian, Welsh, French and English descent.^[2] Lucca grew up around a large and musical extended family,^[3] as his mother Sally was tenth of twelve children of the Detroit jazz piano player James "Jimmy" Stevenson.^[4][5][6] Lucca grew up in Waterford, Michigan and began singing at age 3^[7] and child modeling at age 9.^[2] When he was 12, he began playing in Detroit-area bands with his cousin, Cole Garlak.^[4][7][8][9]

Professional and musical career[link]

1991-94: Mickey Mouse Club[link]

When Lucca was 14, he went to Detroit to audition for the Disney movie Newsies, only to find out that the audition was for the Mickey Mouse Club instead.^[3] Encouraged by his sister, he auditioned for the show and was picked for callbacks in Los Angeles.^[2][3] In Los Angeles, he was selected along with 8 other kids to join the cast for the fourth season of the show. Lucca moved to Orlando, Florida with his mom and lived in an apartment complex with other castmates and traveled back to Michigan between seasons.^[2] He remained with the show for four seasons until being let go during the seventh season when the show was canceled.

1995-97: Hollywood[link]

After the cancellation of the Mickey Mouse Club, Lucca moved to Los Angeles to begin an acting career in 1995.^[7] He lived with fellow Mickey Mouse Club castmate Keri Russell, his girlfriend at the time. Russell and Lucca were cast and played leads together on the Aaron Spelling-produced Malibu Shores,^[10][11] a teen drama which lasted for one season. During this time he filmed commercials for Levi Jeans, J.C. Penney and Blockbuster Video.^[2] He had minor success in movies, appearing in an NBC movie of the week, Her Last Chance with Kellie Martin and Jonathan Brandis,^[12] as well as two independent features.^[13] He left acting in 1997 to pursue music.

1997-2003: Independent music[link]

In 1997 Lucca self-released his first CD, So Satisfied that he co-produced.^[4] In 1998 he started his website www.tonylucca.com and began to sell the CD and its self-released follow-up, Strong Words Softly Spoken through the website and at his live shows. Lucca also released two EPs and a limited series of Live & Limited CDs through his site; each CD sold was numbered and signed. In 2001 and 2002 he served as an opening act for 'N Sync, a boy band that featured fellow Mickey Mouse Club co-stars Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez.

2004-Present: Lightyear and Rock Ridge Music[link]

Lucca's third full-length album and his first commercially-distributed, Shotgun was released in 2004 in conjunction with Lightyear and New Vibe Records, and was executive co-produced by JC Chasez, who Lucca toured with to support the album.^[14] Following that release was 2006 album Canyon Songs, recording in both Laurel and Beachwood Canyons,^[15] and in that same year a live concert album Live In Hollywood both of which were distributed by Rock Ridge Music. Come Around Again was released in 2008.

Lucca also participated in a cooperative tour with Jay Nash and Matt Duke, which resulted in the 2009 EP entitled TFDI. The collaboration, which stands for "Totally Fuckin' Doing It"^[16] was recorded in the Evanston, Illinois studio SPACE during an impromptu visit to the studio, after the three artists formed a friendship during the tour.^[7][17] Lucca's sixth album was released in 2010, entitled Rendezvous With the Angels, on Rock Ridge Music. Solo, an acoustic CD composed of b-sides and previously unreleased recordings was released in November 2010, and given away for free in conjunction with Amazon.com's MP3 web store. Lucca has recorded a second collaborative CD with Jay Nash and Matt Duke, TFDI II, which was released in the summer of 2011. On February 5, 2012, Lucca appeared on the NBC show The Voice and chose Adam Levine as his voice coach. ^[18]

Other Ventures[link]

Many of Lucca's songs have been featured in various TV shows, including Friday Night Lights, Brothers & Sisters, Shark and Felicity and in the movie Open Range. He appeared in an episode of the E! True Hollywood Story series, covering his time spent on The Mickey Mouse Club in 2007.^[19] He has performed numerous times on NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly as a part of the show's band.^[9]

He briefly returned to acting in 2010, starring in a 901 Silver Tequila commercial, which was directed by the brand founder Justin Timberlake.^[20] He also played himself on an episode of Parenthood, appearing as a performing musician.^[21]

[edit] Contestant in The Voice (2012)

On February 5, 2012, Tony appeared on the Blind Auditions of the American reality talent show The Voice in its second season. He sang "Trouble", a Ray LaMontagne song. All four judges (Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton) hit the red "I Want You" button for him. He chose to join Adam Levine's team. It was also in this show that he reunited with fellow Mouseketeer Christina Aguilera. Initially, she showed no sign of recognition, but then realized who he was after he left the stage and followed him to congratulate him, also revealing that when they were young, Britney Spears, another fellow Mouseketeer, had a crush on Lucca. He advanced to the semi-finals, which he performed "How You Like Me Now" by The Heavy and moved on to the final round. For the final round on May 7, he performed Hugo's country-styled version of Jay-Z's 99 Problems. While enjoying his performance overall, Aguilera criticized Lucca for singing a song that she saw as being derogatory towards women, as the song contains the line "I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one." (Lucca did not sing the word "bitch" during this performance, but does on the studio recording.) This prompted Lucca's coach Levine to defend his performance, stating that he and Lucca discussed the content of the song and decided to go on with it, but used Hugo's version to change the tone and be taken less seriously, as well as revealing a black t-shirt with a sparkling pink "Team Xtina" logo on it. During that night since Lucca's performance, Aguilera made more jabs at him by stating that her finalist Chris Mann was "a real [gentle]man" who respects women, as well as appearing to ignore Lucca's other performances that night. On May 8, 2012, he made his last performance on the show duetting with fellow contestant Jordis Unga formerly of Team Blake on the Fleetwood Mac song, "Go Your Own Way". Later that night, it was announced that he had come in third place in the competition, barely placing ahead of Mann by one quarter of a percentage point and coming behind winner Jermaine Paul from Team Blake and first runner-up Juliet Simms from Team Cee Lo.

Personal life[link]

Lucca dated fellow Mouseketeer (and eventual Malibu Shores co-star) Keri Russell on-and-off for eight years.^[22][23]

On July 7, 2007 Lucca married single mom Rachel, adopting her son Liam. They live in Detroit, Michigan and have a daughter, Sparrow Jane Lucca (born October 17, 2009).

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 1997: So Satisfied
• 1999: Strong Words, Softly Spoken
• 2004: Shotgun
• 2006: Canyon Songs
• 2008: Come Around Again
• 2010: Rendezvous With the Angels
• 2010: Solo
• 2011: Under the Influence

Live albums

• 2006: Live in Hollywood

EPs[link]

• 2001: So Far
• 2002: Simply Six
• 2006: Through The Cracks
• 2008: Close Enough
• 2009: TFDI

Singles[link]

Selected filmography[link]

• 1991 The All New Mickey Mouse Club as Himself
• 1993 Emerald Cove as Jeff Chambers
• 1996 Her Last Chance as Cody
• 1996 Malibu Shores as Zack Morrison
• 1997 Take a Number as Todd
• 1998 Too Pure as Jared
• 2004 The Wayne Brady Show as Himself
• 2007 E! True Hollywood Story: The Mickey Mouse Club as Himself

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official Tony Lucca Myspace Page
• Tony Lucca at the Internet Movie Database

Please expand this article. Some suggested sources are given hereafter. More information might be found in a section of the talk page. (November 2011)

Michal Pavlíček
Michal Pavlíček in Pod Čarou Theater in Písek
Background information
Born	(1956-02-14) February 14, 1956 (age 56)
Origin	Prague, Czechoslovakia
Genres	Rock, jazz rock, film music, instrumental rock
Occupations	Guitarist, composer, singer, lyricist
Years active	1978–present
Labels	Sony BMG
Website	www.michalpavlicek.com

Michal Pavlíček (born February 14, 1956) is Czech guitarist, musical composer, singer and lyricist.^[1][2]

Discography (except Bohemia, Pražský výběr a Stromboli)[link]

• Horký dech Jany Koubkové (1981)
• Black Light (1989)
• Minotaurus (muzikál, společně s Miroslavem Vitoušem, Panton 1990)
• Strange Pleasure Of Living (1991)
• Imagination (CDs Panton 1992, hudba pro československý pavilon Expo'92 Sevilla)
• Czech Masters of Rock Guitar/Čeští mistři rockové kytary - skladba č. 8 - Lonely/Tesklivá (BESTIA 1992)
• B.S.P. (1992)
• Big Heads (1992)
• B.S.P. (1994)
• NAČEVA - možnosti tu sou... (BONTON Music 1994)
• Roman Dragoun - Stín mý krve (1995)
• Konec velkých prázdnin (1996)
• Symphonic Variations (1997)
• The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999)
• Symphony In Quartet (2001)
• Big Heads - Čombió (2001)
• Michal Pavlíček a Beatová síň slávy (2006)
• Srdeční záležitosti (2010)

Musicals[link]

• Excalibur (Prague 2003)

References[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009)

The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things during a concert at Marcq-en-Barœul (France) 21 June 2008. From left to right: : Mark St. John, Dick Taylor, Phil May and George Perez.
Background information
Also known as	Electric Banana
Origin	London, England
Genres	Garage rock, rhythm and blues, beat
Years active	1963–present
Labels	Fontana, Columbia (UK), Laurie, Rare Earth, Harvest, Warner Bros. Records, Swan Song, Snapper, Cote Basque
Members
Phil May Dick Taylor Frank Holland George Perez Mark St.John Jack Greenwood
Past members
Viv Andrews Viv Prince Brian Pendleton John Stax Skip Alan Jon Povey Wally Waller John C. Alder Vic Unitt Peter Tolson Stuart Brooks Jack Green Gordon Edwards Hans Waterman Roelf ter Velt Barkley McKay Darrell Barfield

The Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing". Their most commercially successful period was the mid 1960s, although they continue to perform to this day. David Bowie covered two of their songs on his album Pin Ups.^[1]

History[link]

Early stages[link]

The Pretty Things were preceded by Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys, which consisted of Dick Taylor, fellow Sidcup Art College student Keith Richards, and Mick Jagger. When Brian Jones was recruiting for his own band, all three joined Brian and Ian Stewart and were dubbed "Rollin' Stones" by Jones. Taylor would briefly play bass guitar in the nascent Rolling Stones who employed a variety of drummers during 1962.

Taylor (born Richard Clifford Taylor, 28 January 1943, Dartford, Kent) quit the Stones several months later when he was accepted at the London Central School of Art, where he met Phil May (born Phillip Arthur Dennis Kattner, 9 November 1944, Dartford, Kent) and they formed The Pretty Things.^[2][3]

Taylor was once again playing guitar, with May singing and playing harmonica. They recruited Brian Pendleton (born 13 April 1944, Heath Town, Wolverhampton – died 16 May 2001, Maidstone, Kent) on rhythm guitar; John Stax (born John Edward Lee Fullagar, 6 April 1944, Crayford, Kent) on bass; and Pete Kitley, replaced by Viv Andrews (on drums) and then by Viv Prince (born Vivian Martin Prince, 9 August 1941, Loughborough, Leicestershire) on drums.^[1][3]

A fellow student at the Art College May and Taylor studied at, Bryan Morrison, was recruited as their manager. Morrison was to manage them for the rest of the 1960s, building his own Bryan Morrison Agency. This agency represented Pink Floyd amongst many other bands.

Early career[link]

The Pretty Things first three singles — "Rosalyn" #41, "Don't Bring Me Down" #10, and the self-penned "Honey I Need" at #13 — appeared in the UK Singles Chart in 1964 and 1965.^[1][2] They never had a hit in the United States, but had considerable success in their native United Kingdom and in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and the Netherlands in the middle of the decade. Their appearance was designed to provoke, with May claiming to have the longest hair in the UK.^[3]

Their early material consisted of hard-edged blues-rock influenced by Bo Diddley and Jimmy Reed. The first of what would be many personnel changes over the years also began, with Prince the first to go in November 1965. He was replaced by Skip Alan (born Alan Ernest Skipper, 11 June 1948, Westminster, London).^[1] In early 1966 the band made a short film Pretty Things On Film which featured live footage and a music video prototype for "Can't Stand The Pain", which also featured their manager, Morrison. Rarely screened at the time, it can be found as a bonus multimedia item on the Snapper CD re-issue of Get The Picture. 1966 saw the R&B scene fall into decline and The Pretty Things began moving away, flirting with soul music.^[3] In mid 1966 saw them make the UK Singles Chart for the final time with a cover of The Kinks song, "A House In The Country". In December 1966 came the single "Progress", where the band were joined by a brass section.

Pendleton left in December 1966, and Stax followed in January 1967. Jon Povey (born 20 August 1942, London) and Wally Waller (born Alan Edward Waller, 9 April 1944, Barnehurst, Kent), both former Fenmen from Bern Elliott and the Fenmen, joined and made the band a five piece once again.^[1]

Their final album for Fontana Records was a contractual obligation produced by Steve Rowland and the subject of controversy since Emotions was laden with brass and string arrangements arranged by Reg Tilsley. EMI producer Norman Smith expressed interest in working with them and at the end of September 1967, The Pretty Things signed to EMI's Columbia label.^[1] In November 1967 they released "Defecting Grey", a psychedelic effort that failed to sell. This was followed three months later by a double A-side single "Talking About The Good Times" / "Walking Through My Dreams".

That single marked the beginning of sessions for the SF Sorrow album. Released in December 1968, it was the first rock opera, preceding the release of The Who's Tommy in May 1969.^[1] It was recorded between December 1967 and September 1968 at the Abbey Road Studios, whilst Pink Floyd were working on A Saucerful Of Secrets (also produced by Norman Smith) and The Beatles worked on the White Album. In March 1968, drummer Skip Alan left the group. Twink replaced him to help the band to complete the album.

In March 1969, the British music magazine, NME reported that Motown Records vice-president Barney Ales had visited London to sign the Pretty Things as the U.S. label's first British act.^[4]

S.F. Sorrow was commercially unsuccessful, with no immediate release in the US. However, the album was subsequently picked up by Motown and issued with a different cover on its Rare Earth Records label. The work received only modest support from EMI, and its depressing narrative probably did not help sales.^[1][2]

1969 saw the band feeling disillusioned by the failure of SF Sorrow and that June, Taylor left the band. The Pretty Things borrowed guitarist Victor Unitt from The Edgar Broughton Band to replace Taylor. Shortly after he joined, Twink left. Alan returned to the drumstool in time for the band's return to Abbey Road to start work on Parachute, which kept the psychedelic sound. During this period they also recorded an album for a young French millionaire Philippe DeBarge, which was intended only to be circulated among his social circle. The acetate has since been bootlegged.^{[citation needed]} In 2010 it was finally picked up by 60s music magazine "Ugly Things" owner Mike Stax. He unearthed one of the two acetates and had it mixed and mastered and then as a piece de resistance, had the classic Pretty Things line-up, which Dick Taylor had just left at the time of the recording of the tracks with DeBarge, record a song entitled Monsieur Rock (Ballad Of Philippe) a bonus track for this release on Ugly Things UTCD-2207.

Shortly after the release of Parachute, Unitt left and was replaced by Pete Tolson. Despite much stage work and acclaim, their records were still failing to sell at all well.^[5]

During the late 1960s, the band made some extra money by recording for music library company DeWolfe. Some of these songs ended up in low-budget films including What's Good For the Goose (1969), Haunted House of Horror (1969),The Monster Club (1981) and a couple of softcore porn films. Not intended for official release, these songs were later compiled on a number of records and released under the alias Electric Banana: Electric Banana (1967), More Electric Banana (1968), Even More Electric Banana (1969), Hot Licks (1970), and Return of the Electric Banana (1978). The initial releases featured one side of vocal and one side of instrumental tracks. Subsequent releases of these albums generally keep the true identity of the band secret.^[1]

1970s[link]

By late 1970, the group had gone their separate ways due to commercial failures, and Alan was in a group called Sunshine. May, Povey, Alan, Tolson and Stuart Brooks signed with Warner Bros. Records, and released Freeway Madness at the end of 1972.^[1]

1974's Silk Torpedo saw them being managed by Led Zeppelin's Peter Grant. Silk Torpedo was the first album release on Zeppelin's own label Swan Song.^[3] Also around this time, Brooks left and was replaced by Jack Green and a second keyboardist Gordon Edwards was added. In 1976, after the release of Savage Eye, May quit the band before a major London gig, and the band split up.

1980s[link]

Reforming for 1980s Cross Talk did not improve their sales figures, and the Pretty Things split up again in 1981. Reforming in 1984, May and Taylor used various session musicians to release Out Of The Island (1988). Mark St. John joined on drums, but by the end of the decade their profile had almost disappeared. May and Taylor reformed the band for a successful European blues tour in late 1990 with Stan Webb's Chicken Shack and Luther Allison. This outfit included drummer Hans Waterman (formerly of Dutch rock group Solution), bassist Roelf ter Velt and guitarist/keyboardist Barkley McKay (Waco Brothers and Pine Valley Cosmonauts) with Jon Langford ex-Mekons. This line-up regularly toured the European mainland until late 1994.^[1]

1990s[link]

May and Taylor, together with former Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty, recorded two albums in Chicago as Pretty Things/Yardbird Blues Band. They were The Chicago Blues Tapes 1991 and Wine, Women, Whiskey, both produced by George Paulus.^[1]

The early 1990s were taken up with a battle against EMI. This was over unpaid royalties stemming back to a deal EMI set up with Motown subsidiary Rare Earth in 1968. The band never received any royalties from Rare Earth nor had received any monies from EMI for many years. The band won the legal case, the result being that in 1993 EMI gave them back all their master tapes, copyrights and an undisclosed sum of money as settlement.^[3] On friendly terms again, the 1967 line up decided to return with the addition of Pete Tolson (born Peter Tolson, 10 September 1951, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England). After much rehearsal, Tolson grew disillusioned and quit with Frank Holland taking Tolson's place.^[5]

Their label, Snapper Music, issued remastered CDs with many bonus tracks, plus a DVD of a live netcast re-recording of S.F. Sorrow at Abbey Road Studios, with David Gilmour and Arthur Brown as guest players. They played a tour of the U.S. for the first time in decades.

2000s to present[link]

Original rhythm guitarist Brian Pendleton died of lung cancer on 16 May 2001 in Maidstone. The following year their ex-keyboard player Gordon Edwards (born Gordon John Edwards, 26 December 1946, Southport, Lancashire) died of a drug overdose.

In 1999 they released the studio album Rage Before Beauty and in the early 2000s, they released several compilation albums, a live album and DVD. In 2003, Alan Lakey's biography of the band, Growing Old Disgracefully, was published by Firefly. The book dealt with the long and involved history of the band, and paid special attention to the legal proceedings issued against EMI in the 1990s. An extensively re-written version is planned to be published in 2012.

Skip Alan suffered heart problems in 2001 restricting his commitment to the band, with St. John deputising on the drums as required. In mid 2007, The Pretty Things released their eleventh studio album Balboa Island on St. John's Côte Basque record label. The album contained a number of Pretty Things originals. Family illnesses meant Waller and Povey were unable to commit to the band, and Jack Greenwood replaced Allan on drums in 2008, a year which also saw the death of their former producer, Norman Smith and ex-manager, Bryan Morrison. In December 2008 saw the re-release on Ugly Things Records of the 1969 album Phillipe DeBarge and the Pretty Things.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2009 May, Taylor, Waller, Povey and Alan reunited to receive the "Heroes" award at the annual Mojo Awards ceremony.

The Pretty Things continue to gig into 2010 with the line-up revolving around the May and Taylor axis with additional hired help, a return to the Euro-style 'bolt-on' format of the early 1990s that had been discarded in 1994.

Wally Waller, Jon Povey, Skip Alan and Pete Tolson came together in April 2010 to re-record the Parachute album to commemorate its 40th anniversary and to add their vision of what it should have sounded like. Using the Byline 'The XPTs' this album is due out in early 2012.

In April 2012, a re-imagining of the S.F.Sorrow album, 'Sorrow's Children' featuring covers by contemporary bands of each track, is due for release on Fruits De Mer Records. The Album includes an interview with Phil May and Dick Taylor and also a live version of 'Loneliest Person' recorded by the band at their gig at London's '100 Club' in December 2010, at which they played the whole of their first album live for the first time ever.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• The Pretty Things (1965) - UK #6
• Get the Picture (1965)
• Emotions (1967)
• S.F. Sorrow (1968)
• Parachute (1970) - UK #43
• Freeway Madness (1972)
• Silk Torpedo (1974) - US #104
• Savage Eye (1976) - US #163
• Cross Talk (1980)
• Rage...Before Beauty (1999)
• Balboa Island (2007)^[1]
• Philippe DeBarge (2009) - (recorded in 1969)

Live albums[link]

• Live At Heartbreak Hotel (1984)
• Out of the Island (1988)
• Rockin' the Garage (1992)
• Resurrection (1998) (S.F. Sorrow performed live at Abbey Road Studios, featuring Arthur Brown and David Gilmour)

Pseudonymous and collaborative albums[link]

Electric Banana was a pseudonymous 1967 album of the band. The band recorded this album and two subsequent ones for the De Wolfe Music Library. De Wolfe provided stock music for film soundtracks. The Electric Banana music wound up on various horror and soft-porn films of the late 1960s, such as What's Good for the Goose (1969). When the album was released, the stage name The Electric Banana was used to hide the band's identity. ^[2]

As Electric Banana (music for films)

• Electric Banana (1967)
• More Electric Banana (1968)
• Even More Electric Banana (1969)
• The Electric Banana: Live at the Grand (1969)
• Hot Licks (1970)
• The Return Of The Electric Banana (1978)

As Pretty Things & The Yardbird Blues Band (May and Taylor with Jim McCarty of the Yardbirds)

• The Chicago Blues Tapes 1991 (1991)
• Wine Women Whiskey (1994)^[1]

Compilation albums[link]

• Greatest Hits 1964-1967 (1975)
• Real Pretty (1976) 2 LPs (reissue of S.F. Sorrow and Parachute)
• The Vintage Years (1976)
• The Singles A's & B's (1977)
• 1967 - 1971 (1982)
• Let Me Hear The Choir Sing (1983)
• Closed Restaurant Blues (1985)
• Cries From The Midnight Circus - The Best Of 1968-1971 (1986)
• Unrepentant - The Anthology (1995)
• The EP Collection (1997)
• Midnight To Six (2000)
• Latest Writs, Greatest Hits (2000)
• The Rhythm & Blues Years (2001)
• The Psychedelic Years 1966-1970 (2001)^[1]
• Still Unrepentant (2004)
• Come See Me: The Very Best of The Pretty Things (2004)

Charted singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Pretty Things at Allmusic
• An Electric Banana release on the Forced Exposure catalog
• Brian Pendleton website [1]

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