Premiata Forneria Marconi

Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) (translation: Award-winning Marconi Bakery) is an Italian progressive rock band. PFM were the first Italian group to have success abroad, entering both the British and American charts. Between 1973 and 1977 they released five albums with English lyrics. They also had several successful European and American tours, playing at the popular Reading Festival in England and on a very popular national television program in the USA.

PFM introduced new sounds, such as the synthesizer, to the Italian musical world. They were also among the first to combine symphonic classical and traditional Italian musical influences in a Rock music context. Such innovations and their longevity have earned PFM a place among the most important bands in the Progressive rock genre.

History

1966–1970

The original core members of PFM (Mussida, Di Cioccio, Premoli, and Piazza) came together in the mid 1960s while playing together as backup musicians for many different Italian pop, rock and folk singers such as Lucio Battisti, Mina, Adriano Celentano and Fabrizio De André. They appeared on many recordings for other artists during this period and quickly established themselves as top players on the Italian scene. Mussida, Premoli, Piazza and Di Cioccio then formed the group "I quelli" (English translation "Them", or "Those Guys") in 1968. I quelli released one album and some successful Italian singles.

Franz

Franz may refer to:

People

Places

Businesses

Other uses

See also

Lucio Battisti

Lucio Battisti (5 March 1943 – 9 September 1998) was an Italian singer, songwriter and composer. He is considered to be one of the best-known and most influential musicians and authors in Italian pop/rock music history.

Battisti started his career in 1966 and from 1969 to 1994 he released 18 albums in his home country. A significant part of his production was translated into Spanish (various albums), English (one album), French (two albums) and German (one album). He was renowned to be an extremely reserved artist: during his successful career he performed only a small number of live concerts, and in the early 1980s he announced he would limit himself to his studio albums, completely disappearing from the Italian public scene.

Biography

Musician and composer

Battisti was born in Poggio Bustone, a town in the province of Rieti (northern Lazio), and moved with his family to Rome in 1950. A self-taught guitarist, Battisti made his debut as musician in the 1960s, performing in local bands in Rome, Naples and later in Milan where he joined I Campioni (The Champions), the support band of then famous singer Tony Dallara. He also travelled abroad as a working musician, in Germany and the UK, where he absorbed the music of Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, Jimi Hendrix, blues and soul – among others – which he later introduced into Italian Pop music.