Premiata Forneria Marconi

Premiata Forneria Marconi PFM Translation Award-Winning Marconi Bakery Is An Italian Progressive Rock Band Originating From Milan Italy. They 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 Programme In The U.S.A. 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 Made Them Among The Most Important Bands In The International Progressive Rock Genre. The Original Core Members Of PFM Franco Mussida Franz Di Cioccio Flavio Premoli And Giorgio Piazza Came Together In The Mid 1960's 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 Rock And Pop 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. Premiata Forneria Marconi Was Officially Formed In Milan Italy In 1970 When The Members Of I Quelli Met Mauro Pagani From The Group Dalton. Pagani Helped The Group Expand Their Sound To Include Violin And Flute. By This Time They Were Already Highly Experienced Musicians And Easily Able To Play The Kind Of Complex Progressive Heavy Rock Played By The Leading English And American Groups. Their Early Live Performances Included Covers By Groups Such As King Crimson And Jethro Tull. Other Early Influences Included Chicago Ekseption And The Flock. They Had A Long Name As Italian Progressive Bands Tended To Have Back Then And So Were Usually Referred To As "La Premiata" And Later "PFM". After Rejecting Isotta-Fraschini An Italian Car Maker The Group Finally Settled On Pagani's Suggestion "Forneria Marconi" Meaning "Marconi Bakery" Borrowed From The Sign Of A Shop In The Small Town Of Chiari Near Brescia. However Record Producer And Friend Alessandro Colombini Suggested The Name Was Not Strong Enough So The Title "Premiata" Award-Winning Was Added. Some Objected That "Premiata Forneria Marconi" Was Too Long A Name But The Group's Philosophy Stated That The More Difficult To Remember A Band's Name The More Difficult To Forget It. The Most Recent Line-Up Of PFM Follows - Franco Mussida Acoustic Guitar Electric Guitar 12 String Guitar Mandolin Vocals 1970–present - Franz Di Cioccio Drums Percussion Lead And Backing Vocals 1970–present - Patrick Djivas Bass Programming 1974–present - Lucio Fabbri Violin Keyboards 1979–1987 2000–present - Gianluca Tagliavini Piano Hammond Minimoog Other Keyboards 2005–present - Piero Monterisi Additional Drums 2006–present Former Members Of PFM Follows - Flavio Premoli Piano Keyboards Mellotron Moog Synthesizer Lead Vocals 1970–1980 1997–2005 - Giorgio Piazza Bass 1970–1974 - Mauro Pagani Flute Piccolo Violin Vocals 1970–1976 - Bernardo Lanzetti Lead Vocals Rhythm Guitar 1975–1977 - Gregory Bloch Violin 1976–1977 - Walter Calloni Additional Drums 1982–1987 - Roberto Gualdi Additional Drums 1997–2005 read less