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"Complessi beat" - Italian groups 1960-1970

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I Camaleonti (the chameleons) were a group formed in Milan in 1964 and specialized, during their first period, simply in performance of english and US covers for concerts in Milan and Lombardia. They have signed afterwards a contract with the label Kansas and they published versions in Italian of songs by Manfred Mann, Animals, Herman's Hermits and even Rolling Stones (Get Off Of My Cloud, a very hard attempt) and Beatles (Norwegian Wood, even more difficult).
They were selected to participate to the very popular summer event Cantagiro during 1966, where they have arrived at the fourth place with the soft-beat song Chiedi chiedi ("ask, ask", an original) becoming so one of the well known groups during the most succesfull period of the Beat genre in Italy. During the same year the front-man Riki Maiocchi left the group to start a solo career (initially with a good success) and two new musicians have reached the group, Tonino Cripezzi and Mario Lavezzi, coming from The Trappers. The group had the opportunity to propose in Italy the cover of Homburg, the international success of the Procol Harum and afterwards the new members Cripezzi and Lavezzi have turned the repertory of the group more towards the pop genre, gathering a very large success with melodic songs as Eternità or Applausi or Io per lei.

See also the Complete discography

Corvi

Probably the first (or maybe the only) Italian garage band of the sixties. Coming from Parma (Emilia) I Corvi (the crows)have arrived to a wide success almost immediately, thanks to the participation to a very popular contest between beat groups (the Torneo Davoli, first edition of 1966) in which they arrived at the second place, having so the opportunity to publish their first single disc. Their choice was a cover, an italian version of I Ain't a Miracle Worker by the Brogues, that in Italy has became "Sono un ragazzo di strada" (I'm a street-boy) with a quite different text and also different sound arrangements (harder the voice and the guitars). The song was a great success, one of the best known beat songs in Italy, and I Corvi started a succesfull career. Their image was harder and stronger in comparison with other famous group of the period, as the rivals Equipe 84, something similar to The Rolling Stones versus The Beatles. After their first success they published other well selected covers, as Sospesa ad un filo, from I Had Too Much To Dream by The Electric Prunes, Bang Bang and Morning Dew (the title of their Italian version was Questo è giusto (this is right). When the season of the beat has started to decline I Corvi was practically out of the market, too much linked with this period to evolve their sound to the new genres, as the forthcoming progressive rock, or to try the way of the pop, as I Pooh or I Camaelonti or even The Rokes. The group hence disbanded in 1969, after two changing of label (from Ariston to Bluebell and then to Rare).

See also the Complete discography

Dik Dik

Together with Camaleonti, Corvi and Equipe 84, I Dik Dik, a group coming from Milan, was in the top five between the Italian "complessi" during the mid sixties, specifically for their commercial success. Their image had be extremely plain but they were supported by the main Italian label of that periodo (Dischi Ricordi) and the choice of the songs to cover very well focused. They were in fact, almost for their first years of activity, a sort of cover band, specialized in Italian versions of very well known international successes. So they have arrived in Italy many songs as California Dreamin' by The Mamas and Papas (Sognando la California in Italian, exact translation), If I Were A Carpenter by Tim hardin (Se fossi un falegname, misleading translation: the meaning in Italian is "if I were a wood worker"), A Whiter Shade of pale by The Procol Harum, in Italian Senza luce (without light), I Saw Her Again Last Night, by The Mamas and papas (Il mondo è con noi: The world is with us), Let's Go To San Francisco by The Flower Pot Men (Inno: hymn), Mighty Quinn by The Manfred Mann Group, Wight Is Wight by Michel Delpech, in Italian L'isola di Wight (the island of Wight). Starting from 1967-'68, they have proposed original songs, mainly written by the famous duo of composers Mogol and Battisti (Mogol, Giulio Rapetti, lyrics, Lucio Battisti, the most famous Italian chansonnier of that period and even now, music), as Il vento (the wind), Guardo te e vedo mio figlio (I watch you and I see my son), Vendo casa (I'm selling my house) and other originals up to the mid seventies (Viaggio di un poeta: "a travel of a poet", Help me, about the space exploration). They tried to participate to the new progressive movement (the LP "Suite per una donna assolutamente relativa", very difficult translation ...) with scarce success and then they remained active only in the revival scene, up to the '80s, when a new strong interest returned in Italy for the Beat period.
"Dik Dik", the name of the group, is the name of an african gazelle.

See also the Discography

The most famous Italian group during the whole decade. Formed in Modena in 1964, they published their first single discs, mainly covers from US and UK songs, with the label Vedette. In 1966 they signed a contract with the main Italian label of the period, Dischi Ricordi (the same of the Dik Dik) and with its support they had the opportunity to propose for the Italian market the versions of Bang Bang, the international success of Cher, very well known also in the peninsula, an announced success, and then, with a very good intuition, You Were On My Mind by the We Five (and Barry McGuire), in Italian Io ho in mente te (you are in my mind), the song that they proposed in the Cantagiro on summer of 1966, the main music event of that period (a series of concerts in the main Italian towns, associated to a competition, inspired to the Giro d'Italia or Tour de France, the bike race). They won this competition after a long head-to-head competition with The Rokes, confirming so to be the n.1 in Italy.

The name of the group, according to the official version, comes from the sum of the age of the four members, Maurizio Vandelli, the leader and the singer, characterized by his curly hair, Victor Sogliani (recently passed-by), the electric bass, you can remember him being extremely tall, Alfio Cantarella, the drummer, that was instead very short, and finally the second guitar Franco Ceccarelli, the handsome one of the group. A very good mix that helped the beat people in Italy to remember the group. But the sum of their ages was 85 when the group started the activity ...

After the period of the covers and starting the declining phase of the beat genre, the group started to propose original songs, by important Italian authors as Francesco Guccini (also from Modena and friend of the four musicians) with songs as Auschwitz, L'antisociale, E' dall'amore che nasce l'uomo and especially Mogol and Battisti, that gave to the Equipe 84 their peculiar song 29 Settembre, a great success in 1967 (n.1 in May).
Starting from this point the Equipe 84 became a modern pop group, reaching again the success with songs as Nel cuore, nell'anima (in the heart, in the soul), Tutta mia la città (the town is only mine, cover of Blackberry Way by the Move) Pomeriggio ore 6 (6 p.m., cover totally unrelated of Marley Purt Drive by the Bee Gees) Una giornata al mare (a day at the sea), a good song by Paolo Conte, up to the participation at the Sanremo Festival in 1971 with one of the most known Italian songs of the sixties, 4 marzo 1943, but known almost only in the version of the author, Lucio Dalla. After this participation, third place in the competition, Maurizio Vandelli continued to propose musical works for the whole seventies, to a public more interested, however, to the new proposals in the progressive and political genres.

Complete discography

Maurizio Vandelli (guitar and voice), Franco Ceccarelli (guitar), Victor Sogliani (electric bass) [for a period Romano Morandi], Alfio Cantarella (drums)

The New Dada were one of the most influential beat group of the sixties in Italy.
The name was inspired by the dadaist artistic movement, and they have been very effective during their concerts, mainly thanks to the original approach of their front-man Maurizio Arcieri (maybe he was the inventor of the "moon-dance").
Their main successes were La mia voce ("my voice", from Jackie DeShannon's "When You Walk In The Room"), Non dirne più ("don't say anything", from Sick & Tired of Fats Domino), Batti i pugni (an original), Lady Jane (an Italian version of the famous song of the Rolling Stones).
Troubles between the members led the group to a separation in the first months of the 1967 and to the birth of a new formation. The new band was formed by Ferry Sansoni (the keyboardist), Franco Jadanza and Renè Vignocchi (guitars) of the original group and Gaby Lizmi (drummer in the Patrick Samson Group) and Danny Besquet (bass player of the group I Profeti). The name was simply Ferry, Franco, Renè, Danny & Gaby (maybe inspired by the UK group Dave, Dee, Doozy, Beacky, Mick & Tich).

See also the Discography, the history of the New Dada and an interview to Ferry Sansoni on Musica & Memoria website (in Italian)

See also: the Discography

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