Biography
Elio e le Storie Tese function as far more than a comedy troupe; they are a technically masterful ensemble whose lyrics can turn sharply profane while fusing disparate styles and sounds with a fearless irreverence often likened to Frank Zappa, rendering them one of Italy’s most singular bands. Their story began in late-1970s Milan, where vocalist and flutist Stefano “Elio” Belisari, Luca Mangoni, and future manager Marco Conforti were schoolmates; after additional musicians joined, the group played its first concert in 1980. By 1985 the lineup had settled around Belisari, Sergio “Rocco Tanica” Conforti on keyboards and drum machine, Nicola “Faso” Fasani on bass, Davide “Cesareo” Civaschi on guitar, and, shortly afterward, Paolo “Feiez” Panigada on saxophone, with Mangoni cast as Belisari’s comic foil and improbable dancer in the ironic manner of the Happy Mondays’ Bez.
Year by year the band amassed a loyal audience, above all in Milan, and reached a wider public through spots on cult programs such as L’Araba Fenice and Lupo Solitario. Their 1989 debut album, Elio Samaga Hukapan Karijana Turu, featuring repertory staples “Cassonetto Differenziato per il Frutto del Peccato,” “Cara Ti Amo,” and “John Holmes (Una Vita per il Cinema)” (a tribute to the porn actor of the same name), ultimately sold more than 100,000 copies. The 1990 EP Los Sri Lanka Parakramabahu Brothers Featuring Elio e le Storie Tese appeared next, yet the decisive breakthrough arrived with 1992’s Italyan, Rum Casusu Cikty. Now augmented by Christian Meyer on drums, the record displayed the group’s wild, irreverent creativity in both arrangements and words, citing Led Zeppelin, television commercials, the 1970s series Mork & Mindy, and Italian poet Ugo Foscolo with equal nonchalance. Pieces such as “Servi della Gleba,” “Il Vitello dai Piedi di Balsa,” and “Supergiovane” illustrated their virtually unbounded imagination and wholly personal comic outlook, further enriched by guests including Riccardo Fogli, Enrico Ruggeri, actor Diego Abatantuono, and Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares on the single “Pipppero.”
During the same period the band forged key alliances with radio network Radio DJ and comedy trio Gialappa’s Band, supplying theme songs for their various broadcasts. In 1993 they issued Esco dal Mio Corpo e Ho Molta Paura, an anthology of unreleased tracks recorded between 1979 and 1986, followed in 1996 by Eat the Phikis. Its lead track, “La Terra dei Cachi,” performed at that year’s Sanremo Music Festival where it placed second, topped the Italian charts for eight weeks and transformed Elio e le Storie Tese into a genuine cultural phenomenon. The ensuing years brought an extensive Italian tour and the 1997 compilation Del Meglio del Nostro Meglio, Vol. 1. On 23 December 1998, however, Panigada died of a brain hemorrhage while performing onstage with his jazz side project Biba Band. The 1999 album Craccracriccrecr, dedicated to the saxophonist, was viewed by some listeners as less inspired than earlier work.
By then the lineup had expanded to include second keyboardist Antonello “Jantoman” Aguzzi. Also in 1999 the band delivered the soundtrack to the Gialappa’s Band film Tutti gli Uomini del Deficiente, steeped in 1970s sounds ranging from disco to prog. The double set Made in Japan—recorded, despite its title, in Milan—appeared in 2001, followed in 2003 by Cicciput, which contained “Litfiba Tornate Insieme,” addressing the Italian band Litfiba and the tensions between guitarist Ghigo Renzulli and former singer Piero Pelù. For the subsequent tour the group introduced the CD Brulé project, enabling fans to purchase a disc containing the first hour of each evening’s performance; the strongest of those recordings later surfaced on the official live anthologies Il Meglio di Ho Fatto 2 Etti e Mezzo Lascio? (2004) and Il Meglio di Grazie per la Splendida Serata (2005). Preceded by the single “Parco Lambro,” Studentessi arrived in 2008.
Year by year the band amassed a loyal audience, above all in Milan, and reached a wider public through spots on cult programs such as L’Araba Fenice and Lupo Solitario. Their 1989 debut album, Elio Samaga Hukapan Karijana Turu, featuring repertory staples “Cassonetto Differenziato per il Frutto del Peccato,” “Cara Ti Amo,” and “John Holmes (Una Vita per il Cinema)” (a tribute to the porn actor of the same name), ultimately sold more than 100,000 copies. The 1990 EP Los Sri Lanka Parakramabahu Brothers Featuring Elio e le Storie Tese appeared next, yet the decisive breakthrough arrived with 1992’s Italyan, Rum Casusu Cikty. Now augmented by Christian Meyer on drums, the record displayed the group’s wild, irreverent creativity in both arrangements and words, citing Led Zeppelin, television commercials, the 1970s series Mork & Mindy, and Italian poet Ugo Foscolo with equal nonchalance. Pieces such as “Servi della Gleba,” “Il Vitello dai Piedi di Balsa,” and “Supergiovane” illustrated their virtually unbounded imagination and wholly personal comic outlook, further enriched by guests including Riccardo Fogli, Enrico Ruggeri, actor Diego Abatantuono, and Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares on the single “Pipppero.”
During the same period the band forged key alliances with radio network Radio DJ and comedy trio Gialappa’s Band, supplying theme songs for their various broadcasts. In 1993 they issued Esco dal Mio Corpo e Ho Molta Paura, an anthology of unreleased tracks recorded between 1979 and 1986, followed in 1996 by Eat the Phikis. Its lead track, “La Terra dei Cachi,” performed at that year’s Sanremo Music Festival where it placed second, topped the Italian charts for eight weeks and transformed Elio e le Storie Tese into a genuine cultural phenomenon. The ensuing years brought an extensive Italian tour and the 1997 compilation Del Meglio del Nostro Meglio, Vol. 1. On 23 December 1998, however, Panigada died of a brain hemorrhage while performing onstage with his jazz side project Biba Band. The 1999 album Craccracriccrecr, dedicated to the saxophonist, was viewed by some listeners as less inspired than earlier work.
By then the lineup had expanded to include second keyboardist Antonello “Jantoman” Aguzzi. Also in 1999 the band delivered the soundtrack to the Gialappa’s Band film Tutti gli Uomini del Deficiente, steeped in 1970s sounds ranging from disco to prog. The double set Made in Japan—recorded, despite its title, in Milan—appeared in 2001, followed in 2003 by Cicciput, which contained “Litfiba Tornate Insieme,” addressing the Italian band Litfiba and the tensions between guitarist Ghigo Renzulli and former singer Piero Pelù. For the subsequent tour the group introduced the CD Brulé project, enabling fans to purchase a disc containing the first hour of each evening’s performance; the strongest of those recordings later surfaced on the official live anthologies Il Meglio di Ho Fatto 2 Etti e Mezzo Lascio? (2004) and Il Meglio di Grazie per la Splendida Serata (2005). Preceded by the single “Parco Lambro,” Studentessi arrived in 2008.
Albums
