Semiramis is an Italian

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band who produced one LP in 1973, ''

Dedicato a Frazz "Dedicato" is an Italian R&B ballad written by Ivano Fossati and performed by Loredana Bertè. It was the first Bertè's single entering the top ten on the Italian hit parade. Fossati recorded the song in his album ''La mia banda suona rock''. ...

''.

History

The band was formed in 1970 by

Maurizio Zarrillo Maurizio is an Italian masculine given name, derived from the Roman name Mauritius. Mauritius is a derivative of Maurus, meaning ''dark-skinned, Moorish''. List of people with the given name Maurizio Art and music * Maurizio Arcieri (born 1945), ...

(keyboards) and two cousins Marcello Reddavide (bass) and Memmo Pulvano (drums); they were all 15 years old. Two years later they were joined by 16-year-old

Michele Zarrillo Michele Zarrillo (born 13 June 1957) is an Italian singer-songwriter. He is mainly known for hits such as "Una rosa blu" (A blue rose), "Cinque giorni" (Five days), L'elefante e la farfalla (The elephant and the butterfly) and "La notte dei pens ...

who replaced former singer Maurizio Macioce. They played in some live, open-air concerts in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

until Pulvano left and Paolo Faenza joined on drums. Their only album, ''Dedicato a Frazz,'' released by

Trident Records Trident Records released 6 albums from influential jazz musicians. Keno Duke is best known for his album ''Sense of Values'' on Strata-East Records, which happens to also feature Strozier and Mabern. Dick Griffin also released an album on Strata ...

in 1973 was commercially unsuccessful, but later became regarded as a classic

Italian progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initi ...

album. The album featured a cover by

Gordon Faggetter Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

. According to a favorable review, "Semiramis pile it on from every angle. Synths go awry, voices scream, guitars go a hundred miles a second, drums jettison you across the room. How could a group compose so many ideas? There are literally 15 albums on this!" After the band split up, singer and guitarist Michele Zarrillo joined a later incarnation of

Il Rovescio della Medaglia Il Rovescio della Medaglia, or RDM, were an Italian hard rock and symphonic rock band. They are most famous for their symphonic rock piece '' Contaminazione'', released in 1973. It contained four pieces from Bach's ''Well-tempered Clavier'' seamless ...

. In the 1980s he began a successful solo career as a

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

singer. He has released 10 full-length studio albums, as well as a host of singles. :it:Michele Zarrillo

Lineup

(guitar, vocals) * Maurizio Zarrillo (keyboards) * Marcello Reddavide (bass) * Paolo Faenza (drums, percussion, vibes) *

Giampiero Artegiani Giampiero Artegiani (14 May 1955 – 4 February 2019)
was an Italian singer-so ...

(acoustic guitar, synth)

References

Italian progressive rock groups {{Italy-band-stub