Stormy Six were an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy pa ...

and

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

band founded in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city has ...

in 1966. They performed and recorded until 1983, mostly as a

sextet A sextet (or hexad) is a formation containing exactly six members. The former term is commonly associated with vocal ensembles (e.g. The King's Singers, Affabre Concinui) or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six ...

but occasionally as a

quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...

, a

quintet A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single ...

and a

septet A septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry. ...

. Although their line-up changed considerably over the years, founding member

Franco Fabbri Franco Fabbri (born 1949) is a Brazilian-born Italian musician, musicologist and broadcaster. Born in São Paulo in 1949, from 1965 Fabbri was guitarist, vocalist and composer for Stormy Six, regarded as one of the most interesting Italian p ...

remained with the group for its entire duration. In May 1993 they performed at a re-union concert in Milan, which was recorded and released on a CD, ''Un Concerto'' (1995). Stormy Six were best known as one of the five original Rock in Opposition (RIO) bands that performed at the first RIO festival in March 1978 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. They later participated actively in the shaping of RIO as an organisation and performed across Europe with other RIO and related bands.

History

Stormy Six began in 1966 as a pop/

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound effects and recording tec ...

band, opening for

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

on their first

tour in 1967. After some line-up changes Stormy Six switched to

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political%20ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically in ...

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

and their first three albums, recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s, reflect this style. In the mid 1970s their music became more complex and they started to experiment, moving into

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 ...

. At the end of 1974 Stormy Six and other musicians in

formed a music

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

called L'Orchestra which was aimed at "promoting all sorts of non-commercial music, and included avantgarde, jazz, political, protest and popular music". It also became an

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represente ...

which the musicians managed themselves and on which Stormy Six released many of their own singles and albums. Stormy Six played a leading role in the affairs of L'Orchestra. Stormy Six's exposure to and collaboration with foreign artists began in 1975 when

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

avant-rock

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

Henry Cow Henry Cow were an English experimental rock group, founded at the University of Cambridge in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler, bas ...

first toured Italy. Stormy Six invited Henry Cow to join L'Orchestra which cemented a relationship between the two bands. Later, in 1978, Henry Cow invited Stormy Six and three other European groups to perform at a Rock in Opposition (RIO) festival in

. As one of the five original RIO members, Stormy Six participated actively in the shaping of RIO as an organisation. In 1979 Stormy Six organised a second RIO festival in Milan where the now seven RIO members performed in a week-long event. Stormy Six's sixth album, ''L'Apprendista'' (1977) was well received in progressive rock circles, and their next album, ''Macchina Maccheronica'' (1980) won them a place in the "RIO genre". Henry Cow's

Georgie Born Georgina Emma Mary Born, is a British academic, anthropologist, musicologist and musician. As a musician she is known as Georgie Born and for her work in Henry Cow and with Lindsay Cooper. Background Born was born in Wheatley, Oxfordshir ...

guested on ''Macchina Maccheronica'' and performed with Stormy Six in several of their concerts at the time. After recording one more album, ''Al Volo'' (1982), Stormy Six broke up in 1983. In July 1983 three of the former Stormy Six members (

, Umberto Fiori and Pino Martini) collaborated with German avant-rock group Cassiber (

Chris Cutler Chris Cutler (born 4 January 1947) is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of other bands, including Art Bears, Ne ...

from Henry Cow, Heiner Goebbels and Alfred Harth) for a public workshop and recording project at the Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte of

Montepulciano Montepulciano () is a medieval and Renaissance hill town and '' comune'' in the Italian province of Siena in southern Tuscany. It sits high on a limestone ridge, east of Pienza, southeast of Siena, southeast of Florence, and north of ...

. The recordings were subsequently broadcast by RAI Radio3, Italian Radio, and seven of the pieces later appeared under the name Cassix (Cassiber/Stormy Six) on the

Recommended Records Recommended Records (RēR) is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler with Nick Hobbs in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected musi ...

sound-magazine, '' Rē Records Quarterly Vol.1 No.3'' (1986). On 10 May 1993 a Stormy Six reunion took place for a performance at the Orfeo Theatre in Milan. The concert was recorded and later released on a live album, ''Un Concerto'' (1995).

Members

Stormy Six's line-up changed considerably over the years, with founding member

being the only constant member.

Discography

Albums

*''Le Idee di Oggi Per la Musica di Domani'' (1969, LP, First) *''L'Unitá'' (1972, LP, First) *''Guarda giù dalla pianura'' (1974, LP, Ariston) *'' Un Biglietto del Tram'' (1975, LP, L'Orchestra) *''Cliché'' (1976, LP, L'Orchestra) *''L'Apprendista'' (1977, LP, L'Orchestra) *''Macchina Maccheronica'' (1980, LP, L'Orchestra) *''Al Volo'' (1982, LP, L'Orchestra) *''Un Concerto'' (1995, CD, Arpa/Sensible)

Singles

*"Oggi Piango" / "Il Mondo è Pieno di Gente" (1967, 7", Mini) *"Lui Verrà" / "L'amico e il Fico" (1967, 7", Mini) *"La Luna è Stanca" / "Lodi" (1970, 7", First) *"Alice Nel Vento" / "Il Venditore di Fumo" (1970, 7", First) *"Rossella" / "Leone" (1971, 7", First) *"Garibaldi" / "Tre Fratelli Contadini di Venosa" (1972, 7", First) *"Sotto il Bambù" / "Nicola fa il Maestro di Scuola" (1972, 7", First) *"1789" / "Carmine" (1976, 7", L'Orchestra) *"Cosa Danno" / "Reparto Novità" (1981, 7", L'Orchestra)

References

External links

Stormy Six homepage

''ItalianProg.com''.

''ItalianProg.com''.
Stormy Six
''ProgArchives.com''.

''ProgWeed.net''. *. {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1966 Italian rock music groups Rock in Opposition Musical groups from Milan 1966 establishments in Italy