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Posted: 26 Aug 2012 01:05 AM PDT

I REMEMBER being at college and having a lengthy debate with my old friend Joe Wallen. I said that there was no doubt that Britain had produced the largest number of truly great rock bands, and he naturally countered by saying the United States had more.

For me, there wasn't much comparison. From the Beatles to the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Genesis, Yes, Fairport Convention, Slade, Queen, Dire Straits, The Clash, Iron Maiden and on and on, Britain had a higher number of awesome outfits. Of course, The Eagles, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Steely Dan, Velvet Underground, the Allman Brothers etc were also great, but when I checked through my collection, it was pretty clear that most of my essential records were made in Britain.

Over the past decade, a rather surprising nation has claimed (if you'll pardon the Olympic hangover reference) the bronze medal in my estimation. You'd think it would be another English-speaking country like Australia (with AC/DC and Midnight Oil flying the flag) or Canada (Rush), but actually, it's the Italians whom I've been in love with ever since a fateful encounter in 2004.

I know, the funny thing about the fact that I'm in possession of more than 50 Italian rock albums is that I barely speak a word of the language, but the sheer creativity and emotion of the Italian rock bands of the 1970s blew me away when I first heard it (let's be honest, I think some tears were shed).

Now, it's true that the Italians produced the genius soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone and the odd crossover artiste like Giorgio Moroder, Spagna and Zucchero. And some of their mainstream bands, like I Nomadi, have intoxicating tunes like Io Vagabondo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBWXTyMLkYQ), and there are also the peculiar skills of solo artistes like Alan Sorrenti and Riccardo Zappa.

But nothing prepared me for the sheer onslaught of amazing progressive rock bands from Italy. Since most were formed in the post student revolution/hippie era of the late 1960s, a typical Italian prog band contained four or five grubby looking fellows. But the compositions and skill were frequently breathtaking.

When I first heard Locanda Delle Fate's Forse le Lucciole Non Si Amano Piu (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbaJfSEehns), I could not believe my ears at the delicacy and intricacy of the music. It combined emotionally wrought vocals with classical piano, and intimate washes of flute, guitar and keyboard. Ironically, I soon realised that LDF had emerged at the tail end of the prog explosion with its sole album of note coming out in 1977, and I had to work my way backwards.

Essentially, the early forays into progressive rock came from mainstream bands like the New Trolls, whose rock-meets-classical Concerto Grosso #1 (1971) echoed similar experiments by Deep Purple. Within a year, a huge number of bands exploded, influenced by the skills of British bands like Genesis, King Crimson and Van De Graaff Generator, all of whom enjoyed surprising popularity in Italy.

The field was massive. There was this horror-themed band called Jacula, a hard rocking combo called Il Balletto di Bronzo with its masterpiece Ys, soundtrack specialists Goblin and even concept albums about Dante's Inferno (by Metamorfosi) and a penguin (Murple's Io Sono Murple)! Left-wing politics (a personal favourite of mine) informed the work of bands like experimental jazz-rockers Area (whose Arbeit Macht Frei was an undoubted highlight) and Stormy Six (whose Un Biglietto del Tram was another high watermark).

I tend to lean towards Italian prog's more delicate moments. Songs like Quella Vecchia Locanda's Villa Doria Pamphili (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vkmnZ5TWFY), which has a surreal violin part, and Celeste's mellotron and woodwinds-driven Principe Di Un Giornio (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5UbmPPbsYQ) are absolutely epic.

Arguably the three biggest Italian prog bands were Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Le Orme and Premiata Forneria Marconi. It is PFM who hit the ground running with not one, but three brilliant albums – Storia di un Minuto (1972), Per Un Amico (1972) and L'Isola Di Niente (1974), which were all performed by the classic line-up of Franco Mussida (guitars/vocals), Flavio Premoli (keyboards/vocals), Mauro Pagani (flute/violin/vocals) Giorgio Piazza (bass) and Franz Di Cioccio (drums/vocals).

The band's first album alone has many gems like the Renaissance-themed Dove... Quando and the avant-garde La Carrozza Di Hans alongside the majestic Impressioni Di Settembre (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T1oKGynRVs), another highly emotional song which actually has sweeping strings and intricate classical guitar evolving into an orgasmic duelling Moog solo.

The crazy thing about this scene is that many of the bands barely made it past their first album. Even PFM, who seemed to have a bright future when they were picked up by Emerson, Lake and Palmer, attempted to change its sound and sing in English, somehow destroying the magic they'd made.

Of course, since I don't speak a word of Italian, it might seem rather strange, but this is one instance (as far removed from K-pop as possible) where the sheer beauty and power of the music will hook you regardless of your ability to understand it. It's hard to imagine just how fertile a field this is, but I'll never forget the sheer wonder of discovering it all. At a time when it seems like the world has nothing new to offer, getting chills from the music is something to be cherished.

● Martin Vengadesan, a music lover and history buff, combines his two passions in his fortnightly column. If you have any interesting stories you want him to research, do drop him a line.

The music plays on

Posted: 26 Aug 2012 01:04 AM PDT

THE shock of losing one of our greatest musical treasures has somewhat settled, but the sound of guitarist Paul Ponnudorai continues to echo, and it will do so with aplomb tonight at the Hard Rock Cafe, Kuala Lumpur, when luminaries and close associates pay tribute to the late, great musician.

And although it'll be an emotional jam session for many of his friends and family, it'll ultimately be about sharing music, a philosophy that obviously coursed through the veins of Ponnudorai during his time on earth.

The guitarist's former band Made In Malaysia, led by musician/comedian Allan Perera, will sing the night away, with artistes signed up for the night's jamboree including the likes of Albert Sirimal, Bala, Jerry Felix, Jerry Singho, Rik Omar, Michelle Nunis, Julian Mokhtar, Sharon Pamela Isaac and many more.

Showtime is 7.30pm with a RM25 first-drink charge.

Tickets are on sale at Hard Rock Cafe, Kuala Lumpur. For more info, call 03-2715 5555.

Fulfilling journey

Posted: 26 Aug 2012 01:03 AM PDT

Wu Bai & China Blue started out as a garage band some 20 years ago and now enjoys cult status.

AFTER rocking for more than 20 years, Wu Bai & China Blue remains at the top of the game. On Tuesday, Wu Bai & China Blue was named best band (Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan) at the 11th CCTV-MTV Music Awards, which was held in Beijing. The music awards ceremony, which is regarded as the most presigious in China, also saw Malaysia's Fish Leong winning most popular female singer of the year.

"This job of mine is absolutely awesome. There is no other (job) that's better than this. I've been having fun ever since my debut. I get to travel everywhere to perform on different stages. And sometimes, when I get tired of singing, I just have to move the microphone and fans will fill in for me. So, it's been an enjoyable journey for me," said Wu, 44, during a press conference and interview held last Friday in Kuala Lumpur when he was here to plug his Wu Bai & China Blue 20th Anniversary World Tour Live In Malaysia concert.

Apart from Wu himself on lead guitar and lead vocals, the Taiwan-based band comprises Dean Zavolta (nickname Dino) on drums, Yu Ta-hao (Da Mao) on keyboards and Chu Chien-hui (Xiao Zhu) on bass guitar. As the rugged frontman of one of the most popular rock bands, Wu (real name Wu Chun-lin) has long been hailed the king of live music.

Said to be the band's 10th major tour in the past 20 years, Wu Bai & China Blue 20th Anniversary World Tour is meant to be the members' "big thank you" to their supporters and to each other, for an exciting 20-year journey from their garage band origins to their current cult status.

To express their gratitude, Wu and his band, according to China Times, sang 55 songs in the first leg of the concert tour in Taiwan.

"We sang all night till our legs were completely numb from our thighs to our toes. The song set is actually equivalent to two full concerts.

"Initially, when we put up the names of all our hits we wanted to sing, the list came up to 101 songs. But, that would be simply impossible to do."

Even after they whittled down the list to 50 songs, the band members had a lot of work to do. "We had to re-do the arrangements for every song so they would link seamlessly for the show."

Sparing no expense to bring to Kuala Lumpur the same show as the one they performed in Taiwan, the down-to-earth rock star teased: "Just like McDonald's where the burger tastes the same anywhere in the world, I will make sure we bring the same show everywhere we play."

The best part of the show, says Wu, is the segment where his photographs will be shown on the large LED screeens. "That will be the highlight of the show and it will be the so romantic, too," shared the photography enthusiast who exhibited 14 pieces of his works in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, in February at an exhibition titled More Earth.

But the one thing everybody wanted to know was whether he would be dancing at the concert.

Half a dozen years ago, Wu reinvented himself again and figured he would have some fun dancing to his own songs. So, in 2006, he made everybody stand up and boogie to the tune of his infectious dance pop hit Ni Shi Wo De Hua Duo (You Are My Flower). The song-and-dance act took Taiwan by storm and fans at his shows would all be dancing along with him every time he sang You Are My Flower.

Following the hugely popular hua duo wu (flower dance), Wu came up with huo shan wu (volcano dance) for his new hit song Huo Shan (Volcano) last year.

When asked if he would be dancing at the concert, Wu replied cheekily: "No, I won't dance. I'm a rocker. When did I ever become a dance king? Isn't Show Lo the Dance King?" (Lo, who is a Taiwanese singer-dancer-actor, is dubbed by the media as Asia's Dancing King).

Yet, he conceded that people loved to dance hua duo wu and shared that he's had 1.5 mil people dance to the tune this year alone. Following that, Wu hoped that by the end of his tour next year, that number would hit 2.5 million.

Later the same night, Wu also met with fans in Kuala Lumpur at The Scott Garden Mall, Old Klang Road, and those in Penang at Queensbay Mall the following day.

When die-hard fans in the capital city gathered to meet the man, they clamoured for Wu to dance for them again, but the quintessential rocker exclaimed, "Never!"

So, 988 deejay Anson got a couple of fans on stage for a dance-off with Wu singing the chorus of You Are My Flower as he coached them on the dance choreography.

The winner of the dance-off by a mile was fellow Taiwanese Jeffrey Tseng, 22, who is majoring in music business at the International College of Music at Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur.

The Taichung-born young man, whose favourite Wu Bai song is Nuo Wei De Sen Lin (Norwegian Forest), was elated to finally meet his idol on stage, and shared: "In Taiwan, everybody knows how to do the hua duo wu."

● Wu Bai & China Blue 20th Anniversary World Tour live in Malaysia will be staged at Penang International Sports Arena (Pisa), Penang, on Sept 15 and Malaysia International Exhibition & Convention Centre (MIECC), Kuala Lumpur, on Sept 29. Showtime is at 8pm and concert tickets are selling at RM375, RM315, RM255, RM195 and RM115. For concert details and ticket reservation, contact TicketCharge (+603 9222 8811 / www.ticketcharge.com.my). The show's official radio station is 988, operated by The Star.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Ahad, 26 Ogos 2012

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

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