Tullio De Piscopo: born, February 24, 1946 in Naples, Italy.
bajón (m)
n. bassoon, large woodwind instrument
bajón = falling-off, slump, downswing.
At the risk of encroaching a little on the Balearic territories on which Emmett regularly feeds, I thought i'd kick-off the week in good tempo with a slice of Euro-Disco possessing so pronounced a latin backbone it audibly struts. This Neopolitan concoction was served up by veteran drummer, Tullio De Piscopo in 1984, with writer Pino Daniele blending the raw ingredients in a cocksure arrangement which took continental europe by storm.
The facts, such as they are known to me, are sketchy. De Piscopo moved to Turin from the Neopolitan ghetto in 1969 and served his time as percussionist for a number of popular artists including Gerry Mulligan, Gato Barbieri, Lucio Dalla and Manu Chao. Lately, over the past few weeks, Fusion 45 has dredged up some amazing historical collaborations between session drummer Hal Blaine and a diverse range of top-flight U.S. acts from the mid to late 60s, so it seems somehow fitting to shed a little light at least on a european counterpart.
Coming as it did almost midway through the arid Death Valley of the 1980s, this gem took me completely by surprise. Bizarrely enough, I didn't hear this for the first time while holidaying on the Mediterranean coasts like so many others. The setting was much more prosaic. I was aiming down the barrel of a pool cue looking to sink the black ball in a bar in Glasgow. The music kicked-in and i paused to lay down some chalk while the Algerian foreign exchange students on the other table slammed in the coins to begin a new game.
Suspicious of everybody else as they were, we were all at least on nodding terms. For a moment I felt like "Fast Eddie" Felson in a Hawaiian shirt. Primavera!
Needless to say, I fluffed the shot.
Barman, fetch me a daiquiri!
download: TULLIO DE PISCOPO: STOP BAJON (PRIMAVERA) from 12" (blanco y negro/ZYX) 1984 (Spain)
posted by ib
9 comments:
Classic. I like to rock this on the boombox when I'm doing maintenance my sailboat. Just kidding... I don't own a boat. But if I did, this would defo. get played a lot on it.
Ha! Like the imagery... It does have that kind of ostentatious feel to it. Very CSI Miami!
When I was a younger man, faking my way through music school, all the drummer cats in the back of the room wanted to be junior Dave Weckls - fast and hard with a lot of pyrotechnics. I wanted to be Hal Blaine: four-on-the-floor and all the groupies I could fit in my stick bag. Seemed like the easier, softer way (especially since I couldn't play that fast, anyway). Tullio De Piscopo is that kind of player: simple but groovy, tasteful without ostentation. Thanks for the props, thanks for the inspiration, for the comments over at F45 and putting up such great pictures with your posts. I aspire to equal that someday. Music Junkie at Fusion 45.
love the way the snare doesn't come in for 3 minutes. this track always blows me away
ib! diamonds in the back, sunroof top, diggin' the scene with a gangsta lean....
great to have you once again behind the wheel. guess i'll extend my sabbatical.
Thanks for the comments!
Music Junkie: I like the way you fit "four-on-the-floor" and "groupies' in the same sentence! Nicely painted background. Your posts over on Fusion 45 always keep me coming back. Thank YOU for the props.
sack lunch: It does sort of keep you hanging in there, doesn't it? Cheers!
big b: stay tuned for more "diamonds in the back..." Thanks, man!
....and who owned the 12"!
Indeed. I will aquiesce 'twas you who originally purchased said 45. Still, the fact that I liberated it from longterm stasis makes up in part for those CDs you attempted to hijack in perpetuity! Does the Teenage Fanclub tapes in Breda ring any bells ? Mmmm ?
ok, i surrender (Breda - Cheap Trick)!
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