An italian Opera by The Five Pennies

As I was having my usual Sunday Market Walk and stopped occasionally to  thumb  through old records I came across  an album,  that of  The Pennies, a rock band  I’d never heard of before  and decided to go root-deep and guess what? After some research I found out that notwithstanding  their English stage name they were a Roman Rock Group  active in the Capital scene from the end of the 60s  to the beginning of the 70s.  The rock- band was officially established in 1967  in the Monte Mario suburb of Rome where the five guys were all from. The original members were Stefano Damia, Enzo Giancaterina, Massimo Valentini, Alessandro Rocchetti, Alessandro Gramolini.

 

 

You can tell from the very start that they adopted a popsike sound (Beatles, Moody Blues, Bee Gees style) and they became so famous that the club where they performed in their suburb was soon renamed  “Pennies Club”.

Their ability to perform live  brought them to different clubs up  to the greatest of them all, the mythical Piper Club in Via Tagliamento where they were noticed by Francesco Micocci who in those years was about to establish the IT, the label that would have launched many of the very best artists on the Italian market.

 

 

 

The group released its first single on label Mark Tre of Giannni Marchetti – this was recorded at RCA Studios in Via Tiburtina. On side A we find “Un minuto di libertà” written by Ruisi-Bardotti, on flip instead we find “Lo sconfitto” , a cover of the Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel.

Following the release of the 45 r.p.m. ,  intensive live tours took place all over the country, including song contests such as the 1^st Pop Festival of Viareggio in 1971, the same Festival that launched Mia Martini, I Delirium of Ivano Fossati and Premiata Forneria Marconi.
 

 

 

 

In 1972, their first lp, The Five Pennies Opera, was released.  The lp was entirely in English (excellent I’d say!) strongly influenced by 60s’ psych music. The choice could be explained by the fact that the  Record Company wanted to introduce the Pennies  as an English rock-band,  as they did for The Flea on the Honey, a practice very much  in use in those years.

 

 

The lp recorded at Studio 38  owned by Edoardo Vianello and printed only in 5000 copies , features eight new songs composed by the band but signed by Gianni Marchetti (aka Joe Dinamo)  because the Pennies did not have the SIAE license (SIAE stands for Italian Authors and Editors Publishing Company). The Album also features Photograph, a track written for the guys by Amedeo Minghi who was at the time their friend, in cooperation with Lally Stott.

 

 

The Album, notwithstanding some radio promotion, passed almost unnoticed. Few years after some of the tracks were included in the movie score “Emanuellle e Francoise” directed by Joe D’Amato in 1975.  Nevertheless,  the tracks’ credits  remained in the name of Joe Dinamo.

 

 

 

 

The Pennies gave their last concert on 6^th January 1972 at Gattopardo Club, today known as Gilda. They continued to cooperate for a while with Gianni Marchetti  through the participation of the recording of “Storia di due amici” by Rosalino (today known as Ron), some tracks with Piero Ciampi and Marisa Sannia. They suddenly split up while they were preparing, with the help of Amedeo Minghi, the Italian version of The Five Pennies Opera.

Ultimately, I must say that the Album is quite rare and was never reprinted on vinyl nor CD. According from my point of view it deserves to be rediscovered for the quality of compositions and the fantastic technical, recording and interpretation levels.  

Hence, it is surely a record that’s worth more than few pennies!

 

My last question is where are you guys?

 

 

 

 

Members of the Original Group

Stefano Damia (vocals, guitar)

Enzo Giancaterina  (guitar, vocals)

Massimo Valentini (keyboards, vocals)

Alessandro Rossetti (bass guitar, vocals)

Alessandro Gramolini  (percussions)

Additional Member

Tonino Santi (drums, vocals)

 

Recordings:

Un minuto di libertà – Lo sconfitto Mark Tre label (ZK 50083) 1971

The Five Pennies Opera – Mark Tre label (ZSLK 55092) 1972