Last Night A Mixtape Saved My Life

The trajectory of Italian punk immediately intersects with that of the so-called "rock demenziale" (loosely, "idiotic rock"): above all Skiantos and the very earliest Gaznevada, both from Bologna, forefathers of both strands; the movement expresses an approach diametrically opposed to that of "committed" singer-songwriters, well represented by "Largo all'avanguardia": “Compran tutti i cantautori/ Come fanno i rematori/ Quando voglion fare i cori/ Che profumano di fiori” or by the provocations of "Nevadagaz" (“A mezzanotte per le strade di Berlino Est/ automi con le divise delle S.A./ cospargono le strade di Nevada Gaz/ svastiche al neon sui muri della città”).

This is just one of the ways in which the phenomenon that exploded in England in 1976 was absorbed on our peninsula: in Milan the Santa Marta social centre provided the backdrop for the formation of both Kandeggina Gang (featuring future pop star Jo Squillo) and Gianni Muciaccia's Kaos Rock — Muciaccia would go on to become a producer and, indeed, Giovanna Coletti's husband. These were bands trying to combine UK and US influences, while their Italian-language lyrics veered between deliberately idiotic tones and outright "transgression".

Still in Milan, Decibel took their first steps with the album "Punk" and a sham concert straight out of the Rock'n'Roll Swindle playbook, while Krisma — the duo of Arcieri and Moser — reworked in electronic form the lessons picked up during their trips to London. With "Il leader", Enrico Ruggeri's band took aim at the student movement, confirming the rocky road travelled by these prime movers, misunderstood both by respectable bourgeois society and by the left-wing establishment; the ideological stance of the anarcho and hardcore bands that would emerge in subsequent years would be quite different — but that's another story.

In those years Bologna remained the "capital" of early Italian punk: the Bologna Rock festival (held in April 1979) featured, alongside the aforementioned Skiantos and Gaznevada, Luti Chroma and Windopen, represented here respectively by "Siamo tutti Dracula" and "Sei in banana dura" (sic!). And speaking of the capital city, Rome, the exploits of Elektroshock (championed by Ivan Cattaneo) are certainly worth noting, absolute pioneers on the Roman scene.

Pordenone is a story unto itself: a scene concentrated in this north-eastern city, marked by creative diversity and complete independence from the rest of the peninsula; "UFO Dictator", a wild card cooked up by Tampax, comes from a historic split with fellow townsmen HitlerSS (speaking of problematic monikers...), while "I'm In Love With My Computer" by Andy Warhol Banana Technicolor is among the tracks featured on the historic Great Complotto compilation of the same name. Also from Pordenone were the Ramones-inspired Ice & The Iced, represented here by the infectious "We've Had Enough".

The "journey" continues in the north-west of the peninsula with Dirty Actions (Genoa) and Johnson Righeira (Turin), who would go on to achieve national fame in the italo-disco field in the Eighties, paired with his "brother" Michael; also from Turin were Rancid X, with their glam rock influences. Billy Blade & The Electric Razors was a solo project by the singer of Gaznevada, the sole output being this single-sided 7"; also arriving from Emilia are Modena's own Rats, whose "Skizo" features on vocals their original singer Claudia Baracchi, aka Claudia Lloyd.

In the furious tracks of Chelsea Hotel and Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers we find early signs of the aforementioned Italian hardcore-punk scene; closing things out is the wave sound of Faust'o: "Benvenuti tra i rifiuti" is taken from "Suicidio" (1978), the debut of the singer-songwriter now active under the name Fausto Rossi.

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17/12/2025