Piero Umiliani | Artist
Piero Umiliani was an Italian composer of Film Scores, electronic-jazz exotica and library music, born 1926 in Florence. Like many of his Italian colleagues at that time, he composed the scores for many exploitation films in the 1960s and 1970s, in genres such as Spaghetti Westerns, Eurospy, Giallo, and softcore sex films. He was a prolific composer with over 100 albums, including archival releases, and he released many more works under the pseudonyms Johnny Moggi, Catamo, M. Zalla, Rovi and Tusco. Umiliani also led the The Soundwork-Shoppers ensemble and he started the record labels Liuto, Omicron, and Sound Workshop. Piero Umiliani is one of the unsung heroes of soundtrack music. Incorporating styles like jazz, easy listening/lounge, rock, funk, and bossa nova to a genre largely dominated by orchestral scores, he penned some of the most outstanding film music from the '60s and '70s with over 150 titles under his belt. Standout releases include Il paradiso dell'uomo (1962), Smog (1962), Svezia, inferno e paradiso (1968), La legge dei Gangsters (1969), La morte bussa due volte (1969), 5 bambole per la luna d'agosto (1971), To-day's Sound (1973), La ragazza fuoristrada (1973), L'uomo e la città (1976), and the 2017 archival release Studio Umiliani: Rare and Unreleased Tracks From Sound Work Shop Archives 1967-1983. Umiliani's critically acclaimed scores such as La Ragazza Dalla Pelle di Luna, La Morte Bussa Due Volte, Il Corpo, and 5 Bambole per la Luna d'Agosto, are indisputable masterpieces of the genre combining outlandish samba, Hammond-centered jazz, heavy brass sections, harpsichords, and sexy female choruses in a fantastic collection that has echoes in the work of latterday pop bands like Stereolab and Pram or Mr. Bungle. Umiliani's composition "Mah Nà Mah Nà" (1968) was originally used in Sweden: Heaven and Hell, a Mondo documentary about Sweden. It was a minor charting single, popularized by The Red Skelton Show, first airing in October 1969. The Muppets covered the song several times; starting on Sesame Street in 1969, then on The Ed Sullivan Show. The track was also a hit in the UK, reaching number 8 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1977. Outside of his film score work, Umiliani formed the rock band The Braen's Machine with Alessandro Alessandroni. They released the minor cult psychedelic album Underground in 1971.
Artist Website: wikipedia.org/Piero_Umiliani
Featured Albums: Piero Umiliani
Related Artists: Johnny Moggi, M Zalla
