Misplaced Pages

Marco Francesco Andrea Pirroni (born 27 April 1959, London, England) frequently credited simply as Marco, is a British guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He has worked with Adam Ant, Sinéad O'Connor, Siouxsie and the Banshees and many others from the late 1970s to the present day.

Early years

Born to Italian parents, a mainstay of the UK punk scene, Pirroni made his first appearance on stage with Siouxsie and the Banshees in their début gig, at 100 Club Punk Festival in 1976. Sid Vicious, future bassist for the Sex Pistols, was on drums. Pirroni also formed a short-lived punk rock band called the Models with future fellow Ants member Terry Lee Miall and future Wolfgang Press member Mick Allen, plus singer Cliff Fox. They recorded a Peel Session and released the single (the first of Marco's career) "Freeze"/"Man of the Year" on the Step Forward label in 1977. After his departure from The Models, Pirroni started a new project, Rema-Rema, a short-lived London punk rock group, consisting of Gary Asquith (guitar/vocals), Marco Pirroni, Michael Allen (bass/vocals), Mark Cox (keyboards) and Dorothy Prior (drums, generally known only as "Max").The band released a four-track EP, Wheel in the Roses (released 1980 on 4AD), featured one side of studio recordings and another of live material. However, the group dissolved when Marco Pirroni joined Adam and the Ants.

Adam and the Ants/Adam Ant

Pirroni was lead guitarist and co-songwriter in the second incarnation of Adam and the Ants, co-penning two UK number one singles and a further four Top Ten hits, with Ant. The two albums he co-wrote for Adam and the Ants, Kings of the Wild Frontier and Prince Charming, both made the Top 10 in the UK Albums Chart ("Kings" number 1; "Prince Charming" number 2).

When Adam and the Ants disbanded in 1982, Pirroni was retained as Adam Ant's co-writer and studio guitarist; they produced another number-one single ("Goody Two Shoes") and an album (Friend or Foe), followed by four more Top 20 hits. Ant and Pirroni won two shared Ivor Novello Awards for "Stand and Deliver".

The Wolfmen

Pirroni was a member of the Wolfmen with Chris Constantinou. They released one EP, several singles, wrote music for television advertisements and released a début album, entitled Modernity Killed Every Night. The Wolfmen released their second album, Married to the Eiffel Tower, in 2011.

Personal life

After living in London's Marylebone for several years, Pirroni relocated to north Derbyshire in 2013.

Discography

With Rema-Rema

• Wheel in the Roses (1980)

With Adam and the Ants

• Kings of the Wild Frontier (1980)
• Prince Charming (1981)

With Cowboys International

• Today Today (1980)

With Adam Ant

• Friend or Foe (1982)
• Strip (1983)
• Vive Le Rock (1985)
• Manners & Physique (1990)
• Persuasion (unreleased)
• Wonderful (1995)
• Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter (2013) - four tracks

With Sinéad O'Connor

• The Lion and the Cobra (1987)
• I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (1990)
• Universal Mother (1994)
• How About I Be Me (And You Be You)? (2012)

With Spear of Destiny

• Outland (1987)

With The Slits

• Revenge of the Killer Slits (2006)

With The Wolfmen

• Modernity Killed Every Night (2008)
• Married to the Eiffel Tower (2011)

With Department S

• "Wonderful Day"
• "Is Vic There (Slight return)"

References

1. "about (Marco Pirroni)". Only lovers left alive. Archived from the original on 13 April 2004. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
2. "Credits, Kings Of The Wild Frontier album, CBS 1980". Adam-ant.net. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
3. "Credits, Prince Charming album, CBS 1981". Adam-ant.net. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
4. Corner, Lena. "How We Met: Siobhan Fahey & Marco Pirroni". The Independent.
5. "Marco Pirroni Interviewed by Johnny Normal". 14 April 2012. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024.
6. Johns, Brian (1989). Entranced: the Siouxsie and the Banshees story. Omnibus Press. p. 10. ISBN 0-7119-1773-6.
7. Stand & Deliver Adam Ant Hodder & Stoughton 2006
8. The Official Adam Ant Story James Maw, Futura 1981
9. "Read an extract from 69 Exhibition Road by Dorothy Max Prior - The Wire". The Wire Magazine - Adventures In Modern Music. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
10. "MVRemix Urban Interviews - Lavender Pill Mob | Online Rap Magazine | US and Canadian Underground Hip Hop and Soul". Mvremix.com. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
11. Wycombe Gigs - The Models at The Nags Head 28th May 1977 - Retrieved October 20, 2023
12. "Adam and the Ants | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.
13. "1982 Winners". TheIvors.com. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
14. "How We Met: Siobhan Fahey & Marco Pirroni". The Independent. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
15. Normal, Johnny (14 April 2012). "Marco Pirroni Interviewed by Johnny Normal". Louder Than War. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
16. "Dave Navarro and Billy Morrison Keep Their Heads Above Ground". LA Weekly. 12 April 2018.
17. Aston, Martin (2019). "Send No Flowers \ Rema-Rema". 4AD. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
18. https://www.discogs.com/master/980247-Cowboys-International-Today-Today
19. "Revenge of the Killer Slits - The Slits - Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 August 2022.

External links

• Official MySpace for The Wolfmen

• 1959 births
• English people of Italian descent
• Living people
• English new wave musicians
• English punk rock guitarists
• Ivor Novello Award winners
• Siouxsie and the Banshees members
• Adam and the Ants members
• English rock singers
• People from Camden Town
• Musicians from the London Borough of Camden
• English male singer-songwriters
• English singer-songwriters
• English record producers
• British lead guitarists
• Spear of Destiny (band) members
• English male guitarists