Gnarly Guitarists: Marco Pirroni (Part 2)

When we last left Marco Pirroni (in 1987) he was a hired gun for Spear Of Destiny.  He had also begun working with a new artist, Sinéad O'Connor.  Marco's guitar featured prominently on her 1987 single "Mandinka", and he played on several of her later records as well as in her live band. The blog Nowbodhi's Business has two live gigs from 1988 and 1990, with Marco leading Sinéad's band (as well as a great 1981 live show from Adam And The Ants).

One of Adam's sidemen during his solo career was bassist Chris Constantinou.  In the early 2000's, Marco and Chris formed a new band called The Wolfmen.  A series of Wolfmen singles and two albums were released between 2006 and 2009.  Among the tracks here are covers of Eno's "Needle In The Camel's Eye" and Lou Reed's "Do The Ostrich".

Marco and Chris also worked with the reunited Slits, produced a punk/bhangra collaboration with Daler Mendhi, and helped Sinéad O'Connor with her 2012 album.  Sinéad returned the favor by singing on The Wolfmen's "Jackie Is It My Birthday".  

Marco worked with Adam again around 2010 on what eventually became Adam Ant Is The Blueblack Hussar. Marco left during the sessions, but some of his contributions were retained on the album's eventual release in 2013.  

Marco appeared on a Johnny Thunders tribute as a member of The Screwballs (with Jayne County, Patti Palladin, Glen Matlock and others).  He has worked several times with Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama, Shakespears Sister) and Damian Dempsey.  Marco also guested on comeback albums by Ruts DC and The Professionals (with Steve Jones and Paul Cook).

One of the strangest pairings here is Marco with rapper Schoolly D on Mekon's "Hardcore".  Another is Marco backing Jenn Vixx on the folk song "Turpin Hero".  Today's share wraps up with Rusty Egan's "Back To Burundi", an update of Egan's 1981 "Burundi Black" remix and a tribute to the drum sound that influenced both Adam & The Ants and Bow Wow Wow.

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOG: gnarly guitarist Steve Jones, and Post-Pistols with The Professionals, Rich Kids, and PiL. 

Gnarly Guitarists: Marco Pirroni (Part 1)

Marco Pirroni may be best known for his work with Adam Ant, but he has had a music career both before and since he helped define the sound of "Antmusic".  His first gig was at the 100 Club with Siouxsie & The Banshees. He then joined The Models, who released one of the first singles on the Step-Forward label.  The Models toured with The Heartbreakers and recorded a Peel Session.

You could illustrate the difference between punk and post-punk by going from track 2 to track 3 of today's compilation. It's the difference between The Models and Rema-Rema (Marco's next band, pictured at left). Wheel In The Roses (a four song EP) was the only recorded evidence of the short-lived band (they broke up before its 1980 release). In 2019, a two disc retrospective called Fond Reflections was issued, and was followed by a Rema-Rema documentary called What You Could Not Visualize.

Marco did a session with Cowboys International and then joined Adam & The Ants. Adam's bandmates had left to form Bow Wow Wow, and he formed a new lineup with Marco and Terry (The Models' drummer). Gary Tibbs (from Roxy Music) joined on bass, and Chris Hughes (aka Merrick) became the Ants' second drummer and their producer. After two successful albums, Adam went solo, with Marco as his cowriter, bandleader and arranger. Adam and Marco worked together from 1980 until the mid 1990's.

Danny And The Nogoodniks was fronted by Danny Kleinman, Adam’s bandmate in the pub rock band Bazooka Joe. The Nogoodniks’ 1982 single featured Marco and Danny on guitar, with Adam on bass. Danny became a music video director: his credits include “Antmusic” and Adam Ant’s “Apollo 9”.

Another one-off was the 1986 single by Mayfair Charm School on Él Records, which featured a Scott Walker cover. Marco also joined Spear Of Destiny for their 1987 album Outland (which included their biggest single, "Never Take Me Alive"). Some fans prefer the Outland demos over the glossy Zeus B. Held production; a track from each version is included in this set. Tune in next week for the sequel, which covers Marco's music from the 1990's to the current decade.