Giorgio Armani

. 11 July_
Giorgio Armani

(82th anniversary)

11 July 1934 

Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, Italy 

altura

British band that survived the short-lived progressive rock revival of the early 1980s and went on to enjoy remarkable success in the charts (for a band labelled progressive rock).

Formed in 1978 in Aylesbury, England, they took their name from a book by Tolkien. The band were signed by EMI and earned a strong following due to their constant touring. Their first single was called "Market Square Heroes" and it was a minor hit in 1982. They released their first album, "Script for a Jester's Tear", in 1983. The music press dismissed them as clones of Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, but the gothic album gave them a top twenty hit single, "Garden Party".

The band that recorded the second album, "Fugazi", was as follows: Scottish singer Fish (b. 1958), guitarist Steve Rothery (b. 1959), keyboardist Mark Kelly (b. 1961), drummer Ian Mosley (b. 1953) and bass guitarist Pete Trewavas (b. 1959). This was the line-up that was to gain the greatest commercial success. "Fugazi" (1984) produced two more hit singles: "Punch and Judy" and "Assassin".

The band then went to the Hansa Ton Studios in Berlin (where U2 would later record "Achtung Baby") and recorded their most successful album, "Misplaced Childhood". It was to become the band's only chart topping album. The single "Kayleigh" reached the no.2 position on the chart in 1985 and "Lavender" also made the top 5. Marillion's fourth studio album was "Clutching at Straws", which reached the no.2 position on the album chart and produced another big hit single for the band, "Incommunicado".

Fish left Marillion in 1988 for a solo career and the band replaced him with Steve Hogarth. They continued to have hit singles until 1995, but with their style constantly changing from album to album and no radio airplay, their fanbase dwindled. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous






Trivia
Band members are Fish, Steve Hogarth, Mark Kelly, Ian Mosley, Pete Trewavas and Steve Rothery.

Their album "Afraid of Sunlight" was included in Q Magazine's 50 Best Albums of 1995. Despite this, the album was not a commercial success, stalling at 16 on the chart (the first Marillion studio album not to get into the top ten) and staying on the chart for just two weeks. It was their last album for EMI, the label that signed them in 1982.

Their 1985 album "Misplaced Childhood" came fourth in Classic Rock Magazine's list of the 30 greatest concept albums of all time. (March 2003).

They were voted the Best New Band of 1982 by readers of rock magazine Sounds.

More than 12,000 people ordered their 12th album 'Anoraknophobia' before the band even wrote it, giving them an advance of £200,000 to make it. It also enabled them to retain the rights to the music.

In 2003 broke the record for the fastest release of a DVD concert. The official Guinness World Record listing reads: 'The fastest time for a music DVD to be filmed and then released is 63 hr 29 min. Featuring the band Marillion, it was recorded at the Marillion Convention at Butlins, Minehead, Somerset UK on 14 March 2003, before going on sale to the public on 17 March 2003.'.

By 2004 they had sold over 14 million albums and played over 1,100 gigs.

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