Peter Sinfield

Vegetableman wrote: His work with King Crimson was very fine. IMO though, his work with PFM and ELP was not so fine.

His 'work' with PFM was f*****' awful...!! 

"Have another cup of reali-tea...."

During the "Islands" tour, he eve ncollaborated instrumentally: in the backstage, he created sound effects on a VCS3 synthesizer, while someone esle followed his instructions regarding the stage lighting.

Regards.

His 'work' with PFM was f*****' awful...!! 

Don't talk stupid!PFM would have very easily have not made an impact on the UK if not for Pete.

''The world became the world''

VegetablemanYes they would have, with the likes of Bernardo Lanzetti

I doubt it some how but i'd love to here you reason?

Karnevil9 wrote: Wrath_of_Ninian wrote: His 'work' with PFM was f*****' awful...!!    Don't talk stupid!PFM would have very easily have not made an impact on the UK if not for Pete.   ''The world became the world''

What impact did they make exactly? 

The best-selling PFM album in the UK was Chocolate Kings, which had nothing to do with Pete Sinfield (a coincidence??).  The other albums sold better after its impact.  However, PFM were never really a success in the UK, something that Franz Di Cioccio himself put down to their strong Italian accents!! 

Ask most British PFM fans which albums they would rather listen to, and you'll find that those peppered with Sinfield's laborious pseudo-fantasial murmurings come well below their Italian counterparts.  What really annoyed me was the blunt refusal by Sinfield to attempt any sort of translation of Pagani's original poetic lyrics on the grounds that they were "too political". 

I know that Sinfield's style of image-laden if ultimately meaningless lyrics was popular with Crimson/ELP fans at the time (I keep crossing you 3Fates, and I dont mean to - BELIEVE me I actually really like both bands ENORMOUSLY), but PFM had something much more poignant to say, and they should've been allowed to say it on their early Manticore records ( I think they trusted Sinfield out of respect for Crimson).  Thankfully, on Chocolate Kings, they did say it. 

For the record:

Pagani is a genius. 

Sinfield is a Guinness.   

Both Storia Di Un Minuto and Per Un Amico topped the charts in Italy, and this despite the latter's critical hammering in the wake of Genesis' increasing success.  The albums weren't released outside of Italy until much later. 

Obviously I wasn't present at the discussion about the lyrical direction of the band, and certainly PFM were keen to break the American market through the introduction of English lyrics, but di Cioccio always seems to infer that Sinfield saw PFM as an opportunity to "continue where he left off with Crimson..." and had no intention of encompassing or even complimenting the band's political stances. There are several books which support this hypothesis, and a number of less reliable websites, one of which claims to quote di Cioccio quoting Sinfield who said:

"I'll write the lyrics and produce the boys, for I want to continue with them the discourse that I had burried with the first formation of King Crimson. I very much like the mediterranean quality in their progressive music".

(http://www.gaudela.net/pfm/index2.html)

Perhaps you could ask Pete himself, as I would be more than happy to alter this view if it is wrong, and I'd rather know from the man himself!  Does Pete actually speak Italian?

Regarding his elven ways - I dont mind fanciful lyrics from time to time, and am tolerant to a large degree with most prog nonsense, but most of the PFM converts I have made always stop when they hear The World Became The World and say, "My God, what ARE they singing about...?", and well its.......you know....

I'll put transcripts up if people genuinely dont know what I mean by this.

Song Of The Scapegoat