A black-and-white synthesis that attempts to retrace the feelings evoked by the song's lyrics. A piece of the city's history that is both musical and historical memory: however sectorial, it speaks of a minority, yet still massive segment, which effectively represents the city's human substratum. It tells the story of a child who moved to Marghera from Venice in the 1960s. He discovers the difference between diving into the canal and jumping into ponds. He tells us that Marghera was a place with trees, mud, and groves alongside factories, warehouses, and the first squatted social centers.
The short film attempts to convey the constant alternation between what is being told and what appears to have happened. It translates into images the situations of streets and avenues, urban settlements, peripheral spaces and silos, smokestacks and water: the water that unites the two urban realities.
A sort of interview, which develops as a stream of consciousness, accompanied by the music and lyrics of the song, which tells us something about Mestre and Venice in the 80s, as well as Marghera: urban centers that are only apparently separate, because in those years they were traversed, back and forth, by the same people as always, with the same thoughts, hopes, and concerns as today.
Sir Oliver Skardy
Biography
The story of Sir Oliver Skardy, to the century Gaetano Scardicchio, born in Venice on June 14, 1959, of the sign of Gemini, has been, over the last twenty years, inextricably linked to that of the most popular Italian reggae band, the Fresh Painting.
The popularity of Sanremo, combined with the overwhelming communicative frankness of Skardy they have made him, sometimes against his will, a character who meets the sympathy of an extremely transversal public: considered at times as the "mayor" of the Marghera on the road to redemption, the standard-bearer of the legalization of marijuana, the spokesman of musicians neglected by the mass media for lack of sex appeal, the leading exponent of the Venetian musical movement, Skardy For everyone, it represents the "popular" soul of an Italian song linked to the suburbs, to the desire for redemption and social peace.
From the cellars of Marghera where he began playing the guitar with his "legendary" friend Ciuke, passing through the "illumination" on the road to San Siro, where Marley shows him the way of reggae (which he declined in Venetian), to which the drummer is added Graziano Guerriero, until the meeting with the "Venetian" (Valerio Silvestri, Marco Forieri e Cristiano Verardo) that with Francesco Duse will give the final shape to the Fresh Painting which have achieved many successes, the history of Sir Oliver Skardy It is a simple passion for music first, for reggae in particular later, combined with the spontaneous and engaging expression of his lyrics that have allowed thousands of fans to become passionate and feel part of the "stories" of ordinary everyday life told with the disenchantment and comedy, often, of a thoroughbred author.
Skardy, was the soul of the group; with his compelling communicative force he made the Fresh Painting The most important band on the Venetian music scene, with a popularity that transcended social class, musical tastes, and generation. Since it's unimaginable that reggae broke down these barriers, the real reason lies in the songwriting ability of Skardy who knows how to communicate his personality through his lyrics, in Venetian dialect and Italian, speaking frankly about his way of seeing politics, love, news and current events, all seasoned with expressions of sincere "popular anger" and a notable dose of self-irony and musical taste.
The success, which began locally in the 80s, then spread to the rest of Italy so much so that to date the group's four albums have sold over 500.000 copies, earning two platinum and two gold records.
The extraordinary compositional vein of Skardy He produced some of the songs that are now part of the history of Italian music, such as the extraordinary fresco on Pink Floyd in Venice Pin Floi, or the anthem of an entire city first, and of the anti-prohibitionist movement later, Marghera; another hit Picinin, the comic strip in music by The plant e The fate of a planet who will become, many years later, the testimonial of a campaign Emergency. To return to the battle for legalization with Netherlands and get to the refrain that has been on the lips of "young and old" Black Pope, a song that Pitura presented at the forty-seventh Sanremo Festival, thus reaching a huge television audience that was “opening up” to reggae for the first time.
During his career with Pitura Freska he has signed many albums: A BRUTAL BAND(1991), an extraordinary and purely reggae success; HARD STOOLS (1993), rich in rhythms and flavors from all over the world; YEAH (1995), marking the return to the reggae of the first album with an increased compositional ability and the "brother" YEAH IN DUB (1996) with its reinterpretation in Dub key and the production of Peter Mash of Aswad; GREAT CALM(1997), the album that brought him to fame at the Sanremo Festival. Also worth adding HOT DISHES (1999 alma music / Lion), album result of the project The Roventi Plates, the Pitura Freska Sound System, a dance reinterpretation of the group's successes and the long-awaited first live work OLIVESFlight. 1 1998 and OLIVESFlight. 2 from 1999, which offers evidence of the energy and driving force that the group is able to express on stage, which have decreed the success of their concerts on the stages of the peninsula.
As in many marriages, however, life together in Fresh Painting Over the years, it began to feel cramped. Many individual projects began to take shape, Skardy in particular he has always been attracted towards new paths and collaborations, which have already seen him "duet" with Elio and the stories strained o Raul Casadei and its Italian Orchestra, act with Anna Galiena, Alessandro Haber e Roberto Citran in the film by Maurice Zaccaro Breaded fried brains or debut with a solo single PRESIDENT BUANA (2001 alma music) made in collaboration with Mauro Ferrucci (dj and producer of Moony e Db Boulevard).
But even these "parallel" activities are not enough, Skardy needs more space and so, at the end of 2002, it is decided to disband the group: the Fresh Painting They no longer exist! They go from news to music history, and Skardy he rightfully collects the legacy by returning to wear the clothes of Sir Oliver Skardy (the stage name) with which Skardy kept his very personal chronicle of the Cinema Exhibition of Venice on the columns of Il Gazzettino) starting a new journey.
After the first live previews, which saw him participate in the most important national musical events such as Arezzo Wave in 2003, the “counter-festival” Mantua Music Festival and Rototom Sunsplash in 2004, Sir Oliver Skardy he is dedicating himself to preparing a new album destined to propose a new musical turning point for the "poet from Marghera".
The album is called BIG JANITOR (2004 alma music) and sees the artistic production of Leonardo of England e Gianluca Ballarin (soon after they joined the band of Tiziano Ferro e Jovanotti and Elisa). On the CD Sir Oliver Skardy He offers new themes to support his innate ability to express in a few frank sentences what we all wish we could, with the simplicity and naturalness that distinguish him and with the incisiveness and effectiveness that have always allowed him to reach people's hearts.
Songs like Bidet, autobiographical invective against the educational institution, North East coast , a native land that has become the Wild West and is governed by "sheriff" mayors, Super skank selected for the Festival of Sanremo and then rejected (apparently because of the similarity of the title with a particular type of soft drug, super skunk) and Ah, I don't know, I don't know, a new anti-prohibitionist manifesto, quickly become milestones in his new solo career.
Born in 2006 with Fahrenheit 451 meets Skardy The collaboration between Sir Oliver Skardy and Fahrenheit 451. The show was divided into two parts in which the Venetian ska group presented their repertoire before offering their backing band for the prince of reggae's live show. The partnership strengthened over time through a successful series of concerts and led to the realization of the project RIGHT LEFT(2008 alma music), a single accompanied by a music video, based on a musical and content-based update of Giorgio Gaber's song. It was actually a double tribute/reinterpretation: the video revisits and personalizes another "classic," a precursor to today's music videos: Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues."
The same version of Destra Sinistra will be part of the album PIRANGE (2010 alma music) which will crown the artistic relationship between Sir Oliver Skardy & Fahrenheit 451.
The album, with a cartoon on the cover Vauro Senesi, abandons the pop and rock veins that have characterised Sir Oliver Skardy's previous productions and immerses himself in early reggae, thanks also to the mixing of Paul Baldini (producer of Africa Unite, Three cheerful dead boys, mellow mood). To anticipate the album's release, the hit singleHungry for a spritz, an example of yet another symbol of Venetianness “sold off” in the name of money, accompanied by a successful video clip filmed between the Bacan beach and the Venetian calli, which in a short time reached a million views on YouTube.
It comes out in December 2011 PIRANHA IN DUB (2011 alma music) the “revised and corrected” dub version by Paul Baldini, of the album, with a very original version of a song from the Venetian popular tradition Sardines in sàor.
In the 2012 is born MISS (Made In Italy Sound System), Skardy's sound system with which he brings his songs live and many other Italian productions, with a selection that goes from the repertoire of Fresh Painting, to some reinterpretations of Italian “pop” music (The Nomads, Enzo Jannacci, Franco Battiato) and many quotes, distorting the lyrics with his irony and using both original riddims and those of some of the most talented Italian reggae producers (Macro Marco, Paul Baldini, One Love, Rupa Rupa, President Arpi).
In the project MISS, Skardy is joined by Fricchetti Selector at the console and Toddler on vocals, thus creating an interesting and unique process of selection and reinterpretation of our country's productions.
To anticipate the new album and to accompany the 2012 summer tour, the ragga hit is released for digital download BLACK MAMBA (2012 alma music). In the video clip Sir Oliver Skardy He employs four attractive young women who, with water, soap, sponges, and their irrepressible beauty, make the cars that pass by his unlikely "Rasta car wash" shine. A coming and going of unusual characters who represent a cross-section of the "little Italy" mocked in the song. At the end, an unexpected surprise awaits him...
It comes out in April 2013 LAUGH, YOU GUY! (2013 Planet Records – alma music), made together with Fahrenheit 451 and produced by Paul Baldini (strong from the recent success of Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti produced by him), sees the extraordinary participation of guests of the calibre of Elio, Paolo Belli, Natalino Balasso, Nevruz, Mr. T-Bone, Luca Masseroni (Three Merry Dead Boys) and three former Pitura Freska Francesco Duse, Valerio “Voleno” Silvestri e Marco Forieri (Ska J).
Laugh Paiasso! It's an album that, in the best Skardy tradition, touches on many current issues, offering his original opinions on them: from the Europe of bankers who think only of their own interests, to prohibitionism and respectability that are often a mask for defending one's own interests and the mafia; from the "Chinese model" that is damaging us in its Italian form, to the invective against former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the elite in general; from the union disputes with FIOM's Fiat, to the erotic culture of the verses of Giorgio Baffo, an eighteenth-century Venetian poet.
The single and video clip will be released in June Firulì firulà, a vocal exchange between Skardy and Paolo Belli on the current Italian recording industry and love songs.
Also in June 2014 it comes out BLACK POPE REMIXES (feat. Baby) (2013 alma music / distribution o2digitale.com). This is a compilation entirely based on Black Pope, the hit brought to success by Pitura Freska in 1997 after their participation in the Sanremo Festival. The songs are the result of a contest Remix your Black Pope which was held on Soundcloud and was awarded to remixers/producers/musicians Beat Life Project, Bissoman & Xeroots, C_Xix, Cillobomba, DJ Batman, Grime Vice, Press e Pippoburro.
In 2014 the fruitful collaboration with the Fahrenheit 451, which began in 2006. They were unforgettable years, full of emotions, records, adventures, concerts, and life together. The need for change prevailed in Skardy, and a new band was born. Daily Facts. New season, new adventure then with the Sir Oliver Skardy & The Daily Facts “Roses and Firecrackers Tour”!
In 2015, in addition to the live shows Sir Oliver Skardy & The Daily Facts and with the MISS (Made In Italy Sound System), collects some discographic and video collaborations: Another Venice with Herman Medrano (rapper from the Venetian dialect) for his album WE KNEW, Niu Orlins with Yellow Man (delicate Venetian reggae voice) single and video of a hilarious sentimental misadventure, Impiraresse vs Anguelanti with Angela Milanese & Maurizio Nizzetto for the CD book A ROSEBUD with the stories of Alberto Toso Fei, a mix of Venetian mysteries and stories, jazz music and traditional songs.
The situation in Italy and in the world, and above all the refugee drama, does not leave us indifferent Skardy who decides to express his vision in a very particular way, bringing the upbeat sounds into a great piece of Italian music. Franco Battiato.
In April 2016 it was born like this RIDI PAIASSO RELOAD(2016 Azzurra Music – alma music – Courtesy of Planet Records), an updated version of the latest work by Sir Oliver Skardy which contains the cover of Center of permanent gravity, updated graphics and distribution on both CD and LP. The CD version will be released as a preview at newsstands in various Veneto provinces in the group's publications. Finegil.
In the 2020 MISS (Made In Italy Sound System) he retires and Skardy it is proposed to the public with Greatest Hits. Forty years after the historic concert of Bob Marley at the San Siro stadium that changed his life, Skardy, retraces the most important stages of his career, which began that very year, also paying homage to some iconic reggae songs. A show that retraces important moments of his career, both with the Fresh Painting, as well as the albums he produced as a soloist. His traveling companions on this adventure Toddler saxophonist and singer who has been sharing the musical project of for years Sir Oliver Skardy, Andyman guitarist and singer of the Fahrenheit 451 e Porfirio Rubirosa, the performer and singer who on this occasion also plays the role of selector, later replaced in this role by Roberto “Sciubert” Pettenello.
It comes out on September 24, 2021 PUSSY AND BAD LUCK, album that collects the best songs written in recent years, the most “personal” album of Skardy’s career who, in addition to having written the music and lyrics, personally followed all the stages of production, from recording to mixing.
The album's release was preceded by a collectible 45 rpm single, in colored vinyl, of the single Jamaican common venessia and from a clip inspired by the old RAI “interval” from the 1960s and 1970s.
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