Biography
1966 First official Pooh line up: Valerio Negrini (drums), Roby Facchinetti (keyboards), Riccardo Fogli (bass), Mauro Bertoli (guitar), Mario Goretti (guitar), Gilberto Fagioli (bass) and Bob Gillot (keyboards). First 7 inch: "Vieni Fuori" and "L’Uomo di Ieri." Second 7 inch release: "Quello che non sai" and "Bikini Beat" followed by "Per quelli come noi." the band wins the “Festival delle Rose” with the song "Brennero 66" followed by "In the dark."
1967 Mauro Bertoli leaves the group, which, during the Beatles-mania shows great personality and the most imitated quality in the years: the union of their voices.
1968 Huge success of the “Piccola Katy" single. Dodi Battaglia replaces Mario Goretti. Another single is released, "Buonanotte Penny."
1969 they take part at “Cantagiro” with "Mary Ann", followed by the song "Goodbye Madama Butterfly."
1970 the release of the "Memorie" album is followed by a tour in Japan, where they are received with enthusiastic reactions
1971 they sign their first contract with the CGD label, which still releases their albums in 2008 (as East West). they reach the number 1 position in the charts with "Tanta Voglia di Lei" and continue their great artistic path with the huge success of "Pensiero". Stefano D'Orazio takes the place of Valerio Negrini, who no longer appears in the band but remains as “the fifth Pooh” penning many texts of their songs. their first album on the CGD label is released: "Opera Prima."
1972 First gold award for "Tanta Voglia di Lei." the band tours Venezuela and England. they release a new album "Alessandra" selling 250.000 copies following the new sounds coming from England. Big success and several gold awards also for the singles "Cosa si puo’ Dire di Te", “Noi due nel Mondo nell’Anima” and “Nascero’ con Te" Pooh also take on a theatrical tour with a forty member orchestra.
1973 Red Canzian replaces Riccardo Fogli and the band leave for their first tour in the U.S. they release "Parsifal", an historical album and a real blockbuster for over a decade with 400.000 copies sold (an incredible record for that period, when a successful Lp didn’t usually sell more than 100.000 copies).
1974 the new album "Un po’ del Nostro Tempo Migliore" wins another gold award with half a million copies sold. CGD releases the first greatest hits album "Pooh 1971-1974", which immediately goes gold.
1975 "Forse è ancora poesia" is the last album recorded with producer Giancarlo Lucariello (who they worked with since 1971). From now on Pooh selfproduce their own records, setting up a management company which becomes more and more autonomous and above all always very technologically advanced. they leave for a long and successful tour in Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and Romania.
1976 they celebrate their 10th birthday with the release of the "Poohlover" album and the single "Linda", which immediately reaches the first place in the charts.
1977 New show. New album: "Rotolando Respirando”, new single "Dammi Solo un Minuto." they expand their artistic and cultural knowledge with a tour in Canada, USA and South America.
1978 Pooh are the first to use laser technology during concerts. they release the anthology album "Pooh and their tenth studio album "Boomerang" (golden award). Usual huge success for the single "Cercami."
1979 Following the single "Io Sono Vivo," the new album "Viva" brakes all sale records. Having reached international fame, Pooh release worldwide the "Hurricane" album, recorded in English and produced by Teddy Randazzo.
1980 Viva is awarded with a gold record. A new single "Cantero’ per Te" and a new album "Stop" are released
1981 they release "Buona Fortuna" and the summer tour is a great success. After the release of the Greatest Hits "Pooh 1978-1981", they tour South America and Russia for the first time.
1982 they release the double live album "Palasport" containing two previously unreleased tracks, "Canzone per l’Inverno" and "Siamo Tutti Come Noi," the release of the singles "Non Siamo in Pericolo" and "Anni Senza Fiato." follows shortly.
1983 the “Tropico del Nord” album is conceived in the warm atmosphere of the Caribbean. It reaches the top of Italian chart immediately after its release. It’s also released on the new cd format for the Christmas market (the first album by an Italian artist to be release don cd format) with 2 additional bonus tracks: "Colazione a New York" and a cover version of John Lennon’s classic "Happy Christmas". they achieve another gold record and a prestigious award for sales of “L’Anno del Tropico”, also filmed in the Caribbean.
1984 they record their twentieth studio album "Alhoa" on the Hawaii Islands, in George Benson’s fabulous recording studios. they also shoot for Rai TV.
1985 “Se Nasco un’Altra Volta” anticipates the release of the "Asia non Asia" album, recorded in Japan. At the end of year, CGD releases the band’s fourth greatest hits "Pooh 1981-1984."
1986 they celebrate enthusiasticly their 20 year career: they are appointed “Cavalieri della Repubblica”. the "Giorni Infiniti" album and the homonymous tour achieve another huge success; their wax figures are exposed in Rome’s Wax Museum.
1987 the triple live album "Goodbye" is the document of the tour celebrating their twenty YEAR career: 3 gray records and 3 gold records achieved. "Goodbye e ..." is also the name of the new 50 date Italian tour. In autumn the new cd "Il Colore dei Pensieri" is released, which starts inaugurates the wonderful relationship with the WWF.
1988 the new album "Oasi" (Oasis) achieves gold status even before its official release (September 26th), stores are flooded with pre-orders.
1989 A year completely dedicated to WWF, which receives incomes from the song "Concerto per un’Oasi" (released on a green 12”). During the 40 date Italian tour, Pooh are involved with the most serious ecological problem of the city that hosts them, in collaboration with the regional headquarters of the WWF. their environmental commitment during the tour promotes subscription to the WWF of 15.000 teenagers, who become 50.000 in the months ahead. In autumn CGD releases a collection of songs "Un’altro Pensiero" and in December a news single "Le Donne Italiane" is also released.
1990 For the first time in their life story they take part at the Sanremo Festival and they win it with “Uomini Soli” which is followed by the same titled album, released symoultanesly across Europe. the“Uomini Soli” videoclip is the first to be filmed in high definition. the CD enters directly at the top of the Italian album chart, and stays in the charts for 10 months, while both songs “Uomini Soli” and “Le Donne Italiane chart as singles. the band then starts an intense live activity with 7 Italian stadium concerts between the end of March and the beginning of April, then they are off for a North American tour in May, and back to Italy for another long summer tour (52 dates) that culminates with the concert in Piazza Duomo (Milan) in front of 100.000 (on September 27th). the year ends with the release of the greatest hits package "25 ... la nostra storia", which sells 450.000 copies in only two weeks.
1991 the band celebrates 25 years of music together with a triumphant tour in theaters (they hadn’t played theatrical tours for 10 years) called "25 ... la nostra storia". the show is a mix of songs, stories and images from their incredible career. the theatrical tour (spring and autumn) and the summer tour in stadiums attract over 450.000, and the greatest hits "25 ... la nostra storia" ends up selling over 800.000, achieving 4 times platinum status. Other record: the double vhs release of the filming sells 50.000copies.
1992 the new album "Il Cielo è Blu Sopra le Nuvole" only takes a week to climb to the top of the charts and quickly goes triple platinum with over 300.000 copies sold. the winter tour in Italian arenas is a triumph: their popularity is so strong that when they appear on any television show the rates go sky-high.
1993 In Naxos (Sicily), during the final evening of the “Premio Internazionale Regia Televisiva” they receive a special award as “highest rating tv musical guests”. they take parte to the years Cantagiro to promote the WWF’s campaign "Riforestiamo le Città”. the band’s environmental commitment of continues during the 50 dates tour in the summer: the mayors of the cities where they play concerts; some of them chosen amongst the most ecologically degraded areas, are invited to plant a tree for every child born that year . In October, the tour moves to the U.S. and Canada and in November they release "Pooh Book", a collection of their songs recorded between 1971 and 1990.
1994 the first half of the year is dedicated to the new album "Musicadentro" which is pre-produced in a big villa on the French Riviera and then recorded in the famous Villa Couldemer studios, in the Venetian area. "Musicadentro" is released in September and goes double platinum in less than two months. the tour starts in October and travels through the whole country with 50 theatrical concerts. In December, Roby, Dodi, Stefano and Red take part at Telethon with the "Treno Pooh della Solidarietà" project. this is a special train car (built by the group itself) attached to the main Telethon train, which opens through an hydraulic mechanism and is transformed into a fully equipped stage for the concert. the result is very positive, both from the human and professional point of view: they traveled more than 2 thousand kilometers, they visited 6 train stations from south to north, they produced more than 3 hours of television and radio footage, and thousands of people went to see their shows. And above all: more than 2 and a half billion lire (collected at the gigs and through telephone bids during their performances) that the band led to the Telethon cause. the year ends with another exciting moment: RAI Tv broadcasts worldwide the "Christmas Concert", which sees Pooh performing in the Sala Nervi of the Vatican City with the Orchestra Sinfonica and the Coro Polifonico di Santa Cecilia”.
1995 In February they are off for another sold out 30 dates tour. In May they release "Buonanotte ai Suonatori" double live album that quickly goes two times platinum. In June they receive another award at the “Premio Regia Televisiva” as “rate champions” for 1994. In July they begin another special tour: the band travels around Italy with their special truck that turns into a stage with the shape of a private arena where they perform a show of great music and many special effects. One more time, the 32 concerts are sold out just everywhere! the tour is the musical event of 1995 and in September they receive the prestigious Telegatto d'Oro for the “Tour of the year” section. In November the vhs "A year of Pooh" is released, which contains the band’s most important live moments between '94 and August '95. In December, they are still Telethon’s partners with a number of exceptional performances: between December 4th and December 16th they play 4 concerts at the “Teatro Pirandello” in Agrigento, 5 concerts in big squares in southern Italy with their traveling arena and they travel to 7 railway stations with their musical train, they gain more than 20 hours of tv live performances (and on top of that, radio interviews, meetings in schools and other promotion for the Telethon charity marathon). Just before Christmas they release the greatest hits collection 1966-1995 “Pooh Book” which was completed in October by re-recording some tracks from the early days in their studio in Milan.
1996 30 years of Pooh! During the first edition of the Salone della Musica di Torino, in October, they present the new album "Amici per Sempre", which is already platinum during presales and a week later tops the Italian charts. the CD contains a free cd-rom track, which at the time is considered the most techonologically advanced cd rom track ever produced in Italy. Always very sensitive to new frontiers of technology, they open the first Italian music website: www.pooh.it, which gathers thousands of visitors in the many initiatives on line and is an inspiration for a lot of other artists.
After coming back from their North American tour, they are awarded with a second platinum award for "Amici per Sempre” sales: 30 years of neverending success is amazing and unique achievement for a band. And it’s quite difficult to analyze: journalist Franco Dassisti tries to, by living in close contact with the band for some time and writing a biography (published by Mondatori) where he tells stories and secrets of a career not just built on music. In December they partnership with Telethon for the fourth time, traveling through Italy with their charity train.
1997 the “Amici per Sempre” tour (22 arena concerts sold out) is awarded as the musical event of the year in terms of new technology (audio and lighting) and innovative stage concept, but most of all for extraordinary people’s partecipation. In the same period, the book “Quello che non Sai” is released. It shortly becomes the second best-selling book of the year, with over 50.000 copies and 3 editions. After the third platinum award for "Amici per Sempre", they are off for a 29 date summer tour: a huge production with more than 100 crew members and an average of 8 thousand people per concert, with a peak of 43 thousand. In September, the tv show “Vota la Voce” awards them with another “Telegatto D’oro” (it’s their 14th) in the "Gruppo Italiano dell’Anno" section. On November 27th they release the collection "the Best Of Pooh" (double platinum during presales) which contains 28 hits and 2 new songs. For the fifth consecutive time they are the main stars of Telethon: they travel on a huge Air Force C130 aircraft to bring their music in 6 extraordinary location, including the glaciers of Monte Bianco, military bases in Sicily and the churchyard of the church of Padre Pio. the year ends with the fourth platinum award for "the Best Of Pooh", which sells 400.000 copies.
1998 Once again the 15 concerts in the arenas (the tour started in March) are a huge production, the stage measures 38 meters in front, 12 meters high and 18 meters deep, with a triangular catwalk trough the audience that is also 12 meters long. the whole thing is carried around with 14 trucks! During the summer they play another 32 gigs in stadiums and in total they perform in front of an impressive 350.000 people and receive another Telegatto d'Oro, which awards them in the “Evento Musicale dell’Anno” section. they also receive awards for sales of "the Best Of Pooh" album which in the meantime has gone 5 times platinum. After October they suspend every public appearance to concentrate on the new album: the only exception is a charity appearance in Lourdes organized by UNITALSI (this was kept secret for a while)
1999 the band move all their business into a new building with more than 4.000 square meters of space, in Milan. All their activities are now concentrated in the new offices: their publishing company, their management, their historical archives, and they keep there all their instruments, sets, bits and pieces of stages, vehicles and almost everything they need to tour. the highlight of the building is the recording studio, equipped with advanced technology. the new album "Un Posto Felice" is digitally recorded in the new studios with an extrahordinary quality. the release of the album, April 15th, coincides with the official grand opening of the new head quarters. the audience’s enthusiasm is immediate: "Un Posto Felice" goes to number one and stays in the charts for 42 weeks (almost a whole year), it goes 4 times platinum with over 400.000 copies sold. It is an astonishing result, especially considering that the Italian record industry is going through a market decline of 30%. the following 45 concerts gain a total of about 380.000 people: the tour ends with the live broadcast on the Mediaset channel Canale 5 of the concert from Piazza Grande in Arezzo, with an Auditel peak rate of 7.200.000 viewers. By popular demand, the show is broadcasted a second time, and a vhs is released for the Christmas market: shipped from Warner Music in 20.000 copies it ends up being the music vhs bestseller of the year. Pooh’s commitment for social finds a new partner in Rock No War: with the money raised during the summer concerts, the group buys 10 playgrounds for war victim children in the Balkans and with some help from the Italian Air Force they personally fly to Kosovo, Bosnia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro to deliver them. During the year, the band’s website live broadcasts over 70 hours of special events, with more than 1.800.000 contacts: this success is underlined by the daily economic newpaper “Il Sole 24 Ore” that defines the website www.pooh.it as the “most innovative, dynamic and visited” amongst the musical ones. On December 31st Pooh celebrate the beginning of new millennium with a concert at the San Remo harbour. the show is live broadcasted on RAI tv.
2000 On September 29th the new album “Cento di Queste Vite” is released (as a point of interest: it contains 11 songs rather than 10 as all their previous albums did): the album is presented to media and public with the traditional “Pooh Day” event. In the following months the band promotes the cd in the most popular tv shows, and the record is double platinum already upon release.
2001 "Cento di Queste Vite" is almost four times platinum with more than 350.000 copies sold. the band is off for a long winter-summer tour that is considered the most successful live music event on the Italian scene: 61 concerts between halls, historic squares and stadiums, with an audience of more than 700.000 in total. During the spring the band travels to Madagascar to inaugurate a school built for the children of the colony of the small country of Farafangana (in the south-east of Madagascar). the school was build with funds raised during the winter tour from Rock No War and Friends of Madagascar volunteers . During SMAU exhibition the website www.pooh.it receives the “WWW” from “Il Sole 24 Ore” as “Best Website” in the “Arts and Culture” category. On November 8th, the website counts the highest numbers of contacts ever, during the live broadcast of “Pooh Day”: it was organized to present the new greatest hits collection "Best Of the Best" (available in a single standard or deluxe double version) with all major hits from their endless repertoire. During the last two months of the year, Pooh start working on the music of “Pinocchio” a brand new musical conceived with “Compagnia della Rancia” and directed by Saverio Marconi.
2002 As the "Best Of the Best" collection goes triple platinum with over 350.000 copies sold, the group focuses on music and cast auditions for "Pinocchio." In July they begin a 32 date tour with two different stages: one for stadiums and large spaces, another one for historical amphitheaters. During the tour, which is the usual success of critics and audiences the band promote a new charity project: it is called "Salva la Musica" and raises funds to buy musical instruments for music classes to be created in a number of Italian schools (one in every region) in poor areas of the country. thanks to people’s kindness , Pooh are able to collect more than 100.000 euro: the first “Pooh music class”"is inaugurated in October in secondary state school Luini-Falcone in Rozzano, just outside Milan. On November "Pinocchio" is released (platinum award). It contains 11 songs, arranged and performed by the band, selected among the 24 songs that will later be the soundtrack of the musical. In December Pooh perform for the third time at the Christmas Concert in the Sala Nervi of the Vatican City.
2003 the higly anticipated musical "Pinocchio" finally debuts. Directed by Saverio Marconi with the music of Pooh, who are also producers together with “Compagnia della Rancia”. the official opening takes place on March 14th at “Diners Teatro della Luna” in Assago (Milan): it is welcomed with great enthusiasm of audiences and media, who compare it to classical productions from Broadway and London. Performances are scheduled without any interruption until June and the show’s second season starts again in Milan in the autumn.
2004 In mid-January, "Pinocchio" moves to Rome and ends the first part of performances with an incredible sold out at the “Gran Teatro”.
On May 21st the new cd "Ascolta" is released and goes directly to the top of the charts. the summer tour starts on July 3rd from the Stadio Comunale di Castelvetro (Modena) and ends on August 27 at the Teatro Puccini in Torre del Lago (Lucca) for a total of 36 concerts. the live activity continues with no stops and in the autumn Pooh are back in theatres after a 10 year absence (the last theatrical tour was the “MusicaDentro” one, back in 1994). the “Ascolta” tour debuts at the “Coccia” theatre in Novara. "Ascolta in Teatro Tour 2004" is a real blockbuster: 48 performances in 21 cities in 60 days ... all the theatres are completely sold out for a total attendance of over 60.000. On November 26th the band release the DVD "Pooh Ascolta Live Tour 2004", an extraordinary double live DVD, with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, with more than 190 minutes of high quality images and audio.
2005 the theatrical tour continues with more than 140 replicas. It becomes the longest theatrical tour in the history of Italian music. Summing up (in stadiums during summer 2004 and in theaters between autumn 2004 and spring 2005) Pooh have performed 150 concerts for a total of more than 400 hours in front of 500.000 viewers
On November 18th the new greatest hits album is released. "La Grande Festa". It includes 2 new songs ( "La Grande Festa" and "Destini") and 31 songs from the band’s past. the book "POOH40 La Nostra Storia 1966-2006", is released simultaneously. the biography is written by journalist Sandro Neri and published by Giunti. the book, which sold almost 50.000 copies in three editions, tells the legendary story of the group with words, images and the contribution of the hole band (including lyricist and founder Valerio Negrini) and many employees who have worked with them both inside and outside the recording studio over 4 decades. Roby Facchinetti, Dodi Battaglia, Stefano D'Orazio and Red Canzian officially open the "big party" for Pooh’s 40 years of musical activity, to be celebrated during 2006 with parties, surprises and of course many concerts.
2006 Celebrations for the fortieth anniversary start off with a very special competition: all Pooh’s cover bands in Italy are invited to compete for the “Pooh Official Tribute Band 2006” title. the best bands, selected directly from Pooh, played at the final in front of a jury which included the four Pooh members, many V.I.P, journalists and professionals from the music business. In April the band is off for the 15 “palasport”dates: all of them are sold out! Another competition is organized (together with the website team) in order to give the chance to all the Pooh fans to be virtually on stage with them. the competition is called “Sul Palco con I Pooh” and fans are invited to send their own clip where they perform in their own personal way a Pooh song. the most particular ones are shown onto a giant screen (never used before in any other shows) before the concert. Of course they don’t forget their charity project: together with Rock No War, they collect funds for the construction of a school for 250 death-and-dumb children in Kochcikade, Sri Lanka. the school wias built and then opened in May and the band took part at the ceremony. In May they also kick off the "Cuore Azzurro" project: the FIGC (Federazione Italiana Gioco Calcio) asks Pooh to compose the official anthem of Italian national football team. the project also involves the players themselves who sing their version of the anthem. “Cuore Azzurro”is also linked to a charity initiative: Pooh, along with No War Rock and the Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi devote sale incomes for the victims of violence of the war in Sierra Leone. Funds will be used to create a cooperative for education, development and revitalization of handicrafts. the charity project goes on till the month of July, with the second part of the forty-year tour touching stadiums and squares across Italy for a total of 31 dates with a “gran finale” in the picturesque setting of the Arena di Verona, where Pooh perform for the first time. these concerts are still good occasions to continue rising money for Sierra Leone. To thank fans for their support during this important anniversary, Pooh play a free gig on September 22nd in Padova, Prato della Valle square, in front of 120.000 people. the show is recorded and filmed, and it’s released as a cd/dvd called “Noi con Voi” on November 17th. It also contains two new tracks, “Il Cielo non Finisce Mai” and “L’Amore Costa”.the year ends with two Italia 1 broadcasts of the spectacular concert, with very high Auditel ratings.
2007 Year 2007 is apparently dedicated to "holidays" but audience’s requests convince Pooh to go back on stage. "Recital d’Estate" is the name of the mini tour of 12 concerts planned to be set in small venues (that could not be included in the previous tours) with big historical and artistic interest. these venues added emotion and atmosphere to the show.
2007 is also a year of preparation for the new album, which they had been thinking of for over one year, and that will be released in February 2008. "Beat Regeneration", is an album of 12 major hits from the Italian beat period that Pooh have enjoyed recording with their own personal style.
In the last months the band has been busy mixing and finishing the record.
2008 February 1st 2008 “Beat Regeneration” came out at last, anticipated by the single “La casa del sole”, broadcast on radio from January 4th.The album went platinum straight – away. On March 29t,h “Beat Regeneration Tour” started at Italian stadiums. Debut in Mantova and then in the most important Italian cities. 16 concerts, including Milan, Rome, Turin, Treviso and Mantova all sold out.
In the meantime, “Beat Regeneration” exceeded 150.000 copies sold thanks to the singles “29 Settembre” and “Ragazzo di strada”, won Double Platinum and it was awarded in Rome last June during the “Wind Music Awards” broadcast by Italia 1.
A 20 dates summer tour followed at the Italian stadiums and squares, reaching the extraordinary peak during the concert along Reggio Calabria’s seafront in front of over 60 thousand people.
The fourth single “Pugni chiusi” is launched.
The year ended on Rimini stage on New Year’s Eve broadcast by Rai with incredible figures and share during Pooh’s performance with a wish for a successful 2009.
2009 Last year began with a news that changed the band’s future deeply. In fact, on April 13th Stefano D’Orazio announced that he was leaving the band after 38 years
From that time, one of the most intense and moving period of the band’s career started.
On May 8th “Ancora una notte insieme” came out. It is a real concept album, 30 tracks and 1 unpublished “Ancora una notte insieme” that tells the band’s emotions and mood of that particular time.
All the 30 tracks are sung in four voices by Pooh. So that is a last time no longer replicable. the album went platinum straight-away and it was awarded in the beautiful scenario of Verona Arena, during “Wind Music Awards” broadcast by Italia 1.
On July 18th, the summer tour started from Reggia di Caserta for a long journey 25 dates, that ended in the marvellous city of Taormina, after having visited the most beautiful Italian locations with a lineup of 46 tracks.
Short break and on September 11th the even more exciting period started in Trento. Eleven concerts at the stadiums of the main Italian cities. So the original tour with only four dates (one concert in the four musicians ‘ hometowns) became a fantastic journey with 36 events.
Double final concert sold out in Milan on 28th and 30th September in front of over 18 thousand people and the resumption of the show in an incredible and unrepeatable atmosphere full of emotions.
In the meantime, the official band’s book “I nostri anni senza fiato” came out published by Rizzoli, closing a fantastic year. 320 pages of texts, interviews, photos and memorabilia plus a diary of 48 pages written by the four about their last tour. At Christmas it occupied the top positions in sales of picture books.