"Musica Va" was released on January 25, 2002. It's a compilation of Varese bands that includes 18 original and previously unreleased songs by 16 different bands from the Varese scene. Some are in English, some in Italian, one is instrumental.
Gogo has 2 songs on this cd with the Apple Pirates ("Nightwalks And Dreams" and "Won't Be There") plus 2 more as a songwriter: Paolina's "Going Crazy" and Fatima Zinati's "Estate".

Gogo first started strumming an electric guitar while attending the European School in Varese (probably in 1987 or '88), and after "a lot of room-noise, a few angry neighbors and a couple of (s)crappy jams", he put together a band called Beer Bellies (1990). The line up included Filippo Vallone on guitar, Stefano Gergati on drums and Stefano "Illo" Failla on bass guitar. It only lasted for a short while, though, and Gogo soon started to play in a guitar trio called Wanted!, with Eric Viala (acoustic guitar, backing vocals and occasionally bass guitar) and Daniel Damm (electric guitar).
Gogo was playing acoustic guitar and harmonica and was also the singer and songwriter of the band. The repertoire included many originals that Gogo still does today ("Nightwalks And Dreams", "Annemarie", "I Remember", "Obsession #7, "Romeo And Juliet Revisited"...), others that he doesn't and covers of "Atlantic City" (Bruce Springsteen) and "Something You Got" (Chris Kenner).

[A Wanted! poster, 1991]

Eventually, the trio split up and Gogo got in touch with this guy he'd just met, Roberto Masciocchi (later known as "Shock"), with whom he started to jam for fun: a piano, an acoustic guitar and two rock'n'roll dreams. They must have learnt all 12 songs from Will T. Massey's album (they just love that record!)...

[Splasc(h) Club, 1992 (photo by Marco Guariglia)]

Gogo and Shock soon called up a drummer they both knew of, François Alghisi (soon later: "Frank Machine", Tony Machine's spiritual son), and the bass player Marc Zanchetta. They called theirselves "Getaway" (ah, Steve McQueen!) and were now ready to take the stages.
Their first official concert was Elena Delzano's birthday party at La Marna (Sesto Calende, Va), their second gig was at La Betulla (Ispra, Va) and brought them a big pleasant surprise: a great Italian songwriter, Angelo Branduardi, was there and joined them on stage for an unforgettable jam: he pulled out his violin and had fun with the boys playing classics like "Good Rockin' Tonight" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and songs that Gogo made up like "Nightwalks And Dreams"...

[With Angelo Branduardi, Ispra, 1992]

The boys felt like rocking Pirates on an assault (that's why they chose that name) and when, after that second gig, Marc hit the road to London, he was replaced by Illo (that you have already read about). Soon after, Jennifer Sofia (backing vocals) and Luca Pasqua (guitar) arrived on board the ship to complete the crew: this remained the line-up for the next 5 years, give or take a few months.
Musicians came, musicians went, but the Apple Pirates have never stopped rockin' since late 1992!

The band was born in December 1992 and played hundreds of shows, always having lots of fun!
In 1997/8, they recorded their debut album called "Greatest Hits" that you can read about here. When they released it (April 1998), they had a big bash at Glicine with Ruth Gerson and her band, Chip Taylor (yes, the guy who wrote "Wild Thing", "Angel Of The Morning" and many other hits!) and Bruce Koplow.
Since then, they have been touring a lot (Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, France, etc...), have recorded some new songs like "Nightwalks And Dreams", "Won't Be There" (both are on "Musica Va"), "Rocker" and "House Of Models", and have found out, to their surprise, that they have an unofficial English fan page! Thank you, Carol and Ian!
If you're in a reading mood, check out the Una E Trentacinque Circa Archive for a review of a Cantù Apple Pirates gig. And don't forget to visit their Gallery for some Pirate photos by Maurizio Pratelli!
By the way, some "Apple Pirates moments" were captured by Marco Cambon and Davide Cazzaniga (A.K.A. "Tzanig") on their videos, some by the photographers Luigi "Click" Frigo, Saro Ilardi and Marco Guariglia (Color Games).

[Gogo and Luca: Midnight Pasta!]

[San Gimignano (Tuscany), 2000: Crazy Legs and Gogo
(probably carrying him to the nearest bruschetteria)...]

Uh, I forgot to mention that in 1989 Gogo started "Sparks Of Passion", the Rocking Chairs fan club. They were the best Italian rock band and were led by Graziano Romani, a great singer/songwriter from nearby Reggio Emilia. Two of the Rocking Chairs' albums were produced by Elliott Murphy and it is through these guys that, in 1989, Gogo met Elliott. Their friendship and collaborations followed.
When Graziano decided to go solo, the rest of the guys (Robby Pellati, Antonio Righetti -Rigo- and Mel Previte) became Ligabue's band... but that's another story.

Also, in 1992 Gogo met the "Flying Carlinis": Maria Grazia, Paola, Ray and Carlo Carlini ("Only A Hobo" Music Promotion). Carlo deserves a statue for bringing to Italy, every week, some of the greatest artists from the americana, folk, rock and blues scenes today. He lives and organises most of the shows in a town called Sesto Calende, but it's Gogo's theory that, due to the numerous artists from the Tex-Mex area that play there, the place should be re-named "Siesta Caliente"...
Anyway, thanks to Carlo's "Music Is Life Club" and occasionally to Giulio Bianchi's "Musica In Collina" (Olgiate Comasco), since 1993 Gogo has been sharing bills and stages with lots of great musicians and some of his musical heroes!

In April/May 2001, Gogo opened the Italian tour of Dan Bern and his Band (the International Jewish Banking Conspiracy). What a great time they all had! Then, Dan and Gogo hooked up again in New York City, just before the tragic events of September 11, in London (England) in June 2002 and in Italy in 2003.
Some photos (from London, New York, Trento, Ferrara, Pavia, Sesto Calende, Cantù and various "pub-stops" along the road) are in the Photo Album.
By the way, don't forget to visit the Big Balls site: it's Francesco Magni's creation and it includes a lot of Dan Bern stuff and a few Mike Snyder drawings (including the one about Dan singing to Bruce in his "hospital bed")!