I
Bluvertigo & Morgan

About:

Marco Castoldi (23 December 1972)

Marco Castoldi (who would take the stagename Morgan) was born in Milan as the second son of Luciana and Mario Castoldi. At the age of six he wants to learn to play the guitar, but being left-handed forces him towards the piano. His educational career is very steady and he drops out of several highschools before settling at the Liceo Classico Zucchi. In 1984 he is finally able to convince parents to buy him a synthesizer, A 'Korg Poly-800'. Two years later he also begins playing electric bass. Without reversing the strings, for left-handed practice, he makes up a self-taught technique. The following year, at fifteen, under the pseudonym Markooper he composes his first songs Prototype" and "Dandy bird & Mr contraddiction’.

In 1986 he meets the androgynous Andrea Fumagalli (Andy). The two start working under odd names like ‘Lizard Mixture’ and ‘Smoking Cocks’. With Fabian Villa joining the project they change names again into ‘Golden age’ and obtain a contract with Polygram. The 1990 single ‘Secret love’ isn’t very succesfull and the band falls apart again. In 1992 Morgan assembles out of the ashes the band Bluvertigo with Andy (Keyboards, Saxophone, synthesizer), Pancaldi (guitars) and Sergio (drums). They participate at San Remo with critical acclaim and placing third in the finals. In 1995 the first album ‘Acidi e bassi’ sees the light. With ‘Iodio’ and ‘ L.S.D.’ being minor hits the band sets out touring or playing support for Oasis and Tears for fears. Their credibility factor rose with the participation in a Battiato tribute album in which they cover. ‘Prospettiva Nevsky’. In 1997, with a new guitarist, they release ‘Metallo non metallo’ which features a duet with singer Alice (‘Troppe emozioni’). The album forms their breakthrough selling over 100.000 copies. In 1998 the band wins the MTV European Music Awards as the best emerging group of Southern Europe. In the same year they collaborate with Antonella Ruggiero for here Matia Bazar cover album recording ‘Fantasia’ and ‘Elettrochoc’. Morgan himself plays on the Battiato album ‘Gommalaca’ and Alice’s ‘Exit’.

On the 1999 album ‘Zero’ the success drives the band to record a difficult more experimental album. They embark on the "Digital Low Tour" but internal conflicts start to emerge. They do collaborate again with Alice for her ‘Personal Juke Box’ album and with Subsonica on the project  ‘Zero Volume’, shooting a video clip of the song for the deaf called ‘Discolabirinto’. In 2001 they join San Remo again but end last. This temporarily end Bluvertigo with its members embarking on solo projects or session work. A compilation called ‘Pop tools’ featuring their San Remo song ‘L'assenzio (the power of nothing)’ closes this period.

Morgan starts working with Loredana Berté and appears in video clips filmed by Asia Argento. In 2003 he releases his first solo album ‘Canzoni dell'appartamento’ for which he receives a Tenco award. He starts acting and records several soundtracks and re-records Fabrizio De André’s 1971 classic album ‘Non al denaro, non all'amore né al cielo’ in 2005. Bluvertigo itself briefly appeared in 2004 at a New years TV show. The 2007 Morgan album ‘Da A ad A’ was preceded by a 5-minute single but the whole project was critically perceived as ‘very pretentious’. In 2008 a compilation of his first three soloalbums was released added with four Fabrizio De André songs and a cover of ‘L'oceano di silenzio’ by Battiato. He also appears as a jurymember in X-factor and writes the wining song ‘Chi’ for the Aram Quartet. All this is overshadowed however by Bluvertigo (with Morgan) appearing for an acoustic MTV Storytellers session. The project is a huge success and rumours of a new official album are abundant. Morgan decides otherwise and comes up with a new solo album in 2009 on which he covers some classic Italian songs. In the same year he records the tribute single ‘Domani 21/04.09’ with Jovanotti and Giuliano Sangiorgi for the victims of the earthquake in L’Aquila. In 2010 he wants to enter San Remo with the song ‘La sera’ but is disquilified due to his statement in the press that he is addicted to crack as an anti-depressive. Meanwhile drummer Sergio Carnevale plays on albums of Baustelle and Andy focusses on his career as a painter.

On the web:

- Morgan's website: http://www.marcocastoldi.it/
- Morgan's acting career on IMDB
- Andy's website: http://www.fluon.it/

What do we think:

PR: ...

DB: Eighties revival before anyone else even dared to touch the era. Showing their fondness for Depeche Mode, David Bowie and Duran Duran before it went in vogue again. The band, and Morgan upfront, quickly made name for itself midnineties and were rightly the darlings of the intelectual Italian pop scene. Their mixture of European dandyïsm, Italian chic and Eighties new wave was ahead of its time. What i gather from Italian critics Morgan is something between an unbearable vein snob and a musical genius. But doesn't that aplly to all those muscial creatives? At least he doesn't make the Italian musicscene dull.

If you like this, you probably like.. / european counterparts:

-M- (France)

MIA. (Germany)

Recomended albums:

Bluvertigo:

- Acidi e basi - 1995

- Metallo non metallo - 1997

- Zero - ovvero la famosa nevicata dell'85 - 1999

- MTV Storytellers - 2008

Morgan solo:

- Canzoni dell'appartamento - 2003

- Il suono della vanità - 2004

- Non al denaro, non all'amore né al cielo - 2005

- Da A ad A - 2007

- Italian Songbook Volume 1 - 2009

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided