Marco Pirroni

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Marco Pirroni (born 27 April 1959, in London) is a rock guitarist from England who has worked with Adam Ant, Sinéad O'Connor, and others in a career spanning the late 1970s to the present day.

[edit] Career

A linchpin of the UK punk scene, Pirroni’s first appearance on stage was with Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was their debut gig and at 1976’s 100 Club Punk Festival and the Banshees – with Pirroni on guitar and Sid Vicious on drums – gave a 20 minute rendition of The Lord’s Prayer. "We came up with the idea of just making a load of noise. Siouxsie recited the Lord's prayer and threw in other lyrics from horrible songs like the Bay city rollers,'Twist and shout', and 'Knocking on heaven's door'. Then Marco would break into 'Smoke on the water'. It was just a huge piss take. .....it was one 20 minute barrage of sound. It was horrible." - Steve Severin. ( Quote taken from Punk The definitive record of a revolution, By Stephen Colegrave & Chris Sullivan)

Pirroni then went on to join The Models (who recorded the single, Freeze, in 1977) and then Rema Rema, whose "Wheel in The Roses" EP appeared on the 4AD record label the following year. He then teamed up with a then little-known punk outfit - Adam & the Ants – in 1980 and within a year the band was on the brink of worldwide acclaim.

An integral part of the band, Pirroni acted as lead guitarist and co-songwriter, penning two UK Number one singles and a further four Top Ten hits, with Ant. The two albums he co-wrote for Adam & the Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier and Prince Charming – both made the Top 10 in the UK Albums Chart ("Kings" #1; "Prince Charming" #2) .

When the Ants disbanded in 1982, Pirroni was retained as Adam Ant’s co-writer and they produced another Number one single ("Goody Two Shoes") and the album (Friend or Foe), followed by nine more Top 20 hits. Adam and Pirroni won two shared Ivor Novello Award, for "Stand and Deliver".

Adam Ant, working with Pirroni left an indelible commercial and creative stamp across the 1980s and pop music in general. Adam sold more than eighteen million records worldwide, scoring Number ones in Australia, Germany, Greece, Sweden, Israel, Japan as well as in the UK. Their partnership's success was not just confined to the 1980s, with Ant's solo hits going Top 10 in the U.S.& Top 20 in the UK in 1990, plus a further Top 40 hits in the UK & US in 1995.

The 1990s saw Pirroni begin to work with other artists as a co-writer and guitarist, most notably with Sinéad O'Connor – scoring a Number one album with I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got and a small string of worldwide hit singles.

The present decade has seen Pirroni increasingly cited as an authority on the punk movement – both on record and in print. Jon Savage's, England's Dreaming. Having consulted on two major compilations Punk and Dread Meets The Punk Rockers Uptown, he released the acclaimed SEX: Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die and Biba: Champagne and Novocaine on his own label, Only Lovers Left Alive.

Marco is currently a member of The Wolfmen with Chris Constantinou. They have released one EP and one single, and written music for television advertisements.