Marco Pirroni

Biography

Born in Archway, he lived with his Italian parents in Camden Town until 15 years old, when they moved to Manor Road,Harrow. He attended art school briefly but truanted to hang out at Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren's famous boutique SEX in the King's Road.

Siouxsie and the Banshees

A linchpin of the UK punk scene, Pirroni's first appearance on stage was with Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was their début gig and at 1976's 100 Club Punk Festival Siouxsie and the Banshees, with Pirroni on guitar and Sid Vicious on drums.

Short-lived bands

Pirroni then formed 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. In those days he formed part of Cowboys International but it was for a short time. He teamed up with then cult punk outfit Adam and the Ants in 1980.

Adam Ant

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 and 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 Adam and 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 Awards for "Stand and Deliver".

Adam Ant, working with Pirroni, 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 US and Top 20 in the UK in 1990, plus a further Top 40 hits in the UK and the US in 1995.

Sinéad O'Connor

In early 1987, Marco Pirroni featured on Sinéad O'Connor's début album The Lion and the Cobra. He subsequently worked on her albums I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got and Universal Mother. He co-wrote and played guitar on a number of tracks on her album, How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?, released in March 2012.

Recent years

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

Pirroni played on The Slits' EP Revenge of the Killer Slits in 2006. He was until recently a member of The Wolfmen with Chris Constantinou. They released one EP, several singles, written music for television advertisements and released a début album, entitled Modernity Killed Every Night. The Wolfmen released their second album, Prisoners of Sodomy in spring 2011.

Pirroni featured on two 2012 releases, Damien Dempsey's Almighty Love, and as mentioned above, Sinead O'Connor's album.

In 2013, Pirroni collaborated with UK band Headcount on their album "Lullabies for Dogs" receiving co-writing and production credits. He had previously worked on the band's 2002 début album "It's a Business Doing Pleasure With You".

After living in London's Mayfair for several years, Pirroni relocated to North Derbyshire in 2013.

Discography

With Adam and the Ants

With Adam Ant

With Sinéad O'Connor

With Spear of Destiny

With The Slits

With The Wolfmen