1981–1983: Formation CCCP was formed in 1981 when
Ferretti met Zamboni (both were from
Reggio Emilia) in a discothèque in
Kreuzberg (
Berlin). Once they returned home they founded a new band called
MitropaNK. During the following summer
Ferretti, Zamboni and bassist Umberto Negri returned to Berlin: it was during that trip that CCCP - Fedeli alla Linea was born. The band members decided to use a
drum machine instead of an actual drummer. The name of the band celebrates the popular sub-culture of
Emilia while also praising the
Soviet Union, creating a link between
Russia and the typical province of
Emilia-Romagna. During this period the band performed several times in
West Germany, playing some
underground clubs in
Berlin such as the Kob or the Spectrumin. Their permanence in Berlin influenced the sound of the band through the local
industrial scene.
East Berlin's culture and the
Islamic community of the West side of the town also influenced Ferretti's lyrics. The band's first concerts in Italy were met with a negative response from the crowd, leading the band to add two new members to the line-up: Annarella Giudici "Benemerita
soubrette" (
well-deserved soubrette), and a performer named . Annarella, Fatur, and for a little time Silvia Bonvicini (a second "Benemerita
soubrette") contributed to characterize their concerts by playing comic-demential sketches during their gigs.
1984–1985: First EPs In 1984 the band released
Ortodossia, their first
EP on the independent label Attack Punk Records. In the same year the
Ortodossia II EP was released, which included the same three songs already included in their first
EP ("Live in Pankow", "Spara Jurij", and "Punk Islam") plus an additional fourth track ("Mi ami?"). 1985 saw the release of their third
EP,
Compagni, Cittadini, Fratelli, Partigiani. The three
EPs were produced and recorded by the band with very little money and few musical instruments in a single room set as a recording studio, near to a city tram line constantly disturbing the recording.
1986: Debut album Their first studio
album,
1964/1985 Affinità-Divergenze fra il Compagno Togliatti e Noi - Del Conseguimento della Maggiore Età, was recorded during 1985 and published by Attack Punk Records in 1986. It reduced the visceral impact of
hardcore while focusing on the eerie contrast between a harsh but spare instrumental background and
Ferretti's delirious cut-up lyrics and
Brecht-ian delivery. An eclectic stylistic range (from existential psychodrama to
dance groove, from
erotic cabaret to
folk ballad) helped craft an oppressive atmosphere of angst and boredom, particularly in the centerpiece, "Emilia Paranoica". This album is considered by many music critics one of the masterpieces of contemporary
Italian music, and a milestone for the whole European
punk movement. The album's sales induced Virgin Dischi, the Italian branch of
Virgin to sign the band. Some of the band's fans saw this move as betrayal and nicknamed the band "
CCCP - Fedeli alla lira" with
lira (the old
Italian currency before the introduction of
Euro) instead of
linea ('line' in the sense of
'party line', in line with the soviet theme).
1987–1988: Signed for Virgin In 1987 the band recorded and released their first single "Oh! Battagliero" and their second album,
Socialismo e Barbarie, which was made with a relatively big budget if compared with the first one. It is a less cohesive work, that ran the gamut from
Middle Eastern music to a rock version of the
Soviet anthem, from
Catholic hymns to feedback workouts. In 1988
Virgin re-released
Socialismo e Barbarie on
CD, and their first
EPs on the compilation
Compagni, cittadini, fratelli, partigiani / Ortodossia II. In the same year, CCCP released the single "
Tomorrow (Voulez vous un rendez vous)", a cover version of a song by the singer and painter
Amanda Lear; Amanda Lear sang on both the two tracks of the single.
1989: Third album The third album,
Canzoni, Preghiere, Danze del II Millennio - Sezione Europa (1989), marked their musical evolution into
electropop.
Keyboard, instead of
guitar, became the band's leading instrument. The album was more influenced by
Middle Eastern music and was softer than in previous records. It substituted the original
sociopolitical emphasis with mystical overtones, and their industrial hardcore with far less revolutionary
synthpop.
1989–1990: Litfiba and demise In 1989 CCCP,
Litfiba, and Rats went on tour in the
Soviet Union (
Moscow and
Leningrad). In Moscow they played in a palace full of soldiers in uniform. The soldiers stood up when the band played, at the end of the concert, the Soviet
hymn "A Ja Ljublju SSSR". During that year
guitarist Giorgio Canali,
bassist Gianni Maroccolo,
keyboardist Francesco Magnelli, and
drummer Ringo De Palma (the last three left the
Litfiba because of some artistic differences of opinion with the band's manager, Alberto Pirelli) joined and transformed the group. The new group, now composed of eight members, recorded their fourth album,
Epica Etica Etnica Pathos (best remembered for their final single "
Amandoti"), in an abandoned 700' villa. This album signals another musical evolution for the band. CCCP reached their zenith with this album, a
Frank Zappa-esque stylistic puzzle, which also stands as a personal musical encyclopedia, with complex suites such as "MACISTE contro TUTTI", their "
swan song", and a transition to the new sonorities of the
Consorzio Suonatori Indipendenti (C.S.I.), the new band born from the ashes of CCCP. The acronym used for the new band name,
C.S.I., evokes the new situation in the
Soviet Union, with the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) ( (CSI)). With the creation of the
CIS, the
Soviet Union and (at the same time) the band ceased to exist. CCCP effectively disbanded the 3 October 1990, in the same date of the
German reunification, and the members went on to other projects. == Post-CCCP ==