Between 1972 and 1973 Claudio Simonetti (keyboards) and Massimo Morante (guitar), aided by Fabio Pignatelli (bass guitar) and Walter Martino (drums) recorded some demo tapes of their compositions. On a trip to London, while looking for contracts, they met Eddie Odford (the then producer of "YES"); after listening to a demo tape, the tycoon producer asked Simonetti and Morante to move to England. By then, Pignatelli had become a member and the band found a drummer (Carlo Bordini) and an English lead vocalist (Clive Haynes). Following many months of rehearsal and bad luck, the band decided to call itself "Oliver". Unfortunately, when they reached London, Odford was on tour with "YES" in the United States. After many performances and various attempts at striking deals with record companies, they were forced to go back to Italy. Back home, they signed to Cinevox; Clive Hayes was replaced by Tony Tartarini, and the group changed it's name to "Cherry Five". Cinevox had been active mainly in soundtrack publishing; but due to their unique sound, the band were frequently called upon to perform and arrange for various film composers. This activity helped them understand the world of soundtracks and it's particular techniques.

At the beginning of 1975, a partnership was launched between "Cherry Five" and Giorgio Gaslini on the "Profondo Rosso" project. By chance after three or four days of recording, renowned screenwriter-director Dario Argento (Goblin's discoverer) decided to try the band's skill at composing. And so it would go; one night for the scoring, one day for the recording. Because of their new identity with film the group decided to change it's name once again to Goblin. This would seperate them from their pop activity. The band were influenced by progressive rock bands such as "YES", "Genisis", "King Crimson", "Gentle Giants" and "EL&P". Success exceeded any expectation. "Profondo Rosso" held for 52 weeks on the hit parade, ranking first both in the singles and LP categories. It sold more than one million copies; (the soundtrack album was at Number 1 on the hit-parade in Italy for 12 consecutive weeks).

Goblin almost immediately emerged as a vital musical entity with their score for this cult thriller. The film "Profondo Rosso" ("Deep Red"), was a massive smash hit all over Italy. It starred the superb David Hemmings. This film was the first collaboration between Goblin and Argento, with whom they have had a long and mutually fruitful creative relationship. Rumour has it that Dario's first choice of musicians for "Profondo Rosso" was the British band "Pink Floyd". Dario is one of the most inventive directors of horror films and thrillers, Argento has been called the Italian Hitchcock. Best known for the stylish look he gives his productions, he is accutely aware of the importance of music in his films. As a result, he has frequently involved himself very closely with musical collaborators.

The incredible success of "Profondo Rosso" was only the beginning of a prodigious career for Goblin. The following year, the group scored again with Argento's horror masterpiece "Suspiria". That same year, 1976, Goblin also provided the music to "Wampyr", and in 1977, to yet another thriller, "Patrick". Directed by George A. Romero under the title "Martin", the former initially sported a score by Donald Rubenstein, a jazz composer, when it was released in the U.S; as for "Patrick", made in Australia by Richard Franklin, it had an original score by Brian May, one of that country's most popular film composers. Yet, when both films were distributed in Italy, neither Rubenstein's darkly moody score, nor Brian May's eerie music were deemed suitable. Instead, the Italian distributors turned to Goblin and asked the group to provide an alternate score for each film. While one may argue the respective merits of the original and the new scores, there is no denying the fact that Goblin's electronic rock music seems to perfectly fit both stories, one about a teenage boy who thinks he is a vampire and drinks his victims' blood ("Wampyr"), the other about another boy, in a coma in a hospital, who uses psychokinetic powers to commit murder ("Patrick"). Romero himself was suitably impressed by Goblin's contribution, so much so that, in 1978, he hired the group to score his next film, a sequel to his 1968 hit, "Night of the Living Dead". The new film, titled "Dawn of the Dead" ("Zombi" in Italy), followed the gory pattern of it's predecessor. A few months earlier, Goblin had also created the music for another similarly-titled film, "Night of the Zombies", made in 1977 by Vincent Dawn.

The following two years were quite active, Goblin produced the scores for "La via della Droga" ("Drug Street"), released in 1977, and also went on to score Joe D'Amato's "Buio Omega" ("Blue Holocaust") in 1979. Goblin's next international success came with "St. Helens", directed by Ernest Pintoff, it was release in 1981. As the group's popularity expanded worldwide, so did it's assignments. In 1980, they wrote and performed the score for "Alien Contamination", a futuristic horror film directed by Lewis Coates. In 1982 Goblin joined other artists such as Iron Maiden, Bill Wyman, Simon Boswell and Brian Eno for another of Dario's films, "Phenomena" ("Creepers"), starring a young Jennifer Connelly and the screen legend Donald Pleasance. In "Tenebrae" 1982, "Notturno" 1983 and "La Chiesa" ("The Church") 1989, Goblin have repeatedly demonstrated the originality of it's creative concepts, something that has contributed to their eduring appeal. What is unusual about Goblin is the fact that they have been able to sustain their popularity almost entirely by creating scores for a specific genre of movies, a rare instance in rock group's total involvement with the medium (the only other example is that of the German group "Tangerine Dream"). One reason for Goblin's longevity and success in the movies may be due to it's richly textured blend of electronic and acoustic elements that provides an effective complement to the suggestive power of the images on the screen, sometimes subtly underscoring it, at other times reinforcing it, but always remaining in complete focus with the plot and it's more frightening implications.

Goblin have proved themselves as one of the most imaginative and musically prolific rock groups. Goblin's mission has been almost entirely dedicated to creating striking film music. Though they have gone through several personnel changes during their twenty or so years in existence, the group essentially consists of the following four members:

Claudio Simonetti - Electriconic keyboards, synthesizers, organ and violin
Massimo Morante - guitars, bass and mandolin
Fabio Pignatelli - Bass and acoustic guitar
Agostino Marangolo - Drums, percussion and piano

other members and contributors have included:

Walter Martino
Carlo Pennisi
Mauro Lusini
Maurizio Guarini
Marco Rinalduzzi
Derek Wilson
Antonio Marangolo
Roberto Puleo

Selected Discography

NonHoSonno (Sleepless) - 2000
La Chiesa (The Church) - 1989
Phenomena (Creepers) - 1984
Notturno - 1983
Il Ras Del Quartiere - 1983
Tenebrae (Unsane) - 1982
Inferno dei Morti-Viventi (Night of the Zombies) - 1981
Mo Deng Tian Shi (To Hell With The Devil) - 1981
St. Helens - 1981
Contamination (Alien Contamination) - 1981
L'Altro Inferno (Guardian of Hell) - 1980
Amo Non Amo (I Love You, I Love You Not) - 1979
Buio Omega (Blue Holocaust/Beyond the Darkness) - 1979
Squadra Antigangsters (The Gang That Sold America) - 1979
Zombi (Dawn of the Dead) - 1978
Solamente Nero (The Blood Stained Shadow) - 1978
Squadra Antimafia (Little Italy) - 1978
Patrick - 1978
Shock (Beyond the Door II) - 1977
La Via Della Droga (Drug Street) - 1977
Suspiria - 1977
Wampyr (Martin) - 1976
Profondo Rosso (Deep Red) - 1975

This webpage is not intended to give a complete discography of the works of Goblin.
The infomation on this page is as acurate as I could find,
please forgive any errors which may have occured.
If you do find any errors, please e-mail me at the below adress.
giallo_webmaster@yahoo.co.uk