Between 1970 and 1971, Stefano Torossi contributed compositions to several library music albums released by Italy’s Record TV Discografica, a now defunct label once owned by Edizioni Musicali Firmamento. This includes a pair of compilation LPs in the Musiche per commento series, the record company’s most prolific and best known output. One of these cuts features an uncredited Massimo Catalano. Catalano and Torossi are uncredited composers on one track by Bruno Battisti D’Amario on Romantici, another Record TV Discografica collection of tracks from artists writing pieces intended for use on TV, film, and radio. According to the S.I.A.E. database, Torossi and Catalano are uncredited composers on Sandro Brugnolini and Franco Goldani’s Musiche per commento LP from 1970, as well.

Musiche per commento (1970) Record TV Discografica (RT 33)

From the first Musiche per commento compilation album released in 1968, the tiny Record TV Discografica label featured many of the same composers across multiple LPs. For example, on Musiche per commento RT 33, released in 1970, each of the compilation’s composers have contributed tracks on additional Record TV Discografica albums released during the label’s four year run.

The contributors on the RT-33 LP include Enrico Cortese, Peppino De Luca, Alessandro Derevitzky, Carmine Rizzo, and Stefano Torossi.

Stefano Torossi’s “Oasi d’Arabia” is on SoundCloud:

Note: If any legal rights holders object to the posting of this rare, out of print, and unavailable track ripped from this correspondent’s personal collection, please drop a line and it will be removed immediately.

Romantici (1970) Record TV Discografica (RT 51)

In 1970, Record TV Discografica released a compilation album titled Romantici (RT 51) that retains the identical artwork as the Musiche per commento series and uses many of the same composers, including Peppino De Luca, Alessandro Derevitzky, and Carmine Rizzo.

An uncredited Stefano Torossi–along with Massimo Catalano, also collaborated on a track by Bruno Battisti D’Amario.

The compilation LP has compositions by Leopoldo Perez Bonsignore, E. Vergara, Carmelo Giacchino, and Daniele Paris, as well.

Bruno Battisti D’Amario’s “Giornata di sole,” featuring an uncredited Massimo Catalano and Stefano Torossi, is online:

Note: If any legal rights holders object to the posting of this rare, out of print, and unavailable track ripped from this correspondent’s personal collection, please drop a line and it will be removed immediately.

Musiche per commento (1971) Record TV Discografica (RT 62)

In 1971, another Musiche per commento compilation used a track from Stefano Torossi, with an uncredited Massimo Catalano, and a track from Catalano, with an uncredited Torossi.

The compilation album also has contributions from Piero Umiliani, Carlo Savina, in addition to more compositions from Bruno Battisti D’Amario, Alessandro Derevitzky, Carmine Rizzo, and Daniele Paris.

Trumpet player Massimo Catalano and Stefano Torossi first crossed musical paths as members of the Italian pop group The Flippers. They worked on a couple of singles and both appeared on The Flippers’ debut LP for RCA in 1960. The shot above from the early 1960s sleeve of an RCA 45 includes drummer Fabrizio Zampa, Max Catalano, Stefano Torossi, pianist Franco Bracardi, and vibraphonist Romolo Forlai.

Stefano Torossi’s “Rivolo,” featuring an uncredited Massimo Catalano, is on SoundCloud:

Note: If any legal rights holders object to the posting of this rare, out of print, and unavailable track ripped from this correspondent’s personal collection, please drop a line and it will be removed immediately.

Massimo Catalano and Stefano Torossi worked on several albums and soundtrack projects together in subsequent decades. A closer look at La tomba di Massimo Catalano: Life Is A Trumpet, their album with Antonio Sechi initially released by Costanza Records as part of their Musica per commenti sonori series in 1987–reissued by Fonit Cetra two years later as part of their Strumentali series, renamed Jazz, is on this site under ALBUMS.

Dark City, a 2011 album by Massimo Catalano and Stefano Torossi released on Deneb Records, and The Flippers’ Way LP on RCA are also profiled in the same section.

Among soundtrack projects, Massimo Catalano and Stefano Torossi collaborated with Guido Cenciarelli on “Thrills and Spills,” a piece that was used in the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm. It also appeared on the soundtrack for the show released by the U.K.’s Mellodrama Records in 2006.

Massimo Catalano’s “Rounds,” featuring an uncredited Stefano Torossi, is here:

Note: If any legal rights holders object to the posting of this rare, out of print, and unavailable track ripped from this correspondent’s personal collection, please drop a line and it will be removed immediately.

Musiche per commento (1970) Record TV Discografica (RT 16)

One more album, Sandro Brugnolini and Franco Goldani’s Musiche per commento from 1970, RT 16, supposedly features seven compositions that both Massimo Catalano and Stefano Torossi are credited with assisting on, three with Brugnolini and four with Goldani.

The Sandro Brugnolini tracks on Side A comprise the first volume of his legendary Underground album of rock, funk, and jazz compositions, with Angelo Baroncini and Silvano Chimenti on guitar, Giorgio Carnini on organ, Enzo Restuccia on drums, and Giovanni Tommaso on bass.

The four tracks by Sandro Brugnolini on RT 16–as well as the ones on the second volume Musiche per commento: Underground, RT 104– were all recorded between 9 and 22 May 1970 at Dirmaphon Studio in Rome. The all star lineup recorded the sister album Overground on 12 and 13 March at the same studio.

The second track attributed to Sandro Brugnolini, Massimo Catalano, and Stefano Torossi, “Dimandico,” is currently available at SONOR Music Editions, along with ten more tracks on their 2014 reissue. However, it seems none of the five tracks from Franco Goldani’s Side B are online.

The one remaining track credited to Brugnolini, Catalano, and Torossi, “Ciaciastico,” is also on YouTube and SoundCloud.

Sandro Brugnolini’s “Ciaciastico,” featuring an uncredited Massimo Catalano and Stefano Torossi, is online:

https://soundcloud.com/dj-el-topo-1/ciaciastico-sandro-brugnolini

The ALBUMS section contains close-ups of Sandro Brugnolini’s Underground and Overground albums, Brugnolini and Stefano Torossi’s 1969 Musica per commenti sonori album, their Strumentali: Genere computermusic – homo tecnologicus album from 1986 and Strumentali: Emozionale from 1987, as well as several compilations.

Stefano Torossi and Sandro Brugnolini’s landmark Feelings album from 1974, with Giancarlo Gazzani and Puccio Roelens, is also included.

Upcoming Fourth Sensation Reissue Features Massimo Catalano and Stefano Torossi

This site is excited to share the news of next month’s long awaited vinyl reissue of Fourth Sensation, the 1970 psychedelic rock, jazz, and funk masterpiece by the one-off group of the same name. Guitarist Ares Tavolazzi, the founder of Fourth Sensation, is joined by Ellade Bandini on drums, Vince Tempera on keyboards and Hammond organ, and Angelo Vagghi on bass on this highly recommended blow-out album.

The limited release LP by Italy’s Cinedelic Records, available in both black and blue vinyl, also features an all star lineup of composers, namely Massimo Catalano plus an uncredited Federico Monti Arduini, Sandro Brugnolini, Giuliano Sorgini, and Stefano Torossi!

Fourth Sensation’s “Elena,” featuring Ellade Bandini on drums, Vince Tempera on keyboards and Hammond organ, Ares Tavolazzi on guitar, and Angelo Vagghi on bass, is on YouTube:

The Flippers’ “Happy Cha Cha” with Massimo Catalano on Trumpet and Stefano Torossi on Double Bass

And one final track from Massimo Catalano and Stefano Torossi, this time as members of The Flippers back in 1961.

“Happy Cha Cha” composed by band members Franco Bracardi and Marcello Gigante, features Catalano on trumpet, with Romolo Forlai on vibraphone, Bracardi on piano, Fabrizio Zampa on drums, and Torossi on double bass.

The single was also used in director Roberto Bianchi Montero’s 1962 film Un alibi per morire.

The Flippers’ “Happy Cha Cha” is on SoundCloud:

Note: If any legal rights holders object to the posting of this rare, out of print, and unavailable track ripped from this correspondent’s personal collection, please drop a line and it will be removed immediately.