Guai A Voi! / Invocazione (Solid Red Vinyl)

Description

Side A: Gual a voi! | Side B: Invocazione A genuine mystery of the prog scene from around the world for almost forty years. This release from Italy from Lydia e gli Hellua Xenium who only released two 7-inch records. This release went completely unnoticed at the time (1972-73) but represents today an authentic and rare collectible item from the heyday of progressive rock music. Some of the original vinyl releases from 1973 change hands for hundreds of pounds each but are extremely rare. Only recently have the names of the musicians originally involved been revealed, together with the story of the group. They are from Busto Arsizio, a town in the province of Varese in Northern Italy. The singer Lydia's true identity is not known and is still shrouded in mystery. She is probably a pseudonym created by producer Fernando Lattuada. Even the curious Latin name of 'Hellua Xenium', which means 'burning other people's property', is strange, and even more so is the music although quite well known in Italy and in other progressive rock aficionado countries. No one before had ever composed something so mysterious and striking, combining lyrics dealing with the apocalypse and divine justice and a vibrant, visceral, Gothic theme running through the dark rock music, over which stands Lydia's evocative and ethereal voice. In 1972 Italy already had their Black Widow, but unfortunately no one noticed them at the time. "Guai a voi! / Invocazione" was the first single the band released on Rusty Records label. Rusty records is a famous Italian indie music label founded in 1968 by Gianni Rugginenti. This was the first sign of how successful and important Lydia E Gli Hellua Xenium could have become if only they had released an album to follow the single. This 45rpm 7" single is now re-issued by AMS Records, identical to the original version, with the addition of a mini-poster with the full history of the group, and in Solid Red vinyl: a unique and special edition of 500 copies, exclusively released for Record Store Day 2017. In one word: unmissable.