Armando Gallo

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Armando Gallo is an Italian journalist and photographer.

Armando Gallo has been a photo journalist since 1967, when he accepted a challenge to interview The Beatles for the Italian magazine, "BIG". Inspired by this experience he left his career as an architectural designer to become London correspondent for the Italian rock weekly "CIAO 2001", covering the ever changin English pop scene.

His most high-profile work was a book about the band Genesis entitled The Evolution of a Rock Band originally published in 1978. This book is an extended history of the band's early days which has never been covered by any other biographical source. (Most biographical information about Genesis was written after they achieved their peak of stardom in the 1980s, and rarely achieved more than skimming over the early period.)

The book was reprinted as I Know What I Like in 1980 with an update about the three years since the first printing. This book was never widely available. He also has written several books on Genesis founding member Peter Gabriel. Both sets of books are among the most widely sought memorabilia for fans of the group and Gabriel worldwide.

In 1982, with his brother Claudio, he formed Fratelli Gallo Editori in Italy, producing and publishing over 40 books and the monthly magazine "PIX Photorock."

By the early 1990s, after Genesis had reached a peak in popularity, the book remained out of print, and there was no sign it would ever come back. Zealous fans on the Internet typed out the text of the book as ASCII text in the early 1990s, but when plans for a reprint were announced, these files were taken down.

All information about the early years of Genesis that is found in other sources usually traces itself back to this book. (An example is the full names of each member.)

A collection of celebrities with the book show that his books are an entree to fans of their music from around the world. One notable fan seen reading I Know What I Like was Bob Marley perusing it on the steps of his home.

A prolific chronicler of the music scene, Gallo has also directed the U2 "Even Better than the Real Thing" video in the Achtung Baby Video collection as well as numerous Italian rock videos.

Gallo has worked as a photo-journalist in Hollywood for the last 35 years representing Sorrisi e Canzoni publication of Italy as their Los Angeles correspondent. He is also a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and as such is a voting member for the Golden Globes.

[edit] Bibliography

Genesis: The Evolution of a Rock Band by Armando Gallo 1978. Sidgwick and Jackson Limited. ISBN 0 283 98440 6 (paper) or 0 283 98439 2 (cloth). 145 pages.
Genesis: I Know What I Like by Armando Gallo 1980. DIY Books ISBN 0283 987030. Came in softcover, hardcover, and leatherbound editions.
"Genesis: From One Fan to Another" by Armando Gallo 1984. Omnibus Press ISBN 0 7119 0515 0. Softcover and ISBN 0 7119 0514 2 Hardcover.
"Peter Gabriel by Armando Gallo" 1986. Omnibus Press ISBN 0 7119 0783 8 Softcover.