Sumo was a 1980s

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines ...

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band, heavily influenced by

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the ...

and

funk-metal Funk metal (also known as thrash-funk or punk-funk) is a subgenre of funk rock and alternative metal that infuses heavy metal music (often thrash metal) with elements of funk and punk rock. Funk metal was part of the alternative metal movement, ...

. Led by Italian-born Scottish Luca Prodan, it remained underground for most of its short activity but was extremely influential in shaping contemporary

Argentine rock Argentine rock (known locally as ''rock nacional'' , "national rock" in the sense of "local", "not international") is rock music composed or performed by Argentine bands or artists mostly in Spanish. Argentine rock began by recycling hits of Engl ...

.Sumo
en Rock.com.ar Consultado el Retrieved January 28, 2017 Sumo is credited with introducing British post-punk to the Argentine scene, mostly by songs with lyrics in English, and with providing a visceral counterpoint to the

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

and '' nueva canción'' influences then dominant in the country's ''

rock en español Rock en español () is a term used widely in the English-speaking world to refer to any kind of rock music featuring Spanish vocals. Compared to English-speaking bands, very few acts reached worldwide success or between Spanish-speaking countrie ...

''.

History

Background

Luca Prodan was born in Rome on 17 May 1953Biografía de Luca Prodan
Retrieved January 28, 2017 of Italian and

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

descent after his family returned from China: His father had set up a prosperous business in ancient Chinese pottery that became untenable after the

Japanese invasion of China The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific The ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In his youth, Luca was sent to prestigious

Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is locate ...

College in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

—the same Prince Charles of England attended. He escaped Gordonstoun a year before graduation and moved to London soon after. In the 1970s London Luca worked at EMI and formed his first band, ''The New Clear Heads'', which shared aesthetics with contemporary punk acts like XTC, The Fall,

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after att ...

(a name he later translated to Spanish for Sumo's first album ''Divididos por la Felicidad'') and

Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is co ...

. After living in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

—where he was allegedly seen hanging out with

band members—Prodan accepted an invitation from Gordonstoun schoolmate Timmy Mackern to visit his family farm in the Traslasierra zone of Córdoba province in Argentina, thus helping his old friend relax and stay away from heroin (Luca was devastated by the suicide of his sister Claudia, and her boyfriend). Arriving in 1981, he started composing and recording songs at home in a portable studio he had brought from London. Later, tired of the quiet countryside life, he and Timmy relocated in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

' Hurlingham area, interested to join the town's underground music scene.

Luca in Argentina and early Sumo

Argentina was under a repressive military dictatorship, and many music and performing art acts kept a low profile to avoid problems with the police—Café Einstein in the Balvanera district was a favorite venue for such programmes as were some pubs in Olivos. Luca soon found musicians willing to join his then innovative reggae-rock vision.Biografía de Sumo (spanish)
Retrieved January 28, 2017 Sumo's initial lineup consisted of Prodan on vocals and guitar, Germán Daffunchio on guitar,

Alejandro Sokol Alejandro Sokol (30 January 1960 – 12 January 2009) was an Argentine rock musician, who was part of Sumo and Las Pelotas. Sokol was the bassist, and then the drummer, of Sumo in its early days (1981-1984), and left the band because the r ...

on bass, and Stephanie Nuttal (an English friend of Luca's and former member of the band Manicured Noise) on drums. The first incarnation of Sumo played mostly around Prodan's neighborhood of Hurlingham, in the Buenos Aires province, and in Café Einstein. Nuttal had to return to England when the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territori ...

( es, Guerra de las Malvinas/Guerra del Atlántico Sur) started, so Sokol took on the drums while young Hurlingham neighbour Diego Arnedo joined on bass. Then journalist and later media star Roberto Pettinato was a frequent guest to jam with his saxophone; he ended up joining the band fully shortly after. Because of their lyrics in English, Sumo did not enjoy extensive airplay given to other Argentine bands in the wake of the war. In spite of that, it became a pillar of the underground scene together with

Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota, also known simply as Patricio Rey, Los Redondos or Los Redonditos de Ricota, was a rock band formed in La Plata, Argentina. The group was active from the mid 70s up to the early 2000s. They are known for ...

and Los Violadores. Sumo music had different sides: hard-edged rock with an experimental touch, influenced by the sound of British

acts (e g

, The Fall), funky post-punk guitars and strong dub-like bass lines reminiscent of

A Certain Ratio A Certain Ratio (abbreviated as ACR) are an English post-punk band formed in 1977 in Flixton, Greater Manchester by Peter Terrell (guitar, electronics) and Simon Topping (vocals, trumpet), with additional members Jez Kerr (bass, vocals), Martin ...

and

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The ...

's, and a typically British brand of reggae and ska. After a hiatus due to Prodan's temporary return to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, the band committed fully to a rock style in 1984 and spun off the Hurlingham Reggae Band. Ricardo Mollo was added on guitar and Alberto ''Superman'' Troglio replaced Sokol on drums—even if he stayed in the band as a vocalist, bassist (when he played bass, Arnedo played keyboards) and drummer (when he played drums, Troglio did the percussion).

Success, popularity and demise

Sumo started to become a popular act in the mid-1980s as Luca's in-your-face style caught up deeply among teenagers, even if his music could also display a mellower streak. He would shout "

fuck you ''Fuck'' is an English-language expletive. It often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested to arou ...

" randomly or sing a scathing song about dumb blondes, and immediately swoon about his appreciation for common, working class men drinking '' ginebra'' at a

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

In Sumo's later releases some

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

lyrics were added to the band's repertoire. Many of Luca's lyrics featured irony, wordplay and references to

drugs A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...

, dance parties, sex and other aspects of young people's lives, while remaining aloof of the political and economic changes in the Argentina of the 80s. The band's history was linked to entrepreneur Omar Chabán, who was the owner of Café Einstein and celebrated Buenos Aires alternative nightclub ''Cemento''—where Sumo played many times. Due to his drinking habit and vertiginous rock-and-roll lifestyle, Prodan's health deteriorated. He died of a heart attack on 22 December 1987—two days after their last show. After Luca's passing the band dissolved but its legacy was carried on by two bands, Divididos (led by Mollo and Arnedo) and Las Pelotas (Sokol and Daffunchio's project). Some of Sumo's outtakes and their seminal recording ''Corpiños en la madrugada --'' originally sold in cassette format only—were released commercially. Two solo cuts by Prodan recorded between 1981 and 1983 were also released posthumously, "Time, Fate, Love" and "Beautiful Losers". Tributes to Sumo include a 1995 double album fittingly titled "Fuck You"—with famous Argentine musicians' covers of Sumo tracks. On 12 April 2007 surviving original band members Alejandro Sokol (vocals), Ricardo Mollo (guitar), Germán Daffunchio (guitar), Diego Arnedo (bass), Alberto ''Superman'' Troglio (drums), Roberto Pettinato (sax) and Marcelo Rodríguez "Gillespi" as guest trumpetist reunited and played three songs -- ''Crua Chan'', ''Divididos por la Felicidad'' and ''DeBeDe''—during ''Quilmes Rock Festival'' at River Plate Stadium. Early Sumo vocalist, bassist and drummer Alejandro Sokol died on 12 January 2009.Noticia sobre la muerte de Alejandro Sokol
Retrieved January 28, 2017

Band members

1981-1982

* Luca Prodan (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

and

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

) *

(bass guitar, vocals) * Germán Daffunchio (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

) * Ricardo Curtet (guitar) * Stephanie Nutall (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

)

1982-1984

* Luca Prodan (vocals, guitar) *

(drums) * Germán Daffunchio (guitar) * Diego Arnedo (bass guitar) * Roberto Pettinato (

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

)

1984-1987

* Luca Prodan (vocals) * Alberto ''Superman'' Troglio (drums and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

) * Roberto Pettinato (saxophone) * Diego Arnedo (bass guitar and keyboards) * Ricardo Mollo (guitar) * Germán Daffunchio (guitar) *

(vocals, bass guitar and drums)

Discography

* ''Corpiños en la madrugada'' (released as demo, 1983) * ''Divididos por la felicidad'' (1985) * ''Llegando los monos'' (1986) * ''After chabon'' (1987) * ''Fiebre'' (posthumous, 1989)

Compilations

* ''Greatest Hits'' (1988) * ''The Collection'' (1991) * ''Corpiños en la madrugada'' (remastered release, 1992) * ''Obras Cumbres'' (2000)

Notes and references

External links

Sumo biography
on Rock.com.ar (Spanish)

(Spanish)
Sumo reunited after 20 years
(Spanish) {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1981 Argentine post-punk music groups Argentine reggae musical groups Argentine alternative rock groups Argentine punk rock groups Musical groups disestablished in 1988 Reggae rock groups