Elio e le Storie Tese is a satirical rock band formed in Milan in 1980 by Stefano Belisari, alias "Elio". The original line-up, formed in high school in the 1970s, underwent a series of changes before settling down in 1986. In addition to the singer and guitarist, it then included David Civaschi (guitar), Sergio Conforti (keyboards, drum machine) and Nicola Fasani (bass), with a Drumulator playing the drummer's role, before Christian Meyer was recruited in 1988, the same year as Paolo Panigada alias Feiez's multi-instrumentalist (saxophone, guitar, bass, percussion). It was in this configuration that the first album Elio samaga hukapan kariyana turu (1989) was recorded, which under its provocative title in Sinhalese hides short satirical pieces and an alternative style rooted in progressive rock. The album was a great success, and long after its release it enjoyed a cult following in Italy, with the local edition of Rolling Stone magazine ranking it among the fifteen best Italian albums of all time. The group continued in this vein with subsequent albums The Los Sri Lanka Parakramabahu Brothers Featuring Elio e le Storie Tese (1990), Italyan, run casusu çikti (1992), Eat the Phikis (1996) and Peerla (1998), the last of which featured Feiez, who died in 1998. The Craccracriccrecr album (1999) was produced as a quintet, with numerous guests, and coincided with the group's winning the trophy for Best Italian Group at the MTV Europe Music Awards. Having become very popular in Italy, the band hired a new keyboardist in the person of Antonello Aguzzi alias Jantoman and, after a Live in Japan (2001), signed the studio album Cicciput (2003), followed by Studentessi (2008) with contributions from Giorgia, Antonella Ruggiero, Irene Grandi, Paola Cortellesi, Claudio Bisio and Claudio Baglioni, then L'Album biango (2013), in reference to the Beatles' double white album, all of which went gold. The year 2013 also saw the band's second win at the Sanremo Festival, following their 1996 victory. In 2014, the group presents its six-episode musical Il Musichione on TV. Split up in 2017 after their final album Figatta de Blanc (2016), they made a comeback at the Sanremo Festival the following year, before a farewell tour. A reunion nevertheless took place in 2022 at a concert in support of Ukraine. The band's popularity has led to numerous compilations, including Esco dal mio corpo e ho molta paura: Gli inediti 1979-1986, released in 1993; Del meglio del nostro meglio, Vol. 1 (1997) and Yes, We Can't (2017). A new single, "Natale in Trincea", was released in 2024.
