The Consummate Rock-n-Roll Journalist and Photographer, Armando Gallo will join us at ProgStock 2025!
Armando Gallo was born in Oriago, Italy, an ancient village a few miles from Venice, where he spent his childhood. His family settled in Rome during his teen years. After earning his architectural degree, he moved to London to work for Chamberlain Parking Systems. A huge Beatles fan he was lucky enough to make his way to the listening party of The Beatles “Sgt. Pepper Lonely Heart Club Band”. His story was published in June 1967 in the Italian weekly “BIG”, the magazine he used to read back in Italy. Inspired by this experience he soon left his career as an architectural designer to become London correspondent for the Italian rock weekly “CIAO 2001”, covering the ever-changing British pop scene. He met and wrote about Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Van Der Graaf Generator, Gentle Giant, Rare Bird, Procol Harum, Colosseum, Emerson Lake and Palmer, King Crimson, Roxy Music, Elton John, Uriah Heep, Who, Stones, Bowie and more… without forgetting Genesis, his favorite band of that magical musical period. He discovered America with Alice Cooper in Detroit and soon after he toured the States with the talented Italian band PFM falling in love with the Los Angeles.
He left London in the Spring of 1975 to take a position in Hollywood as a correspondent for the top Italian weekly “TV Sorrisi e Canzoni” covering now the movie scene, interviewing living legends like John Wayne and Henry Fonda and a young Steven Spielberg fresh from the success of “Jaws”. When he heard the news that Peter Gabriel had left Genesis, he decided to write a book about them, “otherwise a beautiful story would be lost forever” he recalled. Peter had found difficulties to jump-start his solo career. Music publishers and record companies seemed unsure of his songwriting talent. Indeed Genesis, with drummer Phil Collins taking over as lead singer, went on to be more successful than ever. For Armando the book was meant to set the real story of Genesis and Peter strong contribution during their first formative years, and a way to document the late ’60s and early ’70s, an era that he witnessed and remembered with passion. “Genesis The Evolution of a Rock Band” was published by Sidgwick and Jackson of London in June 1978 to coincide with Genesis headlining the huge Knebworth rock festival. Two years later the book was published in USA as “Genesis I Know What I Like” by Armando’s own imprint, DIY Books, inspired by Peter Gabriel’s song DIY – “…You want some control/ You’ve got to keep it small/ Do it yourself/ DIY DIY…” In America the book was sold mostly in record stores, a pioneering experiment that the fans transformed in a success story. In Britain Sidgwick and Jackson became the distributor of the new book that had various reprints.
In 1982, Armando formed DIY Books Europe in order to publish an Italian, French and German version of the Genesis book and the following year, with his brother Claudio on board, he changed the name to Fratelli Gallo Editori, in Rome, producing and publishing over 40 rock books and the monthly magazine PIX Photorock that featured the artists of the month through the eyes of their personal photographers.
Always a free spirit Armando spent the ‘80s going on tour all over the world with Gabriel, Madonna, Toto, INXS and U2, while discovering material for his Italian publishing company: books on Duran Duran, Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd, The Police, Lou Reed, Madonna, Culture Club, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley and more.
In October 1986, following the courageous and inspiring Amnesty International’s Conspiracy of Hope tour, he published a special book that he had been working on with Peter Gabriel. “This is not a biography”, he wrote in the introduction. Indeed the text was from a series of late-night conversations with Gabriel, and the artist thoughts were laid out around photos of his solo career after leaving Genesis. “I Know What I Like” and “Peter Gabriel” are still now among the most widely sought after memorabilia for fans of Genesis and Gabriel worldwide.
In April 1987 Armando started touring with U2 as a live concert photographer in America, Europe, Australia and Japan. By the end of 1992’s Achtung Baby tour he produced, for U2, a video of the song “Even Better Than the Real Thing” using film clips and hundreds of stills. The organic design was by Italian graphic artist Kampah, and the newly born Mac.
In September 2014 Armando released an App of his 1980 Genesis book. An ambitious project financed by Genesis fans from all over the world with a Kickstarter campaign headed by Argentinian fan Gabriel Foux who co-directed the interactive Book App with Armando and Zentric of Buenos Aires.
Gallo was awarded two Italian Telegatto awards in 1998 and in 2000 for his work as a correspondent from Hollywood. In 2009 he was the first recipient of The Traveling Heart award in Los Angeles during the HitWEEK music festival for his contribution to Italian music abroad. Franco Battiato presented him with the award.
Armando has been a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association since 1978 and as such he is a voting judge for the Golden Globes. His photographs of the most famous movie stars and rock musicians have graced many magazines and album covers. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Cheryl.
Links
Official Website: https://armandogallo.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArmandoG1944