Massimo Morsello
Encyclopedia
Massimo Morsello was an Italian
far-right political activist and singer-songwriter
. He was the main figure of Italian far-right political music
and, with Roberto Fiore
, a co-founder of the Italian neofascist movement Forza Nuova. He was born, in Rome
, on November 10, 1958 and later died, in London
, on March 10, 2001.
n, and fled to Italy after the Communist takeover. He described his father as "deeply anticommunist" and an admirer of the social philosophy of Fascism
.
In 1975, at the age of 16, he joined the Italian post-fascist party Movimento Sociale Italiano. He became a member of the juvenile political association Fronte della Gioventù and, although not attending a university, joined FUAN, an organization of right-wing university students. FUAN was less dependent on parliamentary politics than other organizations, and it was something of a thinktank of the Italian far-right youth in the late 1970s. During the so-called "Anni di Piombo" or Lead Years
he became involved in various violent episodes and is thought to have possibly been a member of the neofascist terrorist organization Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari
. He was sentenced to 9 years and 6 months for crimes related to terrorism.
In these years he also began his career as a musician, with his first performance being at the first Hobbit Camp. He gained the nickname Massimino among the far-right members of Italian society.
After the Bologna Massacre
of August 2, 1980, Massimo Morsello, Roberto Fiore
, leader of Terza Posizione
and seven other people were accused of subversive association. They escaped first to Germany
, then, after a few months, to London
. Italy called for their extradition
but it was refused by England
because the crimes they were accused of were only political. It has been rumoured that Morsello and Fiore escaped extradition by collaborating with the MI6.
At the beginning of their exile, Morsello and Fiore survived by taking temporary work in restaurants. In 1986, thanks to their friendship with various far-right exponents like Nick Griffin
, they managed to found "Meeting Point", which was later renamed "Easy London". Easy London is a society that helps young students and workers live and work in London by providing jobs, beds, and contracts. This rapidly made Morsello and Fiore wealthy (the profits being around 15 million euro
s), but the society was more of a fundraising tool to help various far-right organizations in Italy. "Easy London" is still active.
While in London, Morsello continued his musical activities. He played a concert entitled Scusate, ma non posso venire ("Sorry, but I can't come in") that was transmitted to Italy by satellite on July 22, 1996.
In the second half of the 1990s, Morsello was diagnosed with cancer
. He attempted the controversial somatostatin
therapy of Prof. Di Bella
, with no success. In April 1999, Morsello was able to return to Italy without being incarcerated due to his worsening health condition. He nevertheless still managed to play music until his death in 2001 and helped Fiore found Forza Nuova.
or Oi!
, Morsello instead put far-right political themes into a more traditional acoustic
, folk
guitar-based songwriting. His self-admitted main influence is the Italian singer and songwriter Francesco De Gregori
. In his later works he tried to develop a more personal style, influenced by psychedelia, especially in songs like Otto di Settembre and Vandea. His lyrics focused on themes like revolution
, nationalism
, Fascism
, abortion
and European Union
, all from an unambiguously far-right point of view.
The songs of Morsello are often of good quality and can be safely compared to those of much more famous Italian political left-wing songwriters like Francesco Guccini
or Claudio Lolli
. A self-proclaimed Fascist
, his far-right political leanings, as expressed in his songs, won the praise of far-right supporters, but hindered his acceptance by the mainstream public. His first three albums were released as demo tapes and only later re-mastered on CD
. Nevertheless, he was the best selling far-right Italian songwriter, selling 15,000 copies of his record Punto di non ritorno.
Morsello took advantage of the low profile he had in the mainstream to play a prank on the Italian communist newspaper
Il Manifesto
. He published a half-page ad
of his record La direzione del vento declaring it "a truly revolutionary record" and emphasizing his friendly stance towards the Palestinians, one of the few platforms he shared with the far-left. The day after, the newspaper, having discovered from letters sent by its readers the identity of Morsello, publicly apologized and tried to give back the money paid by Morsello.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
far-right political activist and singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
. He was the main figure of Italian far-right political music
Music and politics
The connection between music and politics, particularly political expression in music, has been seen in many cultures. Although music influences political movements and rituals, it is not clear how or even if, general audiences relate music on a political level...
and, with Roberto Fiore
Roberto Fiore
Roberto Fiore is an Italian nationalist politician and a founding member of the European third position movement which is against both communism and capitalism...
, a co-founder of the Italian neofascist movement Forza Nuova. He was born, in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, on November 10, 1958 and later died, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, on March 10, 2001.
Biography
Massimo Morsello was born in a bourgeois family of Rome. His mother was BulgariaBulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n, and fled to Italy after the Communist takeover. He described his father as "deeply anticommunist" and an admirer of the social philosophy of Fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
.
In 1975, at the age of 16, he joined the Italian post-fascist party Movimento Sociale Italiano. He became a member of the juvenile political association Fronte della Gioventù and, although not attending a university, joined FUAN, an organization of right-wing university students. FUAN was less dependent on parliamentary politics than other organizations, and it was something of a thinktank of the Italian far-right youth in the late 1970s. During the so-called "Anni di Piombo" or Lead Years
Strategy of tension
The strategy of tension is a theory that describes how to divide, manipulate, and control public opinion using fear, propaganda, disinformation, psychological warfare, agents provocateurs, and false flag terrorist actions....
he became involved in various violent episodes and is thought to have possibly been a member of the neofascist terrorist organization Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari
Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari
The Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari was an Italian neofascist terrorist organization active from 1977 to November 1981. It committed 33 murders in four years, and had planned to assassinate Francesco Cossiga, Gianfranco Fini and Adolfo Urso...
. He was sentenced to 9 years and 6 months for crimes related to terrorism.
In these years he also began his career as a musician, with his first performance being at the first Hobbit Camp. He gained the nickname Massimino among the far-right members of Italian society.
After the Bologna Massacre
Bologna massacre
The Bologna massacre was a terrorist bombing of the Central Station at Bologna, Italy, on the morning of Saturday, 2 August 1980, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 200. The attack has been materially attributed to the neo-fascist terrorist organization Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari...
of August 2, 1980, Massimo Morsello, Roberto Fiore
Roberto Fiore
Roberto Fiore is an Italian nationalist politician and a founding member of the European third position movement which is against both communism and capitalism...
, leader of Terza Posizione
Terza Posizione
The Terza Posizione was a far right group founded in Rome in 1978 . The TP rejected both capitalism and socialism, looking instead to found a political and economic Third Position, with its main influence being Julius Evola...
and seven other people were accused of subversive association. They escaped first to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, then, after a few months, to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Italy called for their extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
but it was refused by England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
because the crimes they were accused of were only political. It has been rumoured that Morsello and Fiore escaped extradition by collaborating with the MI6.
At the beginning of their exile, Morsello and Fiore survived by taking temporary work in restaurants. In 1986, thanks to their friendship with various far-right exponents like Nick Griffin
Nick Griffin
Nicholas John "Nick" Griffin is a British politician, chairman of the British National Party and Member of the European Parliament for North West England....
, they managed to found "Meeting Point", which was later renamed "Easy London". Easy London is a society that helps young students and workers live and work in London by providing jobs, beds, and contracts. This rapidly made Morsello and Fiore wealthy (the profits being around 15 million euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s), but the society was more of a fundraising tool to help various far-right organizations in Italy. "Easy London" is still active.
While in London, Morsello continued his musical activities. He played a concert entitled Scusate, ma non posso venire ("Sorry, but I can't come in") that was transmitted to Italy by satellite on July 22, 1996.
In the second half of the 1990s, Morsello was diagnosed with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. He attempted the controversial somatostatin
Somatostatin
Somatostatin is a peptide hormone that regulates the endocrine system and affects neurotransmission and cell proliferation via interaction with G-protein-coupled somatostatin receptors and inhibition of the release of numerous secondary hormones.Somatostatin...
therapy of Prof. Di Bella
Luigi di Bella
Luigi di Bella was an Italian medical doctor and physiology professor. In the late 1990s, he created a purported treatment for cancer that precipitated an international controversy. Di Bella was born in Linguaglossa, Sicily. He studied medicine at Bari University, and worked as an army doctor in...
, with no success. In April 1999, Morsello was able to return to Italy without being incarcerated due to his worsening health condition. He nevertheless still managed to play music until his death in 2001 and helped Fiore found Forza Nuova.
Music
While most Italian right-wing musicians are influenced by Celtic musicCeltic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
or Oi!
Oi!
Oi! is a working class subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads and other working-class youths ....
, Morsello instead put far-right political themes into a more traditional acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
guitar-based songwriting. His self-admitted main influence is the Italian singer and songwriter Francesco De Gregori
Francesco De Gregori
Francesco De Gregori is an Italian singer-songwriter. He is popularly known as "Il Principe Poeta" , a nickname referring to the elegance of his lyrics.-1970s:...
. In his later works he tried to develop a more personal style, influenced by psychedelia, especially in songs like Otto di Settembre and Vandea. His lyrics focused on themes like revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
, nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
, Fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, all from an unambiguously far-right point of view.
The songs of Morsello are often of good quality and can be safely compared to those of much more famous Italian political left-wing songwriters like Francesco Guccini
Francesco Guccini
Francesco Guccini is an Italian singer-songwriter, considered one of the most important Cantautori. During the five decades of his music career he has recorded 16 studio albums and collections, and 6 live albums. He is also a writer, having published autobiographic and noir novels, and a comics...
or Claudio Lolli
Claudio Lolli
Claudio Lolli is an Italian singer-songwriter, poet, writer and secondary school teacher.-Biography:His first musical experiences started in the early 70s into the Osteria delle Dame of Bologna. Francesco Guccini introduced him into the music company EMI Italiana, who edited his first four LP from...
. A self-proclaimed Fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, his far-right political leanings, as expressed in his songs, won the praise of far-right supporters, but hindered his acceptance by the mainstream public. His first three albums were released as demo tapes and only later re-mastered on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
. Nevertheless, he was the best selling far-right Italian songwriter, selling 15,000 copies of his record Punto di non ritorno.
Morsello took advantage of the low profile he had in the mainstream to play a prank on the Italian communist newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
Il Manifesto
Il Manifesto
il manifesto is an Italian newspaper. While it calls itself communist, it is not connected to any political party. It was founded as a monthly review in 1969 by a collective of left-wing journalists engaged in the wave of critical thought and activity on the Italian left in that period. Prominent...
. He published a half-page ad
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
of his record La direzione del vento declaring it "a truly revolutionary record" and emphasizing his friendly stance towards the Palestinians, one of the few platforms he shared with the far-left. The day after, the newspaper, having discovered from letters sent by its readers the identity of Morsello, publicly apologized and tried to give back the money paid by Morsello.
Discography
- Per me… e la mia gente (1978) , first released as demo tape
- I nostri canti assassini (1981) , first released as demo tape
- Intolleranza (1990) , first released as demo tape
- Punto di non ritorno (1996)
- Massimino, a compilation featuring his first two demo tapes (1997)
- La direzione del vento (1998)
External links
- Massimo Morsello official website - Contains discography, photos, and various other material.
- An eBook with a long interview and many lyrics (PDFPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
) - A short interview from a nationalist fanzine
- A page about the connections between Morsello, Fiore and Easy London
See also
- Amici del Vento
- Compagnia dell'Anello
- Sotto Fascia Semplice