Luca Prodan


Luca Prodan was an Italian Scottish musician and singer who rose to fame as the leading vocalist of Sumo -- one of the most influential rock bands of Argentina -- and is widely considered as one of the country's most important artists. He was the older brother of film actor and composer Andrea Prodan.

Biography

Luca Prodan was born in Rome on 17 May 1953, and he had not only Italian origins but Scottish as well. He was born after the return of the Prodan family from China: his father had set up a prosperous business in ancient Chinese pottery that became untenable after the Japanese invasion of China during World War II.
In his youth, his parents sent him to the prestigious Gordonstoun College in Scotland; The same school attended by Prince Charles, Prince of Wales: Prodan left a year before graduating. After that, he moved to London.
He moved to London in the 1970s and worked at EMI. While in London, he formed his first band, The New Clear Heads, which shared aesthetics with contemporary punk bands like XTC, The Fall, Joy Division and Wire.
In 1981, after a heroin crisis in late 1970s London, he moved to the farm of an old Anglo-Argentine friend, Timmy McKern, in the central hills of Córdoba Province, Argentina, seeking peace to try to kick his heroin addiction.
After some time at the farm in the Traslasierra valley, he settled in Hurlingham, where he founded and led Sumo and the Hurlingham Reggae Band.

Death and legacy

Prodan died either of a heart attack or cirrhosis of the liver in Buenos Aires shortly before Christmas 1987.
After his death, he became an icon of Argentine rock culture. Graffiti stating "Luca Not Dead" has been spotted around the world, especially in South America and Europe.
Two posthumous records of pre-Sumo recordings are available and provide an "insider's" view of the artist. Recorded mostly in the Traslasierra region of Córdoba, Argentina, they bear testimony to his musical influences and inspiration: Peter Hammill, David Bowie, Jim Morrison, Nick Drake, Lou Reed, Ian Dury, Ian Curtis of Joy Division and Bob Marley.
After his death, two bands were formed by former Sumo members: Divididos and Las Pelotas. It is believed that the actual names came after a heated Prodan's answer referring to an eventual Sumo break-up: ""Are we breaking up, you say? Bollocks we are!""; hence Divididos and Las Pelotas.

Discography

With Sumo