The group was formed by four German musicians living in northern Italy, near Varese (three of them had grown up there, Thurn-Mithoff arrived in 1968), along with two italians, keyboardist Nicola Pankoff (originating from Arona) and bassist Mauro Rattaggi. The initial name was The Joice, but it was changed by mistake by their record company to Yoice, and it was with this name that their first single was released by the small Produzioni Ventotto label, distributed by Messaggerie Musicali.In 1972, when Rattaggi quit and rhythm guitarist Schoene switched to bass, the group changed its name to Analogy, and had the chance to play some very important concerts like Caracalla Pop Festival in Rome (first concert with the new name) or the Be-In in Naples, though they remained totally unknown outside Italy, apart from Switzerland. Their only album, very rare and interesting, shows some rock-blues influences, with the nice voice of singer Jutta Nienhaus in strong evidence, and had a distinctive cover with the group members all naked.
In 1973 keyboardist Nicola Pankoff left the group, though he kept playing and also dedicating to painting, he was replaced by flutist Rocco Abate. The group split around 1974, after more than 250 concerts in Italy and around 60 in Switzerland.
Jutta Taylor-Nienhaus and Martin Thurn-Mithoff collaborated with Franco Battiato on his Sulle corde di Aries 1973 album, with the musician/composer Paolo Ciarchi and also with director/actor Dario Fo’s Collettivo Teatrale La Comune in 1974 (they appear on a cassette called Cammina, cammina). These two musicians then moved to England, where they formed a new band called Earthbound in 1975. The original group split in 1977 and soon reformed with new musicians, only releasing a rare EP, with a style not far from Curved Air but even some influences from the then popular new-wave. It’s odd to notice that Nienhaus and Thurn introduced themselves in the press information sheets as past members of the “Italian group Analogy”. During their career Earthbound also played some dates in Northern Italy, and split at the end of 1979.
The same two musicians recorded in 1980 in London an ambitious symphonic-influenced opera, “The suite”, which had been composed and played live since 1974, but this was only released for the first time in 1993, again under the old name Analogy. A new CD, released in 1996 by the German Ohrwaschl label but recorded in Italy, includes reworkings of old songs by a line-up including the above duo of Nienhaus and Thurn and original bassist Rattaggi with other musicians. The album was intended as a homage to drummer Mops Nienhaus, passed away some years before.
The only live appearance after these recordings was in 2003 when Analogy (Jutta Taylor-Nienhaus, Martin Thurn-Mithoff, Mauro Rattaggi and Geoff Cooper, second drummer of Earthbound) played “God’s Own Land” in a club near Saarbrücken for Jutta’s 50th birthday. It was the first concert ever by Analogy in Germany!
“Analogy” is a very rare and expensive album, pressed in around 1000 copies, some of which had a promotional stamp on label. It had a delicate single cover made of thin cardboard, and some copies were wrapped in a giant poster with a foot (pictured also on the back cover, this was in fact an ashtray!), folded in six parts, to hide the naked bodies. The original picture used for the LP had the six members of Yoice, but at the time of its release Mauro Rattaggi had left the group, so he was hidden under a blue stripe printed on the cover. The Akarma reissue has a retouched picture of the five Analogy members without the blue stripe which has been added to the record like the Japanese albums’ obi’s. The album was reissued for the first time in Germany by Ohrwaschl, with a cover identical to the original and a different poster (with the five musicians naked), and later by Akarma, with a reworked gatefold cover. The CD reissue by Garden of Delights issued in 2001 contains an unreleased extra track, Milan on a sunday morning. The CD The suite was issued in Germany in 1993 by Ohrwaschl, and later in 10-inch form by Akarma in 2000 with a different cover design. Even the single by Yoice is rare. The track “Sold out” also appears on a promo single backed with a song by Terza Classe. The song “God’s own land” also appears on a promotional single, but under the name Eternity, on the other side the German group Ihre Kinder. Eternity was the name of the old band of Wolfgang Schoene, and was chosen by the record company for this promo single. The Earthbound single is rather rare, having been issued in 2000 copies each for both the 7-inch and 12-inch versions, the latter has an extra track. The 12″ version has a laminated cover and an insert. Singer Jutta Nienhaus also appears on a 1971 single issued on the Cooper label (CPI 7008) by Jutta & Ice, containing “Here’s to you” and “Hot love” also issued in a juke box version with blank cover.
This exclusive deluxe – limited to 500 copies – boxset features ALL songs recorded by Analogy-Earthbound over the last 40 years, including lots of material never issued on cd, and even some completely unreleased tracks, for a total of 38 tracks!
The box includes a huge book with many unreleased picture and an extensive band history in English, German and Italian. All vintage songs have been carefully remasterd.
A must have for psych-prog freaks!!!
