"FRONT RUNNER for Best Of 2008....Stunning arrangements ballast the power of each and ever song here. This is the point where I have to tell you stop reading and just go down below these words and *just listen*!" Bruce Brodeen, Not Lame
"Greatness has rubbed off on Ciampi as this is a wonderful piano based love letter to classic power pop fans. Like the Nines, Frank wears his influences like badges of honor. From the Ziggy Stardust meets Ringo Starr mix on the title track ("Big Top Woman") to the Wondermints-styled "Waiting For Someone" the songs all have a wonderful sense of melody and hooks. The Beatlesque stamp is all over this entire album, with most songs evoking Sir Paul, like "The Miss Jenny" and "Oh Gloria." Lets not forget the Beach Boys bliss-like singles "Anna" and "Anyway." The production techniques are rooted in the 70's, with touches that bring to mind Supertramp or Andrew Gold. A great example of this is "On The Road" with it's awesome guitar solo and multi-tracked chorus, piano breaks, it's an epic poem in every sense that lyrically ties together the other songs. Every track here is wonderful and even the closer "Along for The Ride" evokes the ghost of Big Star. The musicianship is flawless as well and I'm pissed I couldn't add this to last years top ten. If you even like a little bit of the mentioned influences, this is a MUST buy disc."
Aaron Kupferberg, powerpopaholic
"Ciampi’s smart songwriting and appetite for the paradigms of classic pop and rock are a constant, impulsive force throughout Big Top Woman‘s 11 tracks.....Ciampi isn’t just an imitator of aesthetic, however—from song to song, he bends each archetype to his post-modern, irreverent will, yielding spring-loaded pop that’s both fresh and familiar." Zeth Lundy, popmatters.com
"The horns and time shifts in "Little Girl" are worth the price of admission alone; "Madeline Maybe" will stick in your head - no maybes about it; "Waiting For Someone" would have fit in nicely on Smile (yes, that Smile)......There isn't a bad track here to be found." Steve, absolutepowerpop
"...Fast forward a little over two and a half (!) years and it's finally here - and worth every minute we had to wait! In a nutshell, he liberally sprinkles elements (hooks, harmonies, strings, guitars, and keyboards) of pure and sweet 60's and 70's pop throughout his absolutely brilliant debut!" Ray Gianchetti, KoolKatMusik
UN-FABRICATED BIO:
Power-Pop singer/songwriter Frank Ciampi was born and raised in Long Island, NY. Now residing in Boston, Frank has self-released his debut album ‘Big Top Woman.’ He has previously co-written with Atlantic Records recording artists, The Click Five. His first release with the Click was on their ‘Modern Minds and Pastimes’ release. Frank also has his song ‘Anna’ featured in the upcoming motion picture, ‘Being Michael Madsen’ staring Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah and Vanessa Rappaport. In addition to his songwriting, Ciampi plays bass for singer/songwriter Mike Viola (That Thing You Do, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Candy Butchers). As of October 2007, Frank is a featured blogger on TheOneLove.org, a non-profit charity blog community for musicians and artists.
FABRICATED BIO:
frank ciampi was born a poor and uneducated soul. growing up in an upper middle class white family in NY is rough, obviously. So he headed out into the world on his own, quickly accomplishing two of his life goals before the tender age of 20. the first of two was when he dramatically delivered a baby in an elevator. To be honest and fair, it was actually twins. the birth mother was really nice and they shared a few cocktails afterwards to celebrate. The second goal being that he won the WWE championship belt after winning the 1993 royal rumble. His quick thinking and athletic but nimble figure helped him eliminate "the nature boy" ric flair during the 63min, thus making him the youngest world wrestling champion ever.
Beyond his apparent abilities in doctoring and wrestling frank took a liking to music. Today he resides in mass. and continues what he does best; cultivating larger chemical induced gala apples for mass distribution
I love the Big Top Women song it makes you want to get up and wiggle. Your vocals go well with your music and sometimes i get lost in your music and loose your vocals but all in all i love your work keep it up =)
aye how things going? your myspace is looking awesome! anyway, i just grabbed some sweet new tones from www.hottones.info for FREE! they have the tightest shit!
With much LOVE ,a dream has come true...As promised Im letting those who may have asked know......Please let me announce to my friends that my solo effort " DreamSong " is now at CD baby and you can try out the entire work for free...I think you will enjoy it as it is a new and different pop rock concept album, Maybe the first of its kind done exclusively with guitar synths ...An eclectic soundtrack of those forgotten previous lives. Wishing you the best of music and creativity ! Love makes dreams come true.
despite the lack of funky monkey I still need to give credit where it's due.. the album is super catchy and a pleasure from start to finish. You've come a long way from "TBA crew driving in the car where taco bell eats are never too far." Maybe on the next album you can put a chocobo on the cover like this..
oh hey, just putting in my request for your song Anna to be downloadable. i have faith that you might be able to make it happen. love, your hands down-no questions asked-self proclaimed-number one fan.
