"Gianni"
by Robert Silverberg
Form: Short story
Year: 1982
ID: 374
Publication history:
- 1982: Playboy February 1982, Magazine
- 1984: The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party, Arbor House Hard cover book
- 1984: The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party, Science Fiction Book Club Hard cover book, 243 pp.
- 1985: The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party, Bantam Mass market paperback, ISBN 0-553-25077-9, 317 pp.
- 1985: The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party, Gollancz Hard cover book, 284 pp.
- 1987: Det brokiga cocktailpartyt, Korpen Mass market paperback, ISBN 91-7374-186-8, in Swedish
- 1989: The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party, Gollancz Mass market paperback, 284 pp.
- 1989: Compagnons secrets, Denol Mass market paperback, ISBN 2-207-30490-6, 352 pp., in French
- 1998: The Playboy Book of Science Fiction, Harper & Row Hard cover book, ISBN 0-06-105288-4, 469 pp.
- 1999: Compagnons secrets, Denol Mass market paperback, ISBN 2207249336, 346 pp., in French
- 2000: The Conglomeroid Cocktail Party, Peanut Press Online
- 2003: Voile vers Byzance: Nouvelles au fil du temps, tome 3, 1981-1987, Flammarion Trade paperback, ISBN 2080682547, 768 pp., in French
Other resources:
[None on record]
Comments:
Giovanni Pergolesi is one of the lesser-known geniuses of music. He wrote prolifically in his short life, then died in 1736 at the age of 25. Some high-minded scientists in 2008 use a machine to pluck the composer from just before his death into the future so they can allow his talents to develop as if he had lived longer. Then Gianni discovers pop music... After all, in his day, opera was pop music.
This is a good story, kinda fun. The dominant musical genre in 2008 is a style called Overload, which seems to be a kind of techno-industrial, full-body, highly rhythmic sound, and it is associated with a drug called slice. The Overload groups mentioned in the story are Booth Wilkes John, Shining Orgasm Revival, Thug, Holy Ghosts, Ultrafoam, Scissors, Toad Star, and Bubblemilk. (Need a name for your band, anyone?) Aside from the music technology, there's mention of anti-gravity (though honestly it could be a colloquial term for something other than actual anti-gravity), and something called pluggie intensifiers which enhance the music at a club called The Quonch. As a cultural note, when Gianni goes modern he dyes his hair red and decks himself out with mood-sensing jewelry that makes noises. Silverberg's evocation of pop-music business and culture is maybe a little off, but hey, it's still a great story.