Crazy core, Naples core. The eternal nu jeans e ‘na tee-shirt guy is in the middle of his ‘My 80s’ tour, and he doesn’t seem to want to stop. “I want to stay on stage until the end,” he said with a smile at the end of our long interview. The Neapolitan singer starts again on stage – not neomelodic, he takes great pains to show it -. On Sunday he will be in Bari, Palaflorio for another adventure of his very long career.
How much fun are you having driving around in your ’80s cool?
“Very, very much. 80s songs are the songs that made me famous. They are the best moments of my life. I thought I’d give it to the regular audience as well as all the little kids who never saw my shows in those years. It is also a gift for myself.”
What song from this show do you feel most connected to?
“I always get excited when I sing ‘Nu jeans e ‘na tee-shirt’. It’s the song that gave me everything I have today, the beginning of my dream. It changed my life, marked my path.”
His path is not easy…
“Everyone has their own story. I was born in the small and it is not always possible to get out of the small.
And his parents? Did they believe in this art?
“My mother wanted me to become a singer, my father wanted me to bring home money. The years when unemployment was a piece of furniture in our house (laughs ed.). In the end it was successful for me, I was lucky. You need talent, but you won’t get anywhere without luck.”
When did you realize you could do it?
“Around the time Nu jeans e ‘na tee-shirt was released. I was convinced that I was doing something revolutionary during the years when Neapolitan music became almost the song of the underworld.”
What do you think about talent shows that often put young people with no experience on the big stage?
“Talents are of no use if you don’t have talent. In any case, I think that apprenticeship is the key.”
Is there a risk that these programs “burn” young artists?
“Maybe. But between having nothing and having this, it’s better to have this than nothing (laughs ed.).”
What is your relationship with your land? How is your experience of being Neapolitan going?
“Naples has always been a city highly valued for its music. Everyone sang the Neapolitan song, I am proud to be a son of this land. I am proud to come from a city of poets like Salvatore Di Giacomo and Libero Bovio. Neapolitan music is not national-popular, but global-popular.”
Have you ever felt that your Neapolitan nature is a hindrance to your career?
“Absolutely yes. When I came to Milan, we were labeled as southerners. For many years I was considered “southern Italian”. We were immigrants of that time. We are the ones who came by boat today.”
And have you suffered from it?
“Less like a boy…”
Why was he a little arrogant?
“Exactly. Also because being ‘small’ was normal for me. I was born small, I didn’t rebel against it.”
But then life gave him a chance to escape…
“Yes, it gets better when you get ‘old’. How to be poor and find wealth. Although I don’t deny this poverty, it left me values ​​that I don’t see in today’s society.”
What values ​​do you mean?
“Take your family, friendship. As a boy, I never suffered from loneliness. Today I have millions of fans and I feel alone. I lived when the community itself was a family, there was no stranger in our neighborhood: the lady who lived next to me was my mother when she was not there. It was a good thing, today we look at others with disbelief.”
Speaking of music, what do you think of the new school of Neapolitan singers?
“Each time has its own artists. The acid test would be to see where these new faces are in fifty years. Time gives certain answers.”
Got someone you want to bet on?
“Today they have already won the bet. I am uncertain about the future. We are at the center of a big change in the music scene, a change that I have a hard time understanding.”
What was your relationship with Sanremo?
“Last year someone said that Geolier Ariston was the first to bring a song entirely in Neapolitan to the Ariston stage. In the 80s, I sang “Vai”, a semi-Neapolitan song. Then in 1999 I sang “Senza Jacket and Crevatta” entirely in Neapolitan, and again in 2003 “A storia ‘e nisciuno”. Encyclopedias of Neapolitan song should be updated (laughs, ed.). And before me, Peppino Di Capri.”
Not long ago, he caused a small controversy around saying, “I will never be a neo-melodic singer”…
“The definition of ‘neomelodic’ came in the 90s. I think the first neomelodic singer is Gigi D’Alessio. I was born much earlier as a Neapolitan singer. I was post-Merola, post-Sergio Bruni. But there was always a misunderstanding with me, never I am not fully appreciated.”
But what is the real misunderstanding with him?
“You know I never understood that? Maybe a question of principle, maybe out of prejudice. “I don’t like Nino D’Angelo,” many people say, perhaps without even listening to the song.
We conclude with a question about Maradona. What memories do you have of Diego?
“He was a great person. He made mistakes, I’m not here to judge them, and he paid dearly for them.”
Did many have a grudge against him?
“When you’re as big as he is, they try to bring you down. He came from nothing like me. In terms of humanity, we are similar in a certain way.”
Is there an episode you remember about your friendship with him?
“When we shot the movie “Tifosi”, I saw him 30 kilos heavier. That’s when I realized he was sick, nobody did anything to help him.”
Have you ever tried to talk to us?
“Yeah, but he never told me about his drug problems. He was disappointed by many things in life. And his character was difficult to control. “Diego could not control Maradona.”
How do you see yourself in a few years? Will he continue the music?
“Yes, if God gives me strength and people come to the concerts. I’m not forever, but I want to stay on stage until the end.”