Carlo Conti

At Taverna Fiesolana: ‘Carlo, tonight I want to see even the columns dancing’

“The best memory? The one from the years ’78-’79 at the club I remained most attached to in

Florence: Taverna Fiesolana. I often think back to what the owner, the great Renzo Cocchi, used to tell me: ‘Carlo, tonight I want to see even the columns dancing.’ In the late ’70s, you’d play the first record at 10:00 PM, then around midnight the slow songs because people would start leaving. Girls went to the club to dance, boys to pick up girls. That was the secret of the dance floor. I believe I enjoyed a wonderful period also thanks to the first private radio stations. We took care of everything: from egg cartons to soundproof the rooms to finding a turntable to play records on. If the legendary Monte Morello transmitter went down, we pioneering DJs—Baldini, Monti, myself, and others—would rush to fix it at any hour.”