Radio and Free Radio Stations
A well-known song by Eugenio Finardi celebrates the phenomenon of “Free Radio Stations, truly free.”
Many radio stations came to life in Florence, but some remained etched in everyone’s memory for having taught many how to truly make radio!!! I will therefore begin with the one that more than others embodies this essence: “Radio One.”
Radio One was born in 1975 from a brilliant intuition by Dennis Pieri, Riccardo Tacchini, and Claudio Tilesi. It broadcast throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. Listed in issue 46 of March 1976 of the magazine SUONO STEREO, it was presented by Millecanali as follows: “The model was taken directly from American radio stations: very little Italian music and records that came directly from America or England, jingles galore, beautiful voices, even if polished; this was Big One.
At that time, the word survey hardly made sense, but to give you an idea of how much people talked about it, we can add that many radio stations in Turin, Milan, and Rome had cassettes on which Radio One programs were recorded. Many publishers and artistic directors, in fact, asked the first friend passing through Florence to tune into the station’s frequencies to record everything that was broadcast. Dennis Pieri did the same when he went to London with a large portable recorder, taking jingles and segments from the famous BBC One, as Enrico Tagliaferri, who was also its legal representative in 1990, and Vincenzo Pota, the station’s historic voice known as “Vincent D.J.,” tell us in an interview.
Radio One’s distinctive mark was the high sound quality of its broadcasts, due to the fact that Dennis had purchased one of the first “ORBAN” units, a dynamic compressor that amplified transmitted sounds; the sound came out remodulated, clearer and more powerful. Another characteristic was the selection of tracks and the meticulous care with which Dennis chose his “speakers,” who had to have beautiful, warm voices and above all great professionalism. All this contributed to building what would perhaps become the first true radio network model, at least as far as organizational structure was concerned.
In 1982, Denis declared to a specialized magazine of the period that “the model to follow was Radio Luxembourg, and this immediately allowed the station to have an international imprint. Our audience ranges from eighteen to forty-year-olds, essentially music lovers, and based on the latest statistics, we should reach more than 50,000 listeners.” The music broadcast throughout almost the entire region is a middle ground between the most advanced rock forms and so-called easy listening. Italian songs do not exceed 10%. Particular attention is paid to new trends, but the various DJs do not forget revival. In short, in Radio One’s programs you can find that common thread linking the music of the past to that of the present and future.
Radio One’s schedule in the first half of the 1980s offered many music programs, a radio news program curated by Franco Paoli, who was also the station’s managing director, but it was the agreement for the exclusive rebroadcast in Tuscany of the BBC program “Top of the Pops,” previews from the world of English music presented by Brian Matthews, that gave the station further polish. The content arrived in the form of vinyl LP records: on one side was Brian Matthews’ program, while on side B were all the preview tracks without voice, separated from each other. A radio with a unique and powerful sound covering 90% of Tuscany, extremely high quality and a truly international scope. Contributing to this unmistakably American stature were the original jingles from the States, advance releases from the Billboard USA circuit, the near exclusion of Italian music from programming, and the contract with BBC One.
Radio One’s music collection is simply unmatched. The true added value of this radio station is also the people who brought it to life; among them we cannot fail to mention Eddy Trauba, Gianni Pierantozzi, Philip Pachmann, Stefano Damesceni, Alberto Lorenzini, the late Enzo Mazzei, Vincent D.J. Enrico Tagliaferri, Pino Buonandi, Fabrizio Faber, and last but not least the late Rinaldo Pieroni, who passed away in 2007 and was also the founder of Radio Blu. Free Radio Stations are also breeding grounds for talent that would later move to television; among these is Carlo Conti, who in 1980 joined Radio Firenze 2000, where he debuted as a speaker with the program Estate 2000. The launch track was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles. Carlo Conti then opened Radio Antenna X in Scandicci, before moving to RDF Radio Diffusione Firenze, where Walter Santillo (host and presenter with Raffaella Carrà), Claudio Vigiani, legendary DJ of Andromeda, worked, but it was with the direction of Lady Radio that the artistic turning point occurred. There he would meet all his future traveling companions at RAI, in order: Giorgio Panariello and Leonardo Pieraccioni; at Radio Fantasy he would find Marco Baldini, another authentic radio talent who together with Fiorello would drive Italy crazy with their gags; then Gianfranco Monti, Tommy Calvani, Alessandro Masti. All this to understand how much this wonderful instrument, “radio,” has contributed to changing our lives; today it keeps us company, informs us, makes us discuss and reflect, makes us laugh and smile. A true resource experienced and nurtured even today by many people who dedicate themselves with great sacrifice and professionalism to this work.
