Dj Albertino

I Love Disco interviews Dj Albertino about the 70s

“Because for us, the ultimate goal was to get off the plane,
turn on the radio, and be able to listen to American music.”

I Love Disco interviews the famous Dj Albertino from Radio Deejay about his experience in radio, his work as a DJ, and his memories of the 70s:

Memories: “I was a teenager; I was 14 years old when, for example, the Moro case occurred. I remember when that episode happened, I was coming home from school by train. I remember, yes, they were hard times, but as in all hard times, there was a need for something to distract us. That is probably why Disco music was born. Just as today there is a great return of dance music because it is a moment of great crisis; in America, for example, they have discovered dance music right now—European dance, moreover—featuring great artists like Rihanna, Beyoncé, Madonna, and the Black Eyed Peas. Perhaps that genre of music was needed to distract oneself a bit from the problems that were very significant at that time. It was also very much alive in my home: my brother Linus, and my father was always playing the trumpet.”

Radio and being a DJ:

“My home was a bit like Woody Allen’s Radio Days; there was always a radio on. My entire generation discovered the world of private and free radio, and it was almost a fashion. One O One International was a revelation for me because, besides discovering new music, I also discovered the art of broadcasting, and this style was much more innovative and fast compared to Rai—a new, very internationalist language. I decided ‘yes, I want to be a DJ,’ but I didn’t decide that it would be my future because everyone around me, including my family, would say, ‘Are you crazy? You’re being a DJ, and then what when you grow up?’ Once, a DJ had to know how to do everything: be the director of their own broadcast, the editor, the technician, their own author, and they had to choose the music. Today, however, most radio DJs are entertainers who put on a show, and the music is almost secondary. Let’s say I am convinced that the longevity of a DJ is strictly linked to the changing of music; we must absolutely not tie ourselves to a historical period or a cycle and become fossilized.”

Disco music:

“I like the idea of always discovering new sounds, and so, just as disco music was a novelty in the 70s, in the 90s house, techno, and hip hop arrived—genres that somewhat disrupted music. A DJ who truly struck and inspired me was Leonardo Re Cecconi, known as Leopardo, who unfortunately passed away prematurely. He was a role model; he was a DJ who in the 70s had a very original, American-influenced style—a light and pleasant style—and he mixed music very well. It was an old style that no longer exists. For me, a symbolic song of the 70s was also the first record I purchased together with a dear friend of mine, which was by CHIC; then certainly Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, among the most important promoters of the genre, who were also considered musicians of a certain level compared to others.”