Gianfranco Monti

The early days of Radio: “Radio DJs had to bring their own records, strange but true”

“I was surprised when I was offered the chance to play in the morning (I started at 10:00 AM) at a Florentine club called ‘Il Rifugio’ in Piazza Santa Maria Novella… I thought to myself: ‘These people are crazy… who is even there at that hour!’ However, I accepted, and I soon realized that it was the place for ‘forcaioli’… the kids who skipped school would gather there and spend the morning dancing and having fun. In those years, there was a great desire, a longing for social connection. I started working at the very first private radio stations in 1975, and I did so because even then I had a huge collection of records to play. Radio DJs back then had to bring their own records, strange but true. Almost as a joke, I sent a cassette to Radio Sperimentale 6 (in Sesto Fiorentino) and they called me. That was the start of my radio career (RADIO ONE, RDF), which continued to grow until my TV debut in 1988 with Videomusic, and now on Rai.”