Fabio Concato
Svendita totale

The second chapter of Fabio Concato’s "cabaret trilogy," Svendita totale represents the fragmentation of the author into as many alter egos. After the ironic yet poetic debut of Storie di sempre, in 8 short songs (the album lasts just 28 minutes), Fabio continues in the same vein as his predecessor. "P...come" takes advantage of the starting letter to list people, situations, and feelings that together form a rich and meaningful whole. The same device would be used many years later, in 1996, for "Bella Italia," where Concato sings "I come italiani..." The second track is "Mi fai compagnia," where the singer-songwriter talks about an unreal woman, who nonetheless keeps him company everywhere, even in environments far from the urban context. The song mentions the salad that will later appear in the evergreen "Domenica bestiale" four years later. Then comes "Vito," a childhood friend with purple legs and economic difficulties. The song is practically the precursor to the much more famous "Ti ricordo ancora" from 1984. It's no coincidence that even in the 1978 lyrics, it says, "Vito, ti ricordo ancora dentro a panni larghi..." Side A of the vinyl closes with "Camios," which is not a typo but the Milanese way of saying "truck." This means of transport becomes a symbol of work, saving, and earning—petty bourgeois values that were in vogue back then, as today, but "it's funny to say, you even have to be thankful" if you find a job.
Side B of the LP opens with the song "Pussy," which will be revived in 1994 for the album Scomporre e ricomporre. It's a love declaration from a disturbed man—in fact, the singing is "dragged out"—toward a woman who does not reciprocate. Very ironic, in the end, he gets fed up and tells her to leave. "Axen," also known as "The Tale of Axen," is a track where the protagonist is asked to put a child to sleep. Fabio then sings about "a creamy sky and marzipan fields," then shifts from a fairy-tale to a political register, depicting a world without rivalries and where "all men are handsome." The album concludes with two tracks featuring elderly protagonists, "Devi ridere" and "Il barbone," where in the first one, reference is made to shot cartridges, not just those from wars, inviting the old man to be pleased with his condition; while in the final track, it sketches a homeless man ready to get by with makeshift clothes and other items found by chance.
Svendita totale is the second and last album released by Fabio with Harmony, yielding a raw and barely sufficient result. The following year, he will move to Philips, and with this record label, he will begin his maturity as a singer-songwriter, starting with Zio Tom, which still retains a social and ironic vein and is not markedly romantic as from 1982 onwards.