Franco Simone
Se Di Mezzo C'è L'Amore

Undoubtedly underrated. Although not by much, Franco Simone went beyond the simple pop song. It's curious how, as soon as the Simone phenomenon appeared, people went crazy for him, even though it's well-known that this concept is not synonymous with quality. And yet, what do we have here? A voice I would dare to say is 'unique', a vocal tone that is hard to find and very particular, and excellent songs. And I mean excellent clearly related to his musical genre.

The debut was successful. It was 1972 when he won, young, the Castrocaro Festival. Many participations in various Festivalbar, where, even during periods of lesser fame, he always managed to carve out his space. A long career that has extended to the present. A versatile artist, as in addition to being a singer-songwriter, he is also a decent TV host. The great successes, for anyone who lived through those years or is simply curious about the '70s, are known. The song 'Respiro', the one with which Franco had the most success, and the beautiful 'Tu...E cosi sia'. Songs that even today have the potential to 'hurt' some nostalgic individual, since they still appear on some radios (recently I was flipping through stations and I found 'Respiro', don't ask me which one). What's different about Franco Simone compared to all the throwaway singers of his era? That after all, he lasted much longer than one might expect.

The first album, 'Se Di Mezzo C'è L'Amore', undoubtedly deserves it. A year after winning the Castrocaro Festival, the Pugliese singer-songwriter published his first effort, which also included the song that led him to victory, 'Con gli occhi chiusi (e i pugni stretti)'. Many tracks, in which a striking contrast emerges. It's true, the genre has accustomed me and us to such things, but never as much as this time have I noticed an alternation between truly beautiful tracks and entirely negligible ones. It's worth going in order. Among the most beautiful of his repertoire and undoubtedly also of the record is the first track, 'Mi esplodevi nella mente'. A splendid instrumental introduction, almost classical, leads us to a story broken in two. Franco's beautiful voice takes us through melancholic notes first to the love story, and then to the relative farewell. The last words are heartbreaking (C'è la vita che mi aspetta/ resta ancora qualche amico/ Tutto puo ricominciare/ senza te). A masterpiece of the genre. If before everything was supported by an acoustic guitar, now the role of the leading instrument is the piano. 'Perchè piangi', the second worthy song by Franco, a beautiful and very suggestive track that tells of an unjustified love cry, according to the author. It's with 'Con Gli Occhi Chiusi (E I Pugni Stretti)' that he won at the Festival. What is, after all, the singer-songwriter's first single turns out to be one of the most beautiful on the album. The notes exude all the anger towards a woman who betrayed him, through past memories and general nostalgia. Justly triumphant, we can still enjoy it in a black and white live footage on YouTube. What can I say, three tracks that would already be worth the purchase. If then we add the sad and melancholic 'Ancora Lei', sweet exaltation of past memories, but above all the dreamy 'Ogni giorno nuovo (è un giorno mio)'. It's perhaps in the latter that it becomes clear how Franco Simone is superior to the qualitative average of his peers. It's a beautiful praise to life, the future, and the uncertainty of tomorrow. Topics not often addressed in Italian light music, or at least never handled with such mastery and beauty. To close it all, the other side of the first single, 'Senza un ombra d'amore', where all the despair and difficulty of expressing emotions emerge, all accompanied by a nice instrumental pad, just as it has always been impeccable and never out of place throughout the album.

An excellent debut, nothing to say. We are still far from 'Cara Droga' or 'Respiro', but at least 5 tracks of this album deserve it, and greatly.