Gianni Bella
Dolce uragano

Gianni Bella - "Dolce uragano" (1980)

In these stormy days, harbingers of tropical climate disasters, try to listen again to "Dolce uragano" by a vintage Gianni Bella, back when he still had his afro hair... My music memories of Our Man date back to 1976, to a roundabout, a jukebox, and a young girl in a mini bikini, a slender and ethereal body, wavy hair, I think her name was Patrizia: we were watching sadly the sunset of the last day at the beach, and I was timidly touching her hand. Suddenly, just to put an extra point on it, someone puts a coin in the jukebox and starts "Non si può morire dentrooooooooooooo..." blasting the old speakers. Gianni Bella has always moved me with his songs, at least up to this venerable LP.

Sure, the "figli della luna", or those who anyway have the B-side too played or talked about, in singing Italy are really many - Ron, Pezzali, Dalla, Morandi, Zero, Britti, Carboni, Nek, Bersani, Povia, Ramazzotti, Elio, Malgioglio, Concato, Zarrillo, Scialpi, Bosé, Ferro, Fortis, Battiato, Nannini, Baglioni, Marco Carta, Carmen Consoli, Morgan... An endless list, in short.. but among all these Gianni Bella has always been, how to say romantic and polite that his poetic lyrics seem as if they are dedicated to real women. And what about all the beautiful songs that Bella wrote for Marcella and the Beans, or dozens of other famous names? The album has a certain melancholic mood, and besides the super famous radio-friendly title track, there is Chi dorme più, which moves between ecological prophecies as relevant as ever -, the cheerful and very local Quando mi sposerò, and the soul mixed with leopardian whims of Sabato.

To all the Italians flooded and now in their underwear...

It's a night that I walk and I'm out of money too, into bed slowly, what a sweet hurricane you are
the tricolor underwear, I left them there by her, when she threw me out, but what a sweet hurricane you are.