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Rating: 1980. An era of great changes not only in the musical sphere. A new decade begins, bringing infinite novelties. Umberto Eco publishes 'The Name of the Rose', a famous historical novel. The world of technology advances, and the first version of Pac-man is created. Sadly, there are also tragic news events, such as the Bologna train station massacre in August. The music world mourns John Lennon, assassinated that very year. The Led Zeppelin, after a decade of glory, disband due to Bonzo's death.
It seems like a decade's start that is not at its best from a musical standpoint. Yet despite this, old and new stars make an effort through the release of great records both in Italy and abroad. We remember 'Back in Black' by AC/DC, 'The River' by Bruce Springsteen, but also 'Making Movies' by the then at the top Dire Straits featuring Marc Knopfler. But let's focus on our beautiful country. There's a breeze of great novelties, starting with 'Una giornata uggiosa' by Battisti, moving to 'Sono solo canzonette' by Bennato, and concluding with 'Dalla' by Lucio Dalla. We mentioned old and new stars. And among the already known Battisti, Dalla, Jannacci, and Lolli, beautiful new works are worthy of mention, namely 'Capo Nord' by Alice. The Sanremo Festival is won by Toto Cutugno, with his 'Solo Noi' that drove the tele-vote crazy. Second place went to 'Enzo Malepasso', (the one of 'Amore Mio'). Third place went to the emerging Pupo ('Su di noi').
In such a transitional landscape, so complicated historically but also full of hopes as is every beginning of a decade, a certain character finds its place. He calls himself Ponzio Pilato. Since the beginning of time, mystery has always fascinated man, and I don't see how our Ponzio can do otherwise, probably a pseudonym of someone about whom absolutely nothing is known. The only thing we have from this extravagant artist is a 45 rpm record, dated precisely 1980, with 2 songs, which as the title suggests, are 'Tu sei nata per fare la zoccola' and 'Buon Natale alla Puttana'.
As in the greatest existential dilemmas, Ponzio Pilato's very limited production is balanced between the truest trash today defined as trash and the masterpiece on vinyl. In these slightly less than 10 minutes of listening, there is all the emancipation of an era manifested through a language tired of high-flown and purposeless language but concise and without mincing words. The idea of love is totally overturned in a whirlwind of truth thrown in the face through songs of disconcerting truth. What artists of the committed song partly achieved, I think of De André with 'Bocca di Rosa', is completed by Ponzio stripping away all linguistic elegance. Almost to argue for a greater effectiveness of the concept itself rather than the textual decorations, our Ponzio dresses as a poet and philosopher. And when the message reaches the listener, his role is that of a prophet.
The cover depicts the key concept of our Pilato's musical production, namely the female body, stripped of its clothing and posing sexy and rather erotic. The message is clear, the listener is on alert. The reduced number of tracks forces me into a track-by-track, little acclaimed around here, but I would say today is essentially necessary. 'Tu sei nata per fare la zoccola' starts accompanied by a refined and not trivial arrangement, which will characterize the 45 rpm for its entire duration. The initial words are indelible (You were born to be a slut, yes, you were born that way/ if my love now is a slut, my heart now sings like this). The voice clearly enunciates the words, convinced and clean. Pearls of wisdom scattered here and there in this track, among which the comparison between the street woman and the beloved woman is worth mentioning, of which it is hard to find differences (if the hooker you see passing by disgusts you, remember/ that your woman does the same now, she is now like that), up to the invitation made to the woman not to cry, almost as a sign of resignation of an inclination unable to react to the reality of the facts, which sees her forced to yield without hesitation and without mercy. And indeed, if her life is on these tracks, she 'can only die this way'. Not by chance, I called Ponzio Pilato a prophet. In the song emerges a clear and repeated message, a phrase: The slut is the woman of the future. In a swirl of mystery, our Ponzio dramatically anticipates the times. What he hypothesized back then is now terribly true, making him the new Nostradamus.
Turn over, and we find 'Buon Natale alla puttana'. A sweet and melancholic intro, almost like a song by Collage, our Ponzio Pilato offers us a sweet dedication of Christmas greetings to the woman, whom we imagine is sleeping (You who love only me, you who beat only for me/ Merry Christmas, sleep, dream, and fuck off). The sweetness slowly decreases, giving way to Ponzio's philosophy, which labels the woman repeatedly as a whore (you are a whore and you know it, and as long as you beat/ my love with your love will remain). But Ponzio is serene. Despite everything, he cannot wish her anything but a Merry Christmas and sweet dreams, along with a sweet fuck off. The economic concept then comes into play. As long as she renders, the whore, our Ponzio will always want her close. But almost as if on a Modigliani chart, it is affirmed that when the woman ages, our protagonist will not know what to do with her anymore. It is therefore a relationship with ulterior motives, almost like among pimps, but it is the affective phase that constantly prevails, through sweet Christmas wishes, for a woman he is nonetheless attached to.
There was also another 45 in circulation. The first side was always 'Tu sei nata per fare la zoccola', but on the second was replaced 'Buon Natale alla puttana' with 'Vaiolo'. Thus, we can say that Ponzio's songs are 3 and not 2. I was wrong above, alright? If it bothers you, go read another review. At this point, the question is: what is 'Vaiolo'? It is none other than the protagonist's journey through love for a 'woman', who ardently desired marriage. It was only after this tragic act that he discovers that the one he thought was a woman was actually a transvestite (why then you disappeared, to go to Casablanca/ now that they've changed you, you are not Franco but you are Franca). The tones are more cheerful, Ponzio's voice more hoarse and desperate. But here too there is a happy ending. Ponzio discovers the qualities of this woman with frills, namely being good in the kitchen, and therefore not being entirely unfortunate (With you, I always feel inappropriate, however at least in the kitchen you are someone/ you are not completely to be thrown away after all).
After this brief but intense recording activity, just like Pontius Pilate, our man washes his hands of it, and disappears from the musical field. Just like a prophet, he has distributed what I call a philosophy, through three monolithic songs and pearls of wisdom on the edge of literary. A character predicting the times, to be rediscovered, absolutely on par with the greats of his time. A hug, dear reader, sleep, dream... and fuck off ♫
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