FRASSINELLE POLESINE (Rovigo) – “They were beautiful moments and if I could go back I would gladly relive them” – she said last night Gianfranco Ravanello, number one on Viavai Oggi and on Tele Radio Club from 1976 to 1995, on the stage of the Teatro Casa del Popolo in Frassinelle, in a second evening dedicated to the free radio stations of Polesine. Among the large audience, there were also many speakers in the beautiful setting of the talk show entitled “Radio libera tutti”.
The occasion allowed us to remember a splendid period of freedom, ideas, passion, that of the 70s and 80s, the freedom of expression and enterprise and to remember in particular two different realities: the professional and well-structured one of Radio club and that of young pioneers united by friendship and the desire to do something different, of Radio Giovane di Lendinara and Big Radio Stienta. In fact on stage, moderated by the expert Ferdinando De Laurentisas well as Franco Ravanello told their stories Patrizio Marzola and Giuseppe Marabese. They also intervened Lorenzo Destefani, Lino Padoan, Roberto Samiolo and other protagonists of the FM season. An important page of our Polesine was told. The event was organized by the Municipality of Frassinelle Polesine.
The evening began with a mapping of the radio stations in our territory, mentioning them all, and with a film from 1982 in which we talk about the free radio stations in Rovigo and its province, with an interview with Ravanello, then owner of Radio Club. “A thread red has accompanied me in life, a leitmotif that has characterized in an almost continuous way a path equipped with obligatory accessories, such as microphone and headphones. I’m talking about the radio, a wonderful bridge that brings people together, which becomes a tool for dialogue and sharing, capable of keeping and keeping company.” From here began the story of Gianfranco Ravanello who explained the genesis of what in a short time became, together with Radio Veneto (of which he was the founder with Roberto Osti), a point of reference not only in the city, but in a large area of users. It was the seventies when, alongside mother Rai, her children were born, many of them, curious and funny, undoubtedly innovative.
It was enough to occupy a frequency modulation (FM) without disturbing the Amplitude modulation (AM) reserved for Rai. It mattered little if, in terms of geographical scope, it was very limited, it had the unique merit of a sense of belonging and interaction. How beautiful it was for the listener to have the possibility of hearing his own voice through the radio, to be able to reach out with a song, it was called a “dedication”, to a loved one even if far away. Hence the memory of the historic dedication program “Palle” and other successful radio formats. Everyday life came to life together with one’s self-esteem. “For all of us – said Franco – there was gratification in realizing that we were expected, understood, because our speaking off the cuff, without prepared scripts, was felt as it really was, sincere, without forcing. How many listeners asked us for advice came to visit us on the radio. It made me smile and was the reason for funny dialogues, but in the end I also learned to stock up on valuable advice, even if probably not followed, because each of us wants to make mistakes”… and he told many anecdotes. In July 1976, Ravanello left Radio Veneto and created Radio Club Rovigo. He started broadcasting from a cellar in Corso del Popolo, therefore there was an initial transfer to via Carducci, then to viale Porta Po, corso del Popolo 182, to piazzale D’Annunzio, and finally to the “mythical” location of corso del Popolo 375.
Radio Club closed its doors exactly on 31 July 1995. The radio was born out of passion, for fun, but after a few years it became a commercial activity, given the great results obtained in the city and in a wide radius around the Polesine capital. Radio club became a very effective, very important medium and had its own meaning as a mass media: a communicative broadcaster, with specialized programs for cultural and informational purposes as well as various entertainment. The first transition was from Radio club to Radio club theatrical agency, as it went from the free club to an individual company where Franco Ravanello was the owner, therefore a corporate enterprise. The decision was therefore made to create a generalist radio with numerous collaborations, as Ravanello explained last night.
Radio Giovane was the “smallest” of the 4 radios in Lendinara (Radio Lendinara, Radio Torre and Radio Sperimentale). The peculiarity of the station was precisely the “young” age of the founders, directed by a single adult and managed by children aged between 14 and 17. The enthusiasm that drove the group was not so much the rivalry with other broadcasters, “We were well aware of the enormous difficulties in competing with more structured radio stations managed by more mature people, but the desire to be able to realize our dreams at that young age it was everything, and in those years the radio was the dream” – said Marabese. Who, after 47 years, thanked Franco Ravanello for making those kids live a little dream by hosting them and giving them useful advice. “We didn’t have a telephone, so the dedications were made by ringing the radio bell or following daily meetings (it was customary to return from work or school with a note of dedications to make, verbal requests made by friends or colleagues), mothers and girls who donated their favorite records so they could then hear them broadcast on the radio”.
In the end Big Radio Stienta. “A crazy idea from a group of guys from Stiente – said Patrizio Marzola – who taxed themselves 7,500 lire each to buy the equipment. The transmitter was recovered through friends, it was small, enough to fit inside a box of Valda tablets.”
Finally, Roberto Marangoni: “It was a beautiful evening of memories and emotions… the radios of our Polesine… stories of life and emotions that remain indelible. A pleasure to have met the great Gianfranco Ravanello (Tele Radio Club) who I hadn’t seen since the days of his black mustache and glasses… Congratulations to the director De Laurentis Ferdinando for the idea and the project that filled the hearts of all of us, those guys from then, authentic pioneers of the ether in our province”.
Half a century has passed, but the memories of those “boys” are still in front of a microphone. That common thread still resists, the radio, their passion, made them feel good, laugh, talk, but also emotional, because the bright eyes of those present were seen at the evening, and would also be seen on the radio.
Tags: Evening free radio Polesine pioneers
