The stage doesn’t scare him, speaking and playing records has always been his job. The emotion, however, is not lacking; Whoever listens knows it well Linus on the station of which he is artistic director, Radio Deejay. Because on “Deejay Gioca Italia”, a morning program with one and a half million listeners per episode, there is also room for confidences and Pasquale Di Molfetta, as the now 66-year-old DJ and speaker is called, has touched on the topic several times «Radio Linetti Live», a show that between 29 April and 11 May he will see him for 9 evenings at the Alcione Theatre, busy selecting songs and telling his story. «I wanted to give myself a little more to those who follow me from home. So I thought: how nice would it be to find ourselves all together?”.
He will have his favorite vinyls with him: like?
«I will certainly play Battisti: even today, every time I hear it, it causes me an emotional transference that takes me back to the 70s and 80s, to the places where I listened to him. Then De Gregori. And the first LP I bought, “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd, a ’75 album which is a milestone for me. Also because it was the first album I listened to in its entirety and it reminds me of my school friends. The three of us bought it to listen to it together, pretending to study, at the house of the person who had the record player. At the time, not everyone could afford one, certainly not me, who didn’t come from a wealthy family: the first one would have arrived in my house years after its debut on the radio.”
And how much will 80s pop count in the setlist?
«That is more linked to my work, to the period in which I experienced popularity. And since it still works, I have now enjoyed it to the point of boredom. I’m happy with it, but in private I prefer something else.”
How many vinyl records do you own?
«Less than you might expect, I’m terribly selective. A couple of years ago there were 4/5 thousand, but I gave away at least 2 thousand, they were useless. What’s the point of filling yourself with records if half of them are rubbish? I don’t even care about keeping them pristine in plastic, vinyl, which horrifies collectors. But I love touching records, who cares if they get scratched? I have some by Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and U2 with dented covers: I like them used and worn.”
Your favorite record shop in Milan?
«I was a very loyal member of Mariposa, the one in Porta Romana. It was a reference for many DJs and I was such an aficionado that in ’83 they asked me to work there. I accepted: in the morning I went to the radio, in the afternoon to the shop. Except I spent more on records than I earned, and I lasted a month. Enough to learn that to enjoy a record you just need to turn up the volume: it works.”
On the radio he often mentions an upcoming retirement. Would you run for mayor in Milan?
«I would like to stop doing radio at a time when people still appreciate me. Tough choice, but I think I’ll go on for two years, then I’ll dedicate myself to painting and writing. They’ve asked me to be mayor several times, I think I’d be good, I’m a good mediator, but you have to go through politics and, at the moment, I don’t even know.
