by Giovanna Cavalli
Angelo Sotgiu (the “beauty”) and Angela Brambati (the “brunette”): “Holidays in Courmayeur with Sandra Mondaini”. De André’s prophecy: “He listened to us and suggested that we go to his record company in Milan”. Sanremo: «Gianni Morandi had to go there in 1970, we filled the hole with «La prima cosa bella»»
“Come on, tell her about the Shah of Persia,” Angela jumps up as if she’s stopped.
Fly.
Angelo: «Uh, yes, yes. Then: It was 1979. The Shah’s cousin, ambassador in Rome, invited us to Tehran for Reza Pahlavi’s sister’s birthday. We felt honored but very concerned: What if we made a fool of ourselves?”.
Angela: «Above all, I didn’t know what to wear to a gala evening at the Palazzo Reale. I chose a long dark blue velvet dress with small pink flowers».
Angelo: «At some point they call us to cut the cake in a huge room».
Angela: “Suddenly I turn around, see the other three laughing and I don’t understand why”.
Angelo: «Your dress was identical to the carpet. It looked like the carpet was going to make a big lump, but it was her.”
Now the rich and the poor are divided. Marina Occhiena “la Bionda” left her in 1981 and returned only to meet again in Sanremo 2020. Franco Gatti “il Baffo” disappeared three months ago (“We always feel him next to us”), but Angela Brambati (the legendary “Brunetta”) , 75 years) and Angelo Sotgiu (il Bello, 76) – new coaches at The Voice Senior 3 on Raiuno – exudes joy and enthusiasm for four and more (“Where do we get all this energy from? We buy it at the market under the house,” he plays – no longer seventies golden blond but wearable ash), even in raspy connection on Facetime.
Where are they?
Angelo: «In Vilnius in Lithuania, at 10 degrees below zero, we will soon be giving a concert».
Angela: «And I sent a stunned video to my friends saying: ‘Look how beautiful Tbilisi is’, because we were in Georgia the other day, then they canceled our flight and we ended up in Istanbul and finally here, but still I don’t know where I am and my memory fails».
By the way, have you ever forgotten a few words of a song?
Angelo: «It happened to me with As I wish, someone everyone knows. Ever since then I’ve been scared every time I sing it.”
Angela: «And now you’re always wrong».
Before R&P, Brunetta worked as a gas station attendant while Bello worked at Italsider.
Angela: «I lived next door to a Shell dealership, I was always in his way, so the owner finally hired me. I was fine apart from a few nibbles…like pouring water in the oil tank».
The victim will be happy.
Angela: «Not much. I also worked as a hairdresser. She worked at home in the kitchen. I had to rinse the hair of a customer, I got the wrong pan, instead of hot water I poured the broth with the soup over her head. fired”.
Angelo: «When I came back from military service, I left the factory. I worked as a bartender, carpenter, lathe operator, elevator operator, which suited me very well: I’m no longer afraid to take the elevator because if it stops, I know how to get it going again».
Angela: «I forgot, I also tried my hand at being a seamstress. I sewed a coat for my little cousin, only it came with straight, horizontal sleeves, as if his arms were in a cast.”
They were engaged as children.
Angelo: “I was 17, she was 16. A nice relationship, actually it’s over”.
Angela: “Perfect, then after a few years he wanted to have fun and I let him go”.
Angelo: “In the meantime, the adventure of the rich and the poor had begun, we were together 24 hours a day, a different trust took over, as friends, as brothers”.
Angela: «He asked me for advice about his conquests. “What are you saying, do you like it?”».
Fabrizio De André discovered you.
Angelo: «He sent us to a mutual friend. “Come to my house”. We came with our little guitars. He listened to us and then asked us to go to his record company in Milan. We left Genoa with Franco’s seventeenth century mother, it didn’t fit in five, De André was tall and heavy so he traveled alone. But the producer didn’t find us interesting».
Angela: “’These guys understand absolutely nothing,’ said Fabrizio. “You will still succeed”».
And Franco Califano came.
Angelo: «He was the artistic director of Carosello. He called us to Milan. We sang him three pieces, maybe four, the repertoire was full.”
Angela: «He wanted to call Alfredo Cerruti. Listen to these, they’re good. And it made us sing again. Then he summoned Maestro D’Anzi, the master of O mia bela Madunina. We sang again. In the end we were speechless. Califano resigned. “I want to be your producer”. He drove us around in a big white American car, went out to dinner every night, he always paid for it».
Generous, the Caliph.
Angelo: «Out of shame we answered him one evening that we already had an invitation. It wasn’t true. We stopped at the first corner and got sandwiches out. But Franco came out right behind us and saw us. “You are rich in spirit and poor in pockets. From today you will be called that, the rich and the poor”.
Angela: «He took us to Capri where he bought handmade sandals. We got dressed at the markets, he went to the tailor, he chose the fabrics and ordered four tailored suits. He had class, he was charming, not for me, I wasn’t his type, he liked the ones with farts under their noses.”
It changed your appearance.
Angela: «I had long, wavy hair. “Cut them short, very short”. They weren’t even fashionable, but I listened to him, I trusted them, I’m someone to take the plunge, nothing scares me ».
Angelo: “He told me: ‘Go blonde.’ Back then it wasn’t easy for a man to go to the hairdresser and ask him for a platinum tint… My mother was ashamed “We’re all brown at home, what will people think?”So she went blonde too ».
In 1970 he made his debut in Sanremo with «La prima cosa bella», you and Nicola Di Bari.
Angelo: «They called us at the last minute as a replacement, a seat had become free. Gianni Morandi had to go, it was our turn instead.”
Angela: «The other singers intimidated us, but we knew that we were good».
1971 the encore with “Che Sara”, paired with Josè Feliciano.
Angelo: «Morandi should have been there at the time and ended up leaving the place to us instead. Thank you again, John.”
On TV in “So Many Excuses” with Sandra Mondaini and Raimondo Vianello.
Angelo: «We sang the title song and each time Raimondo had to find another way to kill us in the gag: he shot us, he crushed us with a stone, like in cartoons, the children had a lot of fun. You never knew if he was joking or if he was serious.”
Angela: “We have become very good friends with Sandra, vacationing together in Courmayeur”.
In 1981, Marina left the group.
Angelo: “It was a trauma at the time, we thought it could all end.”
Angela: «But then he came. It will be because I love you. True, one door closes and another opens».
The “betrayal” of her friend, who was having an affair with her ex-husband, caused a scandal. How long did it take to forgive her?
Angela: «Goodbye, let’s change the subject».
His moves are legendary. Parodies abound.
Angela: «Everything comes instinctively to me, I never feel anything».
What was the craziest place you’ve ever performed?
Angelo: «In Kamchatka, on the Bering Sea».
Angela: «We landed at night, at 25 degrees below zero. They took us to a spa to bathe in the hot water that spurted out of the volcanic rock, every now and then a hot jet would burn our feet.”
A nerd concert where everything goes wrong?
Angela: “No, we’re lucky, we arrive when nothing works and suddenly everything is repaired”.
Angelo: «When it rains, it stops. And it starts again as soon as we’re done singing.’
The most horrible dish you’ve had to eat on tour?
Angelo: «In Siberia they let us taste pelmeni, ravioli stuffed with elk meat, a horrible taste».
Angela: «In Kazakhstan we drank camel milk, it’s sour. But the khachapuri, an egg and cheese-filled bread they bake in Georgia, is wonderful. Like borscht, beetroot soup».
Superstitious pre-show rituals?
Angelo: «Nobody, we believe in ourselves and in what we do».
Angela: «You only give yourself a little touch, then I have nothing left to touch».
discussions between you?
Angelo: “Sometimes, but nothing serious when we’ve been together for 55 years.”
Angela: «I can stand you at fifty-five».
The critics bullied you.
“They accused us of being too popular. In the seventies and eighties it was an insult, today we are pop, a consecration».
At The Voice, you judge the participants.
Angelo: «I’m shy, I’m always afraid to offend her».
Angela: «You don’t have to tell them they suck, just give them advice».
They are true friends of Toto Cutugno and Al Bano.
Angelo: “We’ve done a lot of tours together, we both like them very much. When Cristel, Al Bano’s daughter, got married, he wanted us to sing the Ave Maria in church and promised that he would reciprocate. And indeed he came to my son’s wedding. Angela, on the other hand, has not yet married».
Angela: “Maybe he’ll sing at my wedding if I remarry a handsome old man.”
January 29, 2023 (change January 29, 2023 | 07:33)
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