Memories of Alex Bentley
My name is Alex Bentley and this one comes from Los Angeles, California.
In the 80’s I lived in Florence for a while and Radio One was my favorite local station.
In August 1984 my best friend and I decided to take a sabbatical and come to Europe.
Our first stop was Florence, where my friend knew some people studying there from Pepperdine University in Malibu. We lived in Santa Monica back then. We were big fans of LA area’s KROQ radio, and we loved the English new wave.
Once in Florence we settled in a cute apartment in Via delle Pinzochere and we started going to a gym called Ricciardi in Borgo Pinti 75. Many foreign students and Italians went there so we met many people. One day as I was working out I heard “Mr. Solitaire” by Animal Nightlife playing on Radio One. That song was in rotation at KROQ before we left so that was great. Funny anecdote: my friend and I noticed that this song was coming on almost every hour on the hour, so we thought: “this radio station may not have many records, since they repeat this one so much, although we loved it, because it reminded us of home.”
But, later, one of our Italian friends explained to us that it was a Disco One, hence the high rotation. By then we were hooked, loved the music, it reminded us of home, with The Eurythmics, Simple Minds and lots more of the great English New Wave.
Some of the artists we knew from KROQ in Los Angeles, but also some other British artists and bands that were not played in the US.
My best friend and I would wait every Monday for a new Disco One, I remember records like All I am by Bluebells, Mr. Solitaire by Animal Nightlife, Colorfield, Strawberry Switch Blade, etc. Some tracks that I had never heard in LA.
I loved that jingle… “Disco One!” I even found an old Radio One recording from Summer 1985 when Disco One was “Shame” by The Motels, an awesome Californian group.
We had such a great time, we would go out every night to a club called Yab, we knew the DJ who had super long hair and we could enter for free, so many Americans and Florentines, we were all in our early 20s, the music was great and people were awesome.
Radio One played our soundtrack of those glorious months.
I left Florence at the end of March of 1985 when the Disco One was “All I Am” from Bluebells, not known in LA.
I remember getting on the train to Barcelona from Santa Maria Novella and my friend Roxane was playing “All I Am” to bid goodbye. I would see her again in Barcelona in 1986 and she brought me a tape from Radio One and the Disco One was “It’s all gone” by Chris Rea, if I am not mistaken.
My friend Roxane and I would love to see a list of all the Disco Ones of those years, if it ever became available.
We miss those days, they were filled with fun and great music, but thanks to your streaming we can now hear some of the great songs of that era.
All the best to all of you at Radio One The Big One, and thank you for the great memories you helped us make!
Your Californian listener Alex Bentley from Los Angeles, California
