Renato Zero

Artist: Renato Zero

LP: Erozero

Song: "Fermo Posta" 
[ listen ]

This morning I had breakfast in Bothell with my friends David and Yvonne. We'd met for breakfast before at the charming Kozy Korner Cafe, but, sadly, that place wasn't really an option this time around... 

...so we went to Alexa's Cafe up the street instead. Though I'd fantasized about going record shopping in Kirkland after breakfast, turns out Vortex Music and Movies doesn't open until 11am, and it was only 10. (Plus, I'd left my Vortex 20%-off coupon on the counter at home.) Still, en route to my apartment, my Ford Escort somehow managed to steer me toward another record store I'd never been to before—Beats and Bohos in Seattle's Phinney Ridge neighborhood. Filled with vintage furniture and clothing and featuring stacks of vinyl in the center of the room, it reminded me of lots of stores I'd been to in the '80s and '90s that you just don't see around much any more—like Grunts & Postures in Salt Lake City, and some other great little shop that a guy had started in downtown Provo, Utah when I first went to school there in 1987.

Anyway, the guy working the counter at Beats and Bohos (the owner, I think) was friendly enough and offered to play samples from interesting-looking records I'd never heard before, including this 1979 Italian dilly by Renato Zero. As a cross-dressing youngster, Renato was harassed with taunts of "Sei uno zero!" ("You're a zero!") so he changed his name and became famous. He's the only musical artist in Italy to have had #1 hits in each of the past five decades! You can read more about Renato Zero here, and I've included Italian liner notes, song lyrics and photos (yes, that's right. They're Italian photos) below.

[ Renato Zero ]

[ Beats and Bohos — Seattle, Washington ]