"Luciano Serra pilota" is a song by the Italian Italo disco duo

Righeira Righeira were an Italian Italo disco duo, formed in Turin in 1983, that comprised Johnson Righeira (lead vocals and keyboards) and Michael Righeira (backing vocals, keyboards and harmonica). Originally rooted in the early stages of Italo disco m ...

, included on their debut studio album, ''

'' (1983).

Johnson Righeira Stefano Righi (born 9 September 1960), known professionally as Johnson Righeira, is an Italian singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. He is best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the Italo disco duo Righeira. Aft ...

, the writer of the song, was inspired to write the song after an Italian war

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film of the same name.

Composition

Johnson Righeira wrote "Luciano Serra pilota" with inspiration from the 1938 Italian war

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

Luciano Serra, Pilot ''Luciano Serra, Pilot'' (Italian: ''Luciano Serra pilota'') is a 1938 Italian war drama film directed by Goffredo Alessandrini and starring Amedeo Nazzari, Germana Paolieri and Roberto Villa. It was screened at the Venice Film Festival in A ...

'' starring

Amedeo Nazzari Amedeo Nazzari (10 December 1907 in Cagliari – 5 November 1979 in Rome) was an Italian actor. Nazzari was one of the leading figures of Italian classic cinema, often considered a local variant of the Australian–American star Errol Flynn. Al ...

as Luciano Serra. In an interview with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine, Righi commented, "The song was mainly based on D.A.F. and

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...

, one of my favourite bands." "Luciano Serra pilota" was one of five songs from ''Righeira'' to be written solely by Righi (the other four being "Tanzen mit Righeira", " Gli parlerò di te", "Disco Volante" and "Kon Tiki").

Critical reception

In a review of the ''Righeira'' album, the song was described, along with "Gli parlerò di te" and "Kon Tiki", as a "hidden pearl of dance and pop music". According to the staff from the Obscure Music Club, it's a "true electrosynth masterpiece".

Music video

Pierluigi de Mas directed the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Luciano Serra pilota", which was filmed in Italy. It premiered on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

in Italy in 1983 together with the duo's hit single " Vamos a la playa" from the same album, followed by " No Tengo Dinero" in 1984. In the music video, Righi and Rota, dressed in pilot uniforms, sings and dance in front of a greenscreen with an image of a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

as background. In addition to the song, the editors added sounds of machine guns, aircraft and military trumpet signals. The singing has a robotic and tight rhythm, heavily inspired by German music productions.

Reception and analysis

''s Eric Pfeil described the music video for "Luciano Serra pilota" as " parody of fascist heroes". Pfeil added that "paying homage to the Italian fighter pilot Luciano Serra wouldn't have been necessary ..The Italian propaganda film of the same name from 1938 goes back to the ideas of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

Credits and personnel

– songwriter, vocals *

Michael Righeira Stefano Rota (born 1 October 1961), known professionally as Michael Righeira, is an Italian singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He is best known for his work in the musical duo Righeira. Early life Michael Righeira was born Stefano Rota on ...

– vocals * Carmelo La Bionda – producer * Michelangelo La Bionda – producer * Hermann Weindorf – co-producer, arranger * Berthold Weindorf – engineering, mixing * Ben Fenner – engineering, mixing Credits and personnel adapted from the ''Righeira'' album liner notes.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1983 songs Songs in Italian Righeira songs Song recordings produced by La Bionda Songs written by Johnson Righeira