Righeira
Righeira is the Turin pop duo formed by Johnson Righeira, born Stefano Righi, and Michael Righeira: born in working-class Turin, between 1983 and 1985 they topped the charts with Vamos a la playa and L'estate sta finendo, two of the most fondly remembered summer hits in Italian music[1][2]. Behind the juke-box-ready choruses lay a taste for provocation rooted in punk and lyrics darker than audiences of the time ever noticed[1].
A grey city and a list called «Banana»
Johnson remembers the Turin of his teenage years as a «very grey» city, a kind of dormitory town for those who worked at FIAT[1]. During his school years he already considered himself a situationist in training: with other students he ran in the school council elections on a list called «Banana», with a deliberately surreal platform, and as campaign material he bought 27 kilos of bananas at the market to hand out in front of the school like flyers; the list won a seat[1]. From the same period comes a punk fanzine, out of which grew the idea of a magazine with an accompanying 45 rpm single: the magazine never came out, but the record did, in 1980[1].
The shared stage name long fed the belief that the two were brothers. Johnson explained it this way[2]:
«Sick of our friendship, we decided to become brothers. People believed it then, and they still believe it today.»
«Vamos a la playa» and the La Bionda brothers
The turning point came two years after that first single, with the meeting with producers Carmelo and Michelangelo La Bionda[1]. After hearing the first demo of Vamos a la playa, the two sensed its potential, but to make it work they wanted to make it more upbeat[1]. Johnson has never played down their role: «Without the La Bionda brothers, Righeira would have stayed in the basement»[1].
The song, sung in Spanish over an electronic backing track, came out in 1983: it ranked third in the Italian annual chart for that year, after reaching number one in the weekly sales charts[3]. Beneath the beach rhythm, though, the lyrics described an apocalyptic scenario, and at the time of its release almost no one noticed[1]. Recognition came late, as the author himself recalled[1]:
«Music critics underrated us quite a bit, only to go back, a few decades later, and take a serious look at lyrics like those of Vamos a la playa.»
Johnson has put the delay before critics returned to those songs at around twenty years, describing an indifference he lived through «with great suffering of my own»[1].
«L'estate sta finendo» and the 1985 Festivalbar
In 1985 the duo returned to the top with L'estate sta finendo, again produced by the La Bionda brothers for CGD[4]. The American weekly Billboard, in its October 1985 report from Italy, noted that Righeira had won the Festivalbar with that song, the summer event whose rankings were based on jukebox plays across the country[4]. The single ranked ninth in the Italian annual chart for 1985, having reached number one in the weekly sales charts[5].
The release had not been a sure thing: the record label feared that a song about summer ending, launched in late spring, might sour listeners' mood. According to Johnson, the opposite happened, and the song endured over time[2], to the point that every year, as the season winds down, the phrase «as Righeira used to say» still circulates[2].
Two years later the duo's name turned up in an unexpected context: for the 30th edition of the Zecchino d'Oro, in 1987, the Antoniano in Bologna acquired four songs from well-known singer-songwriters, and among them was Righeira, alongside Toto Cutugno, Riccardo Fogli and Pupo[6].
Breakups, reunions and separate paths
The duo first broke up in 1992 and reformed in 1999; the second split, due to diverging artistic choices and a lack of rapport, dates to 2015, as Johnson recounted the following year[2]. Asked about the possibility of a new reunion, in 2025 he simply said that at present it seems impossible to him, without ruling out that the right conditions might one day arise[1].
As a solo artist Johnson has continued to record and collaborate. In October 2016 he released Sembra impossibile, written with singer-songwriter Nevruz, whom he met on the set of a film in Monfalcone: according to both of them, Nevruz had travelled from Modena to Turin with his guitar to support his friend during a difficult time, and the chorus was born out of that visit[7]. In 2019 he reunited with the La Bionda brothers for Formentera, which he described as an «anti-summer hit»[8].
Turin, politics and the Canavese
The bond with the city has endured off stage as well. At Turin's May Day march in 2016, Johnson marched with the Communist Party contingent, alongside philosopher Gianni Vattimo and Marco Rizzo, then a mayoral candidate in the City of Turin's municipal elections; local press noted that online comments about his presence were full of irony and affection[9]. Around the same time, one of his 1985 songs had become popular again after being adopted as a chant by Napoli fans, and he had responded by performing with Juventus supporters[9].
Today Johnson lives in the Canavese, where he founded Kottolengo Recordings & Wines, at once a record label and the brand of wine he produces, alongside a line of T-shirts printed with lines from his lyrics; in 2025 he released the single Chi troppo lavora (non fa l'amore)[1].
Pages linking here
Sources
- Rolling Stone Italia — 6 August 2025
- Soundsblog — 26 September 2016
- Hit Parade Italia
- Billboard — 12 October 1985
- Hit Parade Italia
- Zecchino d'Oro – Antoniano
- Rockol — 11 October 2016
- Newsic — 14 August 2019
- Nuova Società — 2 May 2016