I interviewed him here 25 years ago!
I am that one, I still am.
And it does not retire.
It would be rude to dislike the public.
Is it for delivery to the public?
And because I would die of pity. Or heart attack.
He will perform in Roses: will it be his big night?
I always go prepared just in case.
He told me: “I have a low larynx.”
That’s how I have it. And a reddened vocal cord. Speech therapists ask me for it after my death.
But his voice does not drop.
It’s a gift.
Does Julio Iglesias have it?
No, you can’t have everything!
Serrat has retired.
Every one knows. I started before him and today I’m still on stage for two and a half hours.
What songs do you enjoy the most?
I sing about thirty-three…
List titles…
I’m in love, When you’re not here, I’m the one, Let’s talk about love… And Raw, What does anyone know, Say what they say, My big night. ..
They are legend!
They are reborn from time to time.
You have been singing since the year…
Since the year 1963.
Yours is a unique case.
I attend other people’s concerts to learn what not to do.
Don’t do what?
Talk too much. The public has not come to a meeting!
Did Franco give it to you in El Pardo?
I would go and sing. Like everyone back then: I saw them there.
I interviewed him still with his old liver.
The new one would recharge me with strength, almost twenty years ago.
Do you know whose new liver it was?
The law prevents confirming it, I suspect that of a young boy: he breathed into me the strength of a boy.
What were you like as a kid?
A carbon copy of my mother. We played black marketeers in a barracks and at the door of the Maravillas market.
rolls.
We survived. I dreamed of being a tailor.
And so?
I saw the neighborhood tailor with a big car and beauties.
And what about singing, what?
“I have a brother who sings,” my brother told the choir singing teacher when he lacked a boy. And he caught me.
Did you want to be a singer?
No. He wanted to be an actor or a mime: to move with the gesture.
He did not remain by gestures: he has lavished and exaggerated them when singing.
What does he say, I’m sober! I have held back a lot, given the tragedies I sing.
What singers were your references?
Manolo Caracol, Judy Garland, Edith Piaf, Shirley Bassey, Charles Aznavour…
Various comedians have imitated him: did you like them?
Poor things, what a pity they give me. We still have a lot to improve on that side.
He mentioned his mother… And his father?
He would come secretly to see me sing: “Very good, it was full, what will they see in you?” It was special, good people.
What character has impressed you the most from those you have met?
Pope John Paul II. And now, Pope Francis. I met Bergoglio when he was Bishop of Buenos Aires: I sang tangos for him. He is informed and he is a modern saint.
And a little red, they say.
Well, that’s how it will be.
Will you vote this Sunday?
Yes, it is a civic duty that we all have. I always vote: since we were able to vote in Spain, I have never failed.
What annoys you the most?
The idiocy and foolishness of the smart one.
What dream do you have left to fulfill?
I fulfilled them all. I only have the most serious left: to be perfect.
What is that about?
In being well and at ease for as long as possible. I will try to follow in the footsteps of my aunt Malile who is now 104 years old and she is amazing!
What does Rafael say to Raphael today?
“You’re doing well, you’re doing well, boy: don’t make me nervous.”
And Raphael to Raphael?
“Of course, this is very easy for you, there without doing anything.”
Nothing nothing?
Well, the truth is that without Rafael Martos Sánchez… Raphael would not exist.
“How do you imagine being 20 years older?” I asked him 25 years ago…
And what did I answer?
“Old man,” he told me.
Well no! You see me: I feel more eager to live than ever.
