by Anna Bonalume
Interview with Amanda Lear, painter, singer, Dal’s muse, who wanted to be famous with the hoarse voice and (fake) sexual ambiguity: Sex? A fleeting pleasure. And I’m not afraid of death. middle edge? Before they met him, they told me: “Clean underwear, you never know”
Amanda Lear is one of the last living divas. His hoarse voice shaped the history of disco music. She is a TV presenter in Italy and has lived near Saint-Rymy-de-Provence in southern France for forty years. The woman who admits to fomenting confusion about her sexuality to sell records gives back a candid image of a society in which she no longer recognizes herself.
Why did you make an appointment with us at the Meurice Hotel?
I spent my childhood here, every evening I would come to this bar with Dal, he would take his herbal tea. When I was a penniless student at Paris Fine Arts, I stayed in a small budget hotel in Saint-Germain-des-Prs, La Louisiane. Then I started singing, got an American Express card, and then moved to the third floor of the Meurice. Salvador Dal was angry, he said to me: “I can’t sleep if you’re downstairs in the same hotel, it bothers me.” And I replied: “I’m the one who pays! I go to the hotel I want”.
You started out as an art student, what does painting mean to you?
was my first love! I’ll be a painter until I die, I’m not a singer. my therapy, what keeps me balanced. I don’t need to go to a psychoanalyst when I paint, my colleagues all go to psychoanalysts!
IN A MAN I LOOK FOR FEDELT. IMPOSSIBLE BUT WONDERFUL. I HAVE BEEN VERY LUCKY IN LIFE, I DO NOT FEAR DEATH
Has your childhood dream come true?
My dream was to become famous. Maybe a killer, a Hollywood actress, I knew I would be a celebrity one day. Now I realize that there is no point in being famous except to meet men. But that’s not enough to pay the rent.
do you believe in hell
no We’re already there! It couldn’t be worse, our deaths will be better! But right now, hell, a constant struggle to survive, to be healthy, to work, to have money. All these frustrations, these disappointments are hell!
What do you look for in a man?
Loyalty. almost impossible, but so wonderful. And loyalty. I’ve been very lucky in my life, I’ve met wonderful men, but now the boutique is closed. Go on a little longer because there is a new generation that is more gerontophilic. They like older women and this is new. In the past, when a woman turned 40, her life was over, like an expired yogurt. Today this deadline is always postponed. Just look at Jane Fonda or Tina Turner, all women over 80, extraordinary. And young people discover that these women offer them their intelligence, their tenderness.
What do you see in the much younger men who accompany you?
They have a certain ingenuity, it’s easy to show them the world that fascinates them. And maybe I need that to convince myself that I can still be useful. Americans invented the word cougar because they don’t know novels… Bel-Ami, Chri, it’s always been.
THE STORY WITH DAVID BOWIE? HE HAD NO CULTURE OR EDUCATION BECAUSE HE WAS CURIOUS. THEN THEY START DRUGS AND I WENT…
The rumors about her sexuality contributed to her success, but she had doubts about that. Was fake news a stroke of luck for you?
Today we are inundated with fake news, but back then there wasn’t much. Forty years ago, sex life, the “n man n woman” was very fascinating, we began to discover all this, in fact, this gossip helped me a lot. Back then, all beautiful model girls were singers, once a girl was beautiful, she could throw a disc! So it wasn’t easy to unmark it. The more they talked about Amanda Lear, the more the newspapers covered my sexuality. I learned it from Salvador Dal: the soul of business is advertising!
Dal said to her: The painter can only doodle flowers and babies cry! No woman has ever painted the Sistine Chapel! What did you like about him?
Physically it was a nice debate. I dated young guitar players while he was 70 years old with bad breath and rotten teeth but I had never met such a handsome man. He invited me to lunch at the Lasserre restaurant in Paris. Once, at the end of the meal, he recited a poem by Garcia Lorca. Nobody had ever done anything like that to me! I forgot he’s old. He never told me the same story twice! He spoke to me about his time, about the Surrealists, about Hitchcock, about Frank Sinatra. I was under his spell!
Why did you say your relationship with David Bowie was a mistake?
It was a misunderstanding. Marianne Faithfull introduced him to me in London, he had the flu. He had red hair, he was pale, his teeth weren’t great, but he was charming. He told me he fell in love with me and I replied: “No, you fell in love with my photo! “. He had seen me on the cover of the Roxy Music album. It was the image of the dominant woman, Hitchcock’s ideal, but I wasn’t like that. Bowie hadn’t graduated from high school, he had no culture and no education, but I have with him talked about German cinema, about Fritz Lang, about Metropolis, and he wanted to see everything, he bought books, we had an intellectual and sexual relationship. It was also my first contact with the world of work, because he said to me: “Amanda, you have to sing!”. He signed me, paid my singing lessons, dance lessons, rent. I waited two years and asked his manager: “What about me?”. But he always answered: “Later, later… “. Then Bowie started doing drugs and I left. I owe him that initial impulse of the beginning.
It is clear that the encounters with some personalities have been important for his career…
The meetings with Dal, Bowie, Fellini, Berlusconi were all informal. But the matter goes on. The other day I was at the Café de Flore in Paris and saw a man sitting alone, simply dressed: it was Tim Burton. Fate! The more famous and important people are, the easier they are. When did I play Qu’est-il arriv Bette Davis and Joan Crawford? with Michel Fau, in 2021 Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron came to see me, then they invited me to dinner, they were very nice. But today there are these little stars, the influencers on TikTok, who brag like that.
MET MITTERRAND AND ASKED AUTHOR FRANOISE SAGAN HOW TO DRESS ME. AND YOU: “CLEAN UNDERWEAR, YOU NEVER KNOW”
You met Mitterrand before Macron…
He wrote me a letter to meet me when Berlusconi launches La Cinq in France. I had never met a President of the Republic, I didn’t know how to dress. Did I have to wear a suit, a hat? I called Franoise Sagan who told me: “Go as you are. Remember to wear clean underwear, you never know!”. I sit alone in front of him. Let’s talk TV and other things. When I left, some reporters asked me what happened, but nothing happened. Then they asked me: “But what if he had suggested something to you?”. And I replied: “Then close your eyes and think of the Republic!”.
She was a pioneer on issues of sexuality and LGBT status. What do you think about the development of society?
We go back to all achievements, like abortion. We thought we had evolved, but now we’re going back to the days when everything was forbidden. I speak like an old woman, but I lived through a very libertarian era. Not everything was forbidden, we didn’t even buckle up in the car, we were allowed to smoke on the plane, we made love and we didn’t have to protect each other, there was no terrorism. I am sorry that the young people who are forced to always be careful are afraid.
Five years have passed since the Weinstein case. What do you think of the #MeToo movement?
I’m glad people have the courage to talk about it, because everyone knew what was going on in show business, but nobody said anything. But why did he expect so much? Why does a girl say today “Forty years ago he put his hands on my ass”? I do not understand! If someone gets their hands on my ass, I’m going to the police that same evening! I’m a little shocked that after so many years of tedious work this is coming to light.
Today there is a lot of discussion about the separation of gender and sex. What is identity?
just one word. We are humans. Gender is a way of locking people into a category. You’re straight, gay, bisexual, transgender, I don’t care. I think those categories will disappear to make way for the word “sexual.” But it will be a long process.
what is sex
Hygiene, like a good meal. to be pleased, a fleeting pleasure. I don’t see any spiritual dimension in it or any of the communion between two beings. The most important thing is to have a good time and if you can do without it, even better.
Do women have a better place in society?
Salvador Dal told me: “You will see, in a few years we will be approaching a matriarchal society. Women will dominate, they will take over”. I think that can happen, but we must avoid revenge. Today there are aggressive women who would like to kill men. But equality is obviously desirable. Women can be more thoughtful and calm than men when it comes to making important political decisions. There are very impetuous men who start a war too easily.
What do you think of the new French Prime Minister?
He was able to assert himself in Parliament. The members of “La France insoumise” and their leader Jean-Luc Mlenchon were rude, attacked, insulted them. We knew full well that this would be the case, but she managed to keep her composure. He didn’t respond with a “fuck off” like in Italy. difficult for a woman in politics because she is judged by her dress and looks. The same sexist language is not used towards men.
In France we like to burn our idols, he writes in his book Dlires (Le Cherche midi). Was she cremated?
Man must belittle others. We look at the stars and get complexes because they look perfect. To take revenge, we must destroy them. On the one hand we admire these people, on the other hand we are jealous of them. We are happy to show Isabelle Adjani’s photos and say “Ah pro, fattened” … That reassures us: There is no such thing as a perfect idol until death.
Are you afraid of death?
No, on the contrary. I am in favor. I made my dreams come true, I had a very nice life, every morning I thank you for being alive, thank you for this good cappuccino, thank you for meeting an interesting person. I don’t know what else I could ask for.
Do you want to be immortal?
That would be the worst of all punishments.
Le Point REPRODUCTION RESERVED
August 20, 2022 (change August 20, 2022 | 14:39)
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED