The son of late singer-songwriter
Lucio Battisti on Wednesday warned the liquidators of the
company that owns his father's songs from auctioning them off.
Luca Battisti said the copyright did not belong to the
bankrupt Edizioni Musicali Acqua Azzurra, but to the singer's
heirs.
The company owns a back catalogue including some of Italy's
most treasured pop classics including 'Acqua azzurra, acqua
chiara'.
Battisti, whose tunes provided a sound track for Italians for
some thirty years, died in Milan on September 9, 1998 at the age
of 55.
Working with lyricist Mogol, Battisti had a long string of
pop hits for himself as well as for other performers and groups.
Among his more memorable songs were Emozioni, Non e' Francesca,
29 Settembre, Mi Ritorni in Mente, Ancora Tu and Una Donna Per
Amico.
A simple measuring stick of Battisti's popularity was the
over one billion lire per year he continued to receive in
copyright fees for the use of music he wrote or performed, some
over 30 years ago, which continues to be used at public events,
on television, in films and covered by other performers, while
his songs are continually broadcast on both public and private
radio.
Despite having withdrawn from the public spotlight some
twenty years before his death, Battisti remained one of
Italian's top selling performers and while he was unsuccessful
in breaking into foreign markets he knew no rivals in Italy.
His songs Pensieri e Parole and I Giardini di Marzo topped
the Italian charts for more than twenty consecutive weeks at the
start of the 1970s, a record for the time. Between 1969 and 1976
each of the lead singles off albums he penned with Mogol reached
Number One as often did other songs from the same albums. In the
days when people bought 45 singles, Battisti easily sold more
that half a million per hit.
The same was true for his albums, which he turned out at a
rate of one a year from 1970 to 1980. His biggest selling LP was
Una Donna Per Amico which sold 600 copies in 1976.
His albums with Mogol all sold between 300 and 500 thousand
copies From Emozioni in 1970 to Una Giornata Uggiosa in 1980,
including Il Mio Canto Libero in '72, Il Nostro Caro Angelo of
'73 and Anima Latina in '74.
Battisti's production stood out for the way he incorporated
the new music coming from America and Britain into the Italian
mainstream, moving to away from the melodic tunes of the '50s,
and used the moody and introspective lyrics of Mogol to match
the feelings of the changing times.
He never stopped being a focal point in Italian music, even
without performing, and was a major influence on today's
performers and songwriters.
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