She said to her, “All that you say I will do.”
Lucio Battisti “Un’avventura,” 1969.
Give it to 2:38. Stax, eat your heart out.
She said to her, “All that you say I will do.”
Lucio Battisti “Un’avventura,” 1969.
Give it to 2:38. Stax, eat your heart out.
Battisti,
Italy’s Beatles, and boy do I love that guy. Particularly his crazy jacket:
http://gigsofmp3.com/covers/20/20977/art_20977_big.jpg
Anto will be pumped up about this one.
I once wanted to write a film script about an American (NYer) who was obsessed with Battisti, and tried talking with everyone he could about him. he even would dress up like him and quote his lyrics (in Italian) to the point where he finally traveled back to Italy to become a kind of Battisti cover band guy. Probably a terrible film, but a fun idea to think about.
What’s the Stax reference about? Lost on me.
Also, right back at you with some Battisti:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpqwtBzhiw0
That film sounds wild; I would see it, I think, though maybe not in theaters (though this isn’t a jab at the plot; I just don’t see films in theaters anymore if I can help it — $11.25? Seriously?).
As for the Stax reference, it was a little shoddy to begin with. I suppose I just mean that this guy’s got soul, moreso than many “soul brothers” on Stax (though nowhere near the soul of my man Otis, of course. Then again, who has THAT soul?)
Also: Italy’s Beatles? That’s a funny thing to think about — the Beatles were so globally prominent, can it be possible for someone to be the “Beatles” of a single nation? I mean, the Beatles were Italy’s Beatles, weren’t they? As well as America’s, Russia’s, Egypt’s, Japan’s…
I hadn’t thought about that before!
& lastly: that jacket. Beyond words.
So you would pay $11.25 to see my movie? You hippie! But Battisti gains you a lot of street cred in my book, so I’ll let it pass.
Now, the whole Beatles as the globe thing is interesting. The Beatles can only be the Beatles, and all that. But every culture had their pop icon/hero despite the imperial sounds of the Fab 4. And for me the discovery of Battisti was just that, here is a guy who gets little, actually no, attention in English speaking countries, and much of that has to do with the predominance of US and British pop culture that has not only drowned out much of the artists from other countries, but in fact makes the emergence of localized pop often derivative of the English language dominant scene. Battisti is a grand exception to this rule in Italy, where the musical tradition dies in the 70s, 80s, and 90s (at least in my opinion), and turns to the US and Britain for their musical culture (it took a little longer for this to happen with Italian film, but by the mid 80s, early 90s it had gotten there too). So, I guess my comment goes along those lines, a great talent (international, even) that won’t ever get recognized given the never ending discussion of just how great the Beatles were, are and always will be.
This makes a lot more sense than what I had originally mistaken your comment to mean — I think you’re very right, though it’s definitely something I know hardly anything about. European pop music history is something that goes no deeper for me than people like Serge Gainsbourg & now Battisti (a new discovery for me, & one I am digging more & more). This:
“the predominance of US and British pop culture that has not only drowned out much of the artists from other countries, but in fact makes the emergence of localized pop often derivative of the English language dominant scene.”
is dead on, right between the eyes. Brilliant, your ideas, completely devastating, the truth of your ideas.
& if you footed the cinema bill, I’d go with you to see it. Or maybe you could sneak me into the premiere…