Franco Battiato

Franco Battiato was not an artist who stayed in one sound. From his early days in Milanese cabarets to his experiments with electronics and classical music, his work always sought to break boundaries. In the 1960s, when protest folk and romantic songs dominated the Italian scene, he was already blending acoustic guitars with Baroque arrangements in venues like the Club 64, where he shared the stage with figures such as Giorgio Gaber. But the most curious thing is that, at the time, his songs were not his own: he covered Sicilian themes with a *fake ethnic* air to open the shows, until Gaber suggested he use only his first name —Franco— to avoid confusion with another newcomer, Francesco Guccini. Thus was born the alias that would accompany him forever.

The turning point came in the late 1960s, when he left protest folk behind and signed with Philips. He recorded two tracks that the Dutch label did not release until 1971 —Vento caldo and Marciapiede— but it was È l'amore (1969) that hinted at his future: a classical piano and a cracked voice that already announced his obsession with fusing the popular with the cultured. That same year, his participation in the Disco per l'estate with Bella ragazza —alongside a then-unknown Fiorella Mannoia— cemented him as a name to watch, though he was already planning something different.