Lever, one of the six simple machines
Levers can be used to exert a large force over a small distance at one end by exerting only a small force over a greater distance at the other.
Classification	Simple machine
Industry	Construction
Weight	Mass times gravitational acceleration
Fuel source	potential and kinetic energy {mechanical energy }
Components	fulcrum or pivot, load and effort

A lever ( /ˈlɛvər/ or UK /ˈliːvər/) is constructed from a beam attached to ground by a hinge, or fulcrum. It is one of the six simple machines identified by Renaissance scientists. The word comes from the French lever, "to raise", cf. a levant. A lever amplifies an input force to provide a greater output force, which is said to provide leverage. The ratio of the output force to the input force is the ideal mechanical advantage of the lever.

Early use[link]

This is an engraving from Mechanics Magazine published in London in 1824.

The earliest remaining writings regarding levers date from the 3rd century BC and were provided by Archimedes. "Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the Earth with a lever"^{[note 1]} is a remark of Archimedes who formally stated the correct mathematical principle of levers (quoted by Pappus of Alexandria).^[1]

It is assumed that in ancient Egypt, constructors used the lever to move and uplift obelisks weighting more than 100 tons.^[2]

Force and levers[link]

A lever is a beam connected to ground by a hinge, or pivot, called a fulcrum. The ideal lever does not dissipate or store energy, which means there is no friction in the hinge or bending in the beam. In this case, the power into the lever equals the power out, and the ratio of output to input force is given by the ratio of the distances from the fulcrum to the points of application of these forces. This is known as the law of the lever.

Mathematically, this is expressed by

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): M_{in} = F_{in} d_{in} = F_{out}d_{out}=M_{out},\!

where F_in is the input force to the lever and F_out is the output force. The distances d_in and d_out are the perpendicular distances between the forces and the fulcrum. The moments M_in and M_out are the turning forces, known as the moment or torque.

Classes of levers[link]

Three classes of levers.

Levers are classified by the relative positions of the fulcrum and the input and output forces. It is common to call the input force the effort and the output force the load or the resistance. This allows the identification of three classes of levers by the relative locations of the fulcrum, the resistance and the effort:^[3]

• Class 1: Fulcrum in the middle: the effort is applied on one side of the fulcrum and the resistance on the other side, for example, a crowbar or a pair of scissors or a seesaw.
• Class 2: Resistance in the middle: the effort is applied on one side of the resistance and the fulcrum is located on the other side, for example, a wheelbarrow or a nutcracker or a bottle opener.
• Class 3: Effort in the middle: the resistance is on one side of the effort and the fulcrum is located on the other side, for example, a pair of tweezers or the human mandible.

These cases are described by the mnemonic "fre 123" where the fulcrum is in the middle for the 1st class lever, the resistance is in the middle for the 2nd class lever, and the effort is in the middle for the 3rd class lever.

Law of the lever[link]

A lever in balance

The lever is a movable bar that pivots on a fulcrum attached to a fixed point. The lever operates by applying forces at different distances from the fulcrum, or pivot.

Assuming the lever does not dissipate or store energy, the power into the lever must equal the power out of the lever. As the lever rotates around the fulcrum, points farther from this pivot move faster than points closer to the pivot. Therefore a force applied to a point farther from the pivot must be less than the force located at a point closer in, because power is the product of force and velocity.^[4]

If a and b are distances from the fulcrum to points A and B and let the force F_A applied to A is the input and the force F_B applied at B is the output, the ratio of the velocities of points A and B is given by a/b, so we have the ratio of the output force to the input force, or mechanical advantage, is given by

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): MA = \frac{F_B}{F_A} = \frac{a}{b}.

This is the law of the lever, which was proven by Archimedes using geometric reasoning.^[5] It shows that if the distance a from the fulcrum to where the input force is applied (point A) is greater than the distance b from fulcrum to where the output force is applied (point B), then the lever amplifies the input force. On the other hand, if the distance a from the fulcrum to the input force is less than the distance b from the fulcrum to the output force, then the lever reduces the input force.

The use of velocity in the static analysis of a lever is an application of the principle of virtual work.

See also[link]

• Engineering mechanics
• Heavy equipment
• Linkage (mechanical)
• Mechanical advantage
• Mechanism (engineering)
• Virtual work

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Levers

Look up lever in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Lever at Diracdelta science and engineering encyclopedia
• A Simple Lever by Stephen Wolfram, Wolfram Demonstrations Project.
• Levers: Simple Machines at EnchantedLearning.com

Table of simple mechanisms, from Chambers' Cyclopedia, 1728.^[1] Simple machines provide a "vocabulary" for understanding more complex machines.

A simple machine is a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force.^[2] In general, they can be defined as the simplest mechanisms that provide mechanical advantage (also called leverage).^[3]

Usually the term refers to the six classical simple machines which were defined by Renaissance scientists:^[4]

• Lever
• Wheel and axle
• Pulley
• Inclined plane
• Wedge
• Screw

A simple machine is an elementary device that has a specific movement (often called a mechanism), which can be combined with other devices and movements to form a machine. Thus simple machines are considered to be the "building blocks" of more complicated machines. This analytical view of machines as decomposable into simple machines first arose in the Renaissance as a neoclassical amplification of ancient Greek texts on technology,^[5] and is still a central part of engineering in today's age of applied science. For example, wheels, levers, and pulleys are all used in the mechanism of a bicycle.^[6][7] Between the simple machines and complex assemblies, several intermediate classes can be defined, which may be termed "compound machines"^[8][3][9] or "machine elements".^[10] The mechanical advantage of a compound machine is simply the product of the mechanical advantages of the simple machines of which it is composed.

Various authors have compiled lists of simple machines and machine elements, sometimes lumping them together under a single term such as "simple machines",^[1] "basic machines",^[6] "compound machines",^[8] or "machine elements"; the use of the term "simple machines" in this broader sense is a departure from the neoclassical sense of the six essential simple machines, which is why many authors prefer to avoid its use, preferring the other terms (such as "machine element"). In all cases, the theme of an analytical and synthetic connection from simple to compound to complex is at work. A page from a 1728 text by Ephraim Chambers^[1] (in the figure to the right) shows more machine elements. By the late 1800s, Franz Reuleaux^[11] identified hundreds of machine elements (calling them "simple machines"). Models of these devices can be found at Cornell University's KMODDL website.^[12]

History[link]

The idea of a "simple machine" originated with the Greek philosopher Archimedes around the 3rd century BC, who studied the "Archimedean" simple machines: lever, pulley, and screw.^[3][13] He discovered the principle of mechanical advantage in the lever.^[14] Later Greek philosophers defined the classic five simple machines (excluding the inclined plane) and were able to roughly calculate their mechanical advantage.^[5] Heron of Alexandria (ca. 10–75 AD) in his work Mechanics lists five mechanisms that can "set a load in motion"; lever, windlass, pulley, wedge, and screw,^[13] and describes their fabrication and uses.^[15] However the Greeks' understanding was limited to the statics of simple machines; the balance of forces, and did not include dynamics; the tradeoff between force and distance, or the concept of work.

During the Renaissance the dynamics of the Mechanical Powers, as the simple machines were called, began to be studied from the standpoint of how much useful work they could perform, leading eventually to the new concept of mechanical work. In 1586 Flemish engineer Simon Stevin derived the mechanical advantage of the inclined plane, and it was included with the other simple machines. The complete dynamic theory of simple machines was worked out by Italian scientist Galileo Galilei in 1600 in Le Meccaniche ("On Mechanics").^[16][17] He was the first to understand that simple machines do not create energy, only transform it.^[16]

The classic rules of sliding friction in machines were discovered by Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–1519), but remained unpublished in his notebooks. They were rediscovered by Guillaume Amontons (1699) and were further developed by Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (1785).^[18]

Mechanical advantage[link]

A simple machine has an applied force that works against a load force. If there are no friction losses, the work done on the load is equal to the work done by the applied force. This allows an increase in the output force at the cost of a proportional decrease in the distance moved by the load. The ratio of the output force to the input force is the mechanical advantage of the machine.

If the simple machine does not dissipate or absorb energy, then its mechanical advantage can be calculated from the machine's geometry. For example, the mechanical advantage of a lever is equal to the ratio of its lever arms. A simple machine with no friction or elasticity is often called an ideal machine.^[19][20]

The mechanical advantage of an ideal simple machine is easily obtained from the requirement the rate of energy in, or power in, equals the rate of energy out, or power out, that is

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): P_{in} = P_{out}.\!

Because power is the product of a force and the velocity of its point of application, the applied force times the velocity the input point moves, v_in, must be equal to the load force times the velocity the load moves, v_out, given by

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): F_{in}v_{in} = F_{out}v_{out}.\,

So the ratio of output to input force, the mechanical advantage, of a frictionless machine is equal to the "velocity ratio"; the ratio of input velocity to output velocity:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): MA = \frac{F_{out}}{F_{in}} = \frac{v_{in}}{v_{out}} \,

      (Ideal Mechanical Advantage)

In the screw, which uses rotational motion, the input force should be replaced by the torque, and the velocity by the angular velocity the shaft is turned.

Compound machine[link]

A compound machine is a machine formed from a set of simple machines connected in series with the output force of one providing the input force to the next. For example a bench vise consists of a lever (the vise's handle) in series with a screw, and a simple gear train consists of a number of gears (wheels and axles) connected in series.

The mechanical advantage of a compound machine is the ratio of the output force exerted by the last machine in the series divided by the input force applied to the first machine, that is

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \mathrm{MA}_{compound} = \frac {F_{\mathrm{out} n}} {F_{\mathrm{in} 1}}. \,

Because the output force of each machine is the input of the next, Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): F_{out 1}=F_{in 2} \,

and Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.):  F_{out k} =F_{in k+1} \,

, this mechanical advantage is also given by,

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \mathrm{MA}_{compound} = \frac {F_{out 1}} {F_{in 1}} \frac {F_{out 2}} {F_{in 2}} \ldots\frac {F_{out n}} {F_{in n}}. \,

Thus, the mechanical advantage of the compound machine is equal to the product of the mechanical advantages of the series of simple machines that form it,

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \mathrm{MA}_{compound} = \mathrm{MA}_1 \mathrm{MA}_2 \ldots\mathrm{MA}_n \,

Energy losses and efficiency[link]

Machines lose energy through friction, deformation and wear, which is dissipated as heat. This means the power out of the machine is less than power in. The ratio of power out to power in is the efficiency η of the machine, and is a measure of the energy losses,

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \eta = \frac{P_{out}}{P_{in}}. \,

The velocity ratio of a machine is fixed by its dimensions, so it is the mechanical advantage that is reduced by the losses, that is

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): MA = \frac{F_{out}}{F_{in}} = \eta \frac{v_{in}}{v_{out}}.

So in non-ideal machines, the mechanical advantage is always less than the velocity ratio by the product with the efficiency η. So a machine that includes losses such as friction, deformation and wear, will not be able to move as large a load as a corresponding ideal machine using the same input force.

The efficiency of a compound machine is the product of the efficiencies of the series of simple machines that form it,

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \eta_{compound} = \eta_1 \eta_2 \ldots \eta_n.\,

Kinematic chains[link]

Illustration of a four-bar linkage from Kinematics of Machinery, 1876

Simple machines are elementary examples of kinematic chains that are used to model mechanical systems ranging from the steam engine to robot manipulators. The bearings that form the fulcrum of a lever and that allow the wheel and axle and pulleys to rotate are examples of a kinematic pair called a hinged joint. Similarly, the flat surface of an inclined plane and wedge are examples of the kinematic pair called a sliding joint. The screw is usually identified as its own kinematic pair called a helical joint.

Two levers, or cranks, are combined into a planar four-bar linkage by attaching a link that connects the output of one crank to the input of another. Additional links can be attached to form a six-bar linkage or in series to form a robot.^[19]

Classification of machines[link]

The identification of simple machines arises from a desire for a systematic method to invent new machines. Therefore, an important concern is how simple machines are combined to make more complex machines. One approach is to attach simple machines in series to obtain compound machines.

However, a more successful strategy was identified by Franz Reuleaux, who collected and studied over 800 elementary machines. He realized that a lever, pulley and wheel and axle are in essence the same device, a body rotating about a hinge, and that an inclined plane, wedge and screw are similarly a block sliding on a flat surface.^[21]

This realization shows that it is the joints, or the connections that provide movement, that are the primary elements of a machine. Starting with four types of joints, the rotary joint, sliding joint, cam joint and gear joint, and related connections such as cables and belts, it is possible to understand a machine as an assembly of solid parts that connect these joints.^[19]

See also[link]

• Machine (mechanical)
• Mechanism (engineering)
• Linkage (mechanical)
• Four-bar linkage
• Six-bar linkage
• Gear train
• Mechanical advantage
• Power (physics)

References[link]

Sutton Lenore Foster (born March 18, 1975) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Foster has received two Tony Awards, in 2002 for her role of Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie and in 2011 for her role of Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes. Her other Broadway credits include Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein and Shrek the Musical. She also is starring in the upcoming television series Bunheads.

Life and career[link]

Foster was born in Statesboro, Georgia and raised in Troy, Michigan. At age fifteen, she was a contestant on the television show Star Search and also auditioned for the cast of The Mickey Mouse Club. She left Troy High School before graduating (she received her diploma via correspondence courses) to join the national tour of The Will Rogers Follies directed by Tommy Tune. She then attended Carnegie Mellon University for one year, but left to pursue a theatrical career full-time. May 2012, she received an honorary doctorate from Ball State University. Her brother is actor Hunter Foster.

Foster's first Broadway role was as an understudy for Sandy Dumbrowski in Grease in 1996. She then appeared in The Scarlet Pimpernel and as Star to Be in Annie in 1997. Foster's next Broadway role was understudying for Eponine in Les Misérables in 2000.^[1]

Foster's opportunity was reminiscent of 42nd Street when, during rehearsals of the pre-Broadway run of Thoroughly Modern Millie at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, she replaced leading lady Erin Dilly.^[2] Any apprehension about having an unknown playing the lead in a nearly $10 million Broadway production was proven unfounded when she opened at the Marquis Theatre to many positive reviews. The New York Daily News reviewer described her as "newcomer Sutton Foster, who has the pert look, the silver voice and the dazzling legwork to make an extraordinarily winning Millie."^[3] Clive Barnes, reviewing for the New York Post wrote "Newcomer Sutton Foster's own star turn as Millie is perfectly charming, but as a star she doesn't twinkle, glitter or light up Broadway like a Christmas tree defying a July noon. But she has a good voice and is cutely agreeable."^[4] The Newsday reviewer wrote: "She has a smile that may remind you of Mary Tyler Moore, the gawky comic precision of the young Carol Burnett, the lyricism of a romantic heroine and a smallish but vibrant voice as accurate as it is expressive. As [Millie], another of New York's prototypical small-town girls with big-city dreams, [Sutton Foster] appears unfazed by the burden of a character created onscreen by Julie Andrews. The newcomer takes the big stage with an uninhibited what-the-heck comfort level and the discipline to go with her instincts."^[5] Time Magazine wrote: "she's [Sutton Foster] got the full package: girlish gawkiness and Broadway brass, the legs and the lungs. Foster is a big reason the show is just about the cutest thing to hit Broadway since Annie's dimples, with perkily retro songs by Jeanine Tesori and clever staging by director Michael Mayer..."^[6] Foster went on to win the 2002 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical,^[7] the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical,^[8] and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical for her performance.^[9][10]

In 2005, Foster starred as Jo March opposite Maureen McGovern as Marmee in the musical adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott classic Little Women, for which she was nominated for her second Tony Award.^[11]

She returned to the Marquis Theatre in May 2006 in The Drowsy Chaperone, a spoof of 1920s musicals. She played the role of Janet van de Graaff, a famous Broadway starlet who opts to forgo a stage career in favor of married life. Her performance earned her a third Tony nomination.^[12]

In 2007, Foster appeared on television in Johnny and the Sprites, a children's musical puppet show,^[13] and in a three-episode story arc on the HBO series Flight of the Conchords.^[14]

Foster starred in Mel Brooks' musical adaptation of his film Young Frankenstein as the German yodeling fraulein Inga from October 2007 to July 2008.^[15]

She created the role of Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical, which opened on Broadway December 14, 2008.^[16] For this role Foster won her second Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical^[17] and was nominated for her fourth Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical.^[18] She played her final performance on January 3, 2010, when the show closed on Broadway.

Foster participated in a reading of a work-in-progress new musical, Bonnie and Clyde: A Folktale, in June 2009. Her brother Hunter is writing the music for this musical.^[19]

Wish, Foster's debut solo album, was released on the Ghostlight Records label in February 2009. The songs range from jazz to pop to cabaret to Broadway.^[20] In 2010, Foster promoted the album with concert performances in Boston, New York, Chicago, the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Orange County, California, and Washington, D.C.^[21]

Foster taught a Spring Semester class at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Undergraduate Department of Drama, beginning in January 2010, culminating in a cabaret performance at Joe's Pub in May and taught a Fall Semester 2010 class also culminating in a performance at Joe's Pub called Crazy for Gershwin (music directed by Deborah Abramson). She is now on the faculty of NYU's New Studio on Broadway. She also taught a week long master class session at Ball State University (Muncie, IN) in January 2010.^[19] September 2010, she continued her relationship with Ball State University by working with students in the classroom, teaching master class sessions, and performing workshops for students of the Department of Theatre and Dance. In the spring of 2012, she returned to Ball State where she co-directed The Drowsy Chaperone with department Chair, Bill "Daisy" Jenkins.

In May 2012, Foster spoke at commencement and received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree from Ball State University for her continued engagement with Ball State students teaching classes at Ball State, mentoring the interdisciplinary team that wrote the musical "The Circus in Winter" and co-directing the Department of Theatre and Dance's Spring 2012 production of "The Drowsy Chaperone."

Foster starred as Nurse Fay Apple in the New York City Center's Encores! production of Anyone Can Whistle, which played from April 8 to April 11, 2010.^[22]

She also guest starred on an episode of Law & Order SVU, which aired on March 3, 2010.^[23]

Foster made her Off-Broadway debut in Paul Weitz's new comedy, Trust which began previews July 23, 2010 with an official opening August 12, running through September 12, 2010 at Second Stage Theatre. The play also starred Zach Braff, Bobby Cannavale, and Ari Graynor.^[24]

Foster and Seth Rudetsky participated in the one night only Actors Fund benefit concert of They're Playing Our Song on August 30, 2010 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theatre, John Jay College, New York. The full cast included Efé, Kaitlyn Davidson, Alex Ellis, Maynard, Matt Loehr, and Jesse Nager, and was directed by Denis Jones.^[25]

Foster performed at the 33rd Annual Kennedy Center Honors in a tribute to Jerry Herman, singing "Before the Parade Passes By."^[26] She then performed at the Kennedy Center Honors the following year in a tribute to Barbara Cook.^[27]

She recently played Reno Sweeney in the Broadway revival of Anything Goes, which began performances on March 10, 2011 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre and officially opened on April 7, 2011.^[28] For this role Foster won her third Outer Critics Circle Award and second Drama Desk Award and Tony Award for her performance.^[29][30][31] Foster played her final performance March 11, 2012, when she was replaced by Stephanie J. Block. Foster left to film her upcoming ABC Family series, "Bunheads".^[32]

Credits[link]

Broadway

• Anything Goes as Reno Sweeney (2011–2012)
• Shrek the Musical as Princess Fiona (2008–2010)
• Young Frankenstein as Inga (2007–2008)
• The Drowsy Chaperone as Janet Van De Graaff (2006–2007)
• Little Women as Jo March (2005)
• Thoroughly Modern Millie as Millie Dillmount (2002–2004)
• Les Misérables as Eponine u/s (2000)
• The Scarlet Pimpernel (1997)
• Annie as Star to Be (1997)
• Grease as u/sSandy Dumbrowski (1996)

Off-Broadway

• Trust as Prudence (2010)

Regional theatre

• Me and My Girl (2004)
• What the World Needs Now (1998)
• Dorian (2000)
• The Three Musketeers
• South Pacific

Concerts

• They're Playing Our Song as Sonia Walsk (August 30, 2010)
• Anyone Can Whistle (Encores!) as Nurse Fay Apple (April 8–11, 2010)
• Funny Girl (Concert) as Fanny Brice (September 23, 2002)
• Chess (Concert) as Svetlana (September 22, 2003)

Television

• Johnny and the Sprites (2007)
• Flight of the Conchords (2007)
• Law & Order: SVU (2010)
• Sesame Street (2011)
• Royal Pains (2012)
• Bunheads (2012)

Discography

• Anything Goes Broadway Revival Recording
• An Evening with Sutton Foster: Live at the Café Carlyle (2011)
• Wish First Solo Album
• Shrek The Musical Original Cast Recording
• Keys — The Music of Scott Alan
• Young Frankenstein Original Cast Recording
• The Drowsy Chaperone Original Cast Recording
• Little Women Original Cast Recording
• The Maury Yeston Songbook
• Thoroughly Modern Millie Original Cast Recording
• Jule Styne in Hollywood

Workshops

• Carrie, Off-Broadway Revival
• Wicked (musical)^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Foster married Christian Borle in September 2006.^[33][34][35] On a radio interview in 2010 it was confirmed that Borle and Foster had gone their separate ways.^[36][37] Foster and Borle remain as friends. Foster announced her breakup with former boyfriend Bobby Cannavale in an interview in April 2012.^[38]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Sutton Foster | PlaybillVault.com
• Sutton Foster at the Internet Broadway Database
• Sutton Foster at the Internet Movie Database
• Article on her role in Thoroughly Modern Millie
• Sutton Foster - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org, May 2005
• Performance - Working in the Theatre Seminar video at American Theatre Wing.org, April 2003
• TonyAwards.com Interview with Sutton Foster
• Riverfront Times interview with Sutton Foster about her upbringing

Logobi GT is a popular Logobi musical act in France, and one of the pioneers in making this genre of music from Africa popular in continental Europe. The group is signed to Five Music label and features Sisi-K on vocals with 6 dancers all originating from Africa and the Caribbean.

Members[link]

Logobi GT is composed of:^[1]

• Sisi-K - vocals - Central African Republic
• Cézar - dancer - Congo
• Gabana - dancer - Côte d'Ivoire
• Jojo - dancer - Cape Verde
• Lyas - dancer - Cape Verde
• Norton - dancer - Congo
• Sylja - dancer - Guadeloupe

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Facebook
• YouTube
• Skyrock

This article about a French band or other musical ensemble is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Lucio Battisti (5 March 1943 – 9 September 1998) was an Italian singer-songwriter (cantautore). He is considered to be one of the best-known and most influential musicians and authors in Italian pop/rock music history.^[1]

Battisti started his career in 1966 and from 1969 to 1994 he released 18 albums in his home country. A significant part of his production was translated into Spanish (various albums) and English (one album). He was renowned to be an extremely reserved artist: during his successful career he performed only a small number of live concerts, and in the early 1980s he announced he would communicate only through his studio albums, completely disappearing from the Italian public scene.

Biography[link]

Musician and composer[link]

Battisti was born in Poggio Bustone, a town in the province of Rieti (northern Lazio), and moved with his family to Rome in 1950. A self-taught guitarist, Battisti made his debut as musician in the 1960s, performing in local bands in Rome, Naples and later in Milan where he joined I Campioni (The Champions), the support band of then famous singer Tony Dallara. He also travelled abroad as a working musician, in Germany and England, where he absorbed the music of Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, Jimi Hendrix, blues and soul - among others - which he later introduced into Italian Pop music.

In Milan he found the support of the French talent scout, Christine Leroux, who worked for the Ricordi music label. Under Leroux's wing Battisti penned three sizeable hits in 1966 for other artists ("Per una lira" for Ribelli, "Dolce di giorno" for Dik Dik, and "Uno in più" for Riki Maiocchi). Leroux also introduced Battisti to lyricist Giulio Rapetti, better known as Mogol: though not impressed at first by Battisti's music, Mogol later declared to have started the collaboration after recognizing Battisti's humble, though determined, desire to improve his work. Mogol also pushed Ricordi to allow Battisti to sing his own songs: Battisti's voice became the focal point of his strength and originality. As a singer, he made his debut with the song "Per una lira" in 1966: despite the song's poor success (only 520 copies sold throughout Italy!^[2]), it allowed him to begin building his career as a singer.

Battisti continued to write for others, in the late 1960s: the US rock group The Grass Roots scored a hit stateside with one of Battisti's compositions, "Balla Linda", translated as "Bella Linda". With the same song, Battisti classified fourth in the Cantagiro, a then popular Italian Pop music competition. 1969 saw another one of Battisti's compositions, "Il Paradiso", become a hit in the UK when it was covered by the group Amen Corner as "(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice", hitting the number one spot on the singles chart. In the same period another English band, The Hollies - featuring Graham Nash - recorded a Battisti song in Italian, "Non prego per me".

Success as a solo singer in 1970s – The Mogol-Battisti duo[link]

	La luce dell'est noicon La luce dell'est (1972)
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

In the same year Battisti took part in the Festival of Sanremo, with the song "Un'avventura", and his popularity began to increase. His first great hit was "Acqua azzurra, acqua chiara", which won the Festivalbar. The same year, Ricordi issued Battisti's self-titled debut album. During this successful year he met Grazia Letizia Veronese, who later married and lived with Battisti until his death.

Forming a strong and highly successful duo with lyricist Mogol, Battisti continued to issue solo albums on a regular basis throughout the 1970s: in almost every case they reached the highest places in his country's charts, and are regarded as classics of Italian Pop Music ("musica leggera"). He also became a popular TV presence.

In 1970 Battisti won Festivalbar for the second time in a row, with the song "Fiori rosa, fiori di pesco", and started to collaborate with Mina, who sang some of Mogol-Battisti's finest tunes. In December, Ricordi issued Battisti's second LP, "Emozioni", which was a compilation of previously released singles. Battisti was really angry about this, as he had composed a concept album called Amore e non amore, but his label chose to release the compilation rather than the album, which was considered to be too experimental and advanced for the Italian audience.

Amore e non amore was eventually released in July 1971, but in order to preserve their creative freedom, Battisti and Mogol moved over to Numero Uno, one of Italy's first independent record labels, founded by them in the fall of 1969.

The new label released Umanamente uomo: il sogno (1972) followed by the even more successful Il mio canto libero (1972). The latter topped the Italian charts for 8 weeks: one of its songs - "Io vorrei, non vorrei, ma se vuoi" - was later recorded by Mick Ronson with lyrics translated by David Bowie, as "Music Is Lethal" (on the album Slaughter on 10th Avenue). The song "Il Mio Canto Libero" has remained one of the most popular songs ever among Italians. Another successful album was Il nostro caro angelo (1973).

Anima Latina (1974) is considered Battisti's most complex and multi-layered work, a new personal approach to Prog Rock music with an increased attention to rhythms and increasingly cryptic lyrics by Mogol; nonetheless, their work enjoyed a good success, remaining for 13 weeks at number one in Italian charts.

Lucio Battisti, la batteria, il contrabbasso, eccetera, released in 1976 and including the hit "Ancora tu" was an even bigger success; many of the songs clearly showing the artist's interest in the then-emerging Disco sounds and production values that would have a large influence on his three subsequent albums.

	Amore mio di provincia noicon Amore mio di provincia (1980)
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In 1977 he released Io tu noi tutti. He also relocated to Los Angeles, and issued an album, Images, that featured some of his biggest hits re-recorded in English. However, the attempt to equal his European success in the United States failed. In 1978 Battisti released Una donna per amico: recorded in London and produced by Geoff Westley, it was his best-selling LP ever. This was followed in 1980 by Una giornata uggiosa, produced by the same team. It contained Battisti's last great success, "Con il nastro rosa". Considered one of the duo's best compositions ever, it featured a very fine (and long) guitar solo by Phil Palmer. Battisti's songs written with Mogol continue to be covered by artists with an international reputation; a more recent example is Tanita Tikaram's "And I Think of You" ("E penso a te").

Battisti, a rather shy person, had always been reluctant to talk about himself and his work. In the early 1980s he declared he would no longer make public appearances nor release any interviews: in his words "[he was going to] speak no more, since an artist must communicate with the public only through his work". In some very rare occasions, though, he appeared as a TV guest in other countries such as France, Switzerland and Germany, and only after 1982 his vow can be considered completely fulfilled, with a perseverance similar to that of J. D. Salinger and other famous recluses.

The "Second period"[link]

	Potrebbe essere sera noicon Potrebbe essere sera (1990)
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In 1981 Battisti broke the partnership with Mogol, switching to a more experimental, sometimes weird inspiration, based often on electronic instruments. The LPs of his "second period", starting from E già of 1982 (with lyrics by his wife), received a mixed reception from both critics and audiences. Mogol started to work with Riccardo Cocciante; in 1990, he declared he had not listened to Battisti's LPs for many years.

From 1986, starting with Don Giovanni, to 1994, the lyrics on Battisti's albums were written by the poet Pasquale Panella. Don Giovanni combined a return to classic "Battistian" melodies with lyrics which some felt were weird and often seemingly meaningless. Others, however, understood the lyrics to be cryptic: an intellectual mind game of sorts. Don Giovanni had a reasonable success in Italy.

The following L'apparenza (1988), however, again contained rather impervious lyrics; its success was worse than the one had by Don Giovanni, in chart position as well as in sales volumes. La sposa occidentale (1990) was released for CBS, and marked another fall in sales and success. The declining sales were hardly a concern for Battisti: it was rumoured that in the 1990s he was earning 4-5 billion lire a year (approximately 3 million Euro in 2006) solely from author rights of his 1970s songs.

Battisti's last albums were Cosa succederà alla ragazza (1992) and Hegel (1994).

On 9 September 1998, Battisti died in a Milan hospital. The New York Times said the cause was cancer.^[1] The news was immediately reported by the media and spread quickly throughout the country, generating an unprecedented wave of emotion for the singer-songwriter. He was later buried in the cemetery of Molteno, the town where he had spent his last years with his family, far from the show business circus.

Several compilations of his best tracks have surfaced after Battisti's death, including 2000's Battisti and 2001's Canzoni d'amore. His catalogue is published by BMG Music Publishing.

Influence and praise[link]

Through the years, Battisti consolidated his status as one of the most well-known Italian singers. His songs remain immensely popular in Italy, and are often performed live by other notable musicians.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

English language recordings[link]

A few of his songs were translated into the English language. The album Images was the only official worldwide release, however in Britain a single was published with two other translations: "Baby It's You"("Ancora tu") and "Lady" ("Donna selvaggia donna"). A full translation of the album Una donna per amico, to be called Friends, which had the above songs, was recorded but never published. The two songs and the album were translated and produced by Frank Musker.^[19][20][21]

Full list of Battisti's English recordings:^[19]

Released

• Images
• "Baby It's You" ("Ancora tu")
• "Lady" ("Donna selvaggia donna")

Unreleased

• "My Father Told Me" - instrumental of "Nel sole, nel vento, nel sorriso, e nel pianto"
• "Wake Me I'm Dreaming - "Mi ritorni in mente"
• "You and Your Tomorrow" - "Acqua azzurra, acqua chiara"
• The following were considered for Images, translated not by Peter Powell but by Marva Jan Marrow:

• "Star in a Film" - "L'interprete di un film"
• "Since I Have Forgotten About You" - "Eppur mi son scordato di te" with different accompaniment melody and an acoustic guitar
• "Our Dear Angel" - "Il nostro caro angelo"
• "Freedom Song" - An alternate translation of "Il mio canto libero", sung solo and with guitar
• "The Sun Song" - An alternate translation of "La canzone del sole", set to the original Italian version's melody
• "To Love a Bit" - "Amarsi un po'", the words were changed into "To feel in love" for the album

• Friends - A translation of the album Una donna per amico, replacing the song "Maledetto gatto" with translations of two of his other hits. All the songs were translated by Frank Musker.

1. "Baby it's You" - shorter version
2. "I Think of You" - previous hit "E penso a te", different from the tribute by Tanita Tikaram
3. "Take it as it Comes" - "Prendila così"
4. "Lady" - slightly different from released version
5. "Day to Day" - "Perché no"
6. "Afraid of Falling" - "Aver paura di innamorarsi troppo"
7. "Pain is Gone" - "Nessun dolore"
8. "A Woman as a Friend" - "Una donna per amico"
9. "Goin' to the Movies" - "Al cinema"

• "Pain is Gone" and "A woman as a Friend" were recorded twice. The first version of "Pain is Gone" places an emphasis on bongos and the chorus sings "Nessun dolore" in the background; the second version has an English repetition in the background. The only major difference between the two "A Woman as a Friend" versions is the second verse.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lucio Battisti

• (Italian) www.luciobattisti.info - Discography and others information about the singer
• (Italian) Full discography