Franco Battiato

Francesco "Franco" Battiato (Italian: [ˈfraŋko batˈtjaːto]; born 23 March 1945, Riposto, Sicily) is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, filmmaker and, under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani, also a painter. Battiato's songs contain esoteric, philosophical and religious themes.

He is and has been for decades one of the most popular pop singer-songwriters in Italy. His unique sound, song-crafting and especially his lyrics, often containing philosophical, religious, and culturally exotic references, as well as tackling or painting universal themes about the human condition - unusual subjects for pop songs - earned him a unique spot on Italy's music scene, and the nickname of "Il Maestro" ("The Master" or "The Teacher"). His work includes songwriting and joint production efforts with several Italian and international musicians and pop singers, including the long-lasting professional relationship with Italian singer Alice. Together with Alice, Franco Battiato represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest 1984 with the song "I treni di Tozeur".

Tozeur

Tozeur (Tunisian Arabic: توزر‎  Tozir, Berber: Tuzer / ⵜⵓⵣⴻⵔ) is an oasis and a city in south west Tunisia. The city is located North West of Chott el-Djerid, in between this Chott and the smaller Chott el-Gharsa. It is the capital of the Tozeur Governorate.

With hundreds of thousands of palm trees, Tozeur is a large oasis. The dates that are exported from Tozeur are very well known. In ancient times, before the advent of motorized vehicles, the oasis was important for the transportation through the Sahara, which took place in caravans. The name of the city in antiquity was Tusuros, it was an important Roman outpost.

In the medina (old city) of Tozeur, one can find traditional architecture, fashion and workmanship. Like elsewhere in Tunisia, the local population is generally very hospitable towards tourists, and there are also many tourist facilities. From Tozeur one can make trips on a camel, explore the Sahara Desert and get to know the Chott el-Djerid, where one can see Fata Morgana mirages.

La voce del padrone

La voce del padrone was the Italian label for the His Master's Voice recording house. The house belonged to The Gramophone Company Ltd., of Hayes (Middlesex, United Kingdom) which owned several labels in Italy, like Columbia, Marconiphone, Angel Records and Grammofono.

From 1904, Gramophone Company records were published and distributed in Italy by Saif (Società Anonima Italiana di Fonotopia), a company based in Milan. When the Gramophone Company and the Columbia Graphophone Company merged in 1931 to form EMI, Saif in turn merged with Columbia's Italian arm, SNG (Società Nazionale del Grammofono).

See also

I treni di Tozeur

"I treni di Tozeur" ("The trains of Tozeur") is an Italian song, written by Franco Battiato, Rosario Cosentino and Giusto Pio. It was the Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984, performed in Italian (with some lyrics in German) by Alice and Franco Battiato.

In a studio version sung only by Battiato, the song was later to be included on his album Mondi Lontanissimi (1985) and was subsequently also recorded in English and Spanish language versions as "The trains of Tozeur" and "Los trenes de Tozeur" and featured on albums Echoes of Sufi Dances and Ecos de Danzas Sufi respectively. In 1994 Battiato recorded an interpretation of the song with a symphony orchestra for his live album Unprotected.

Alice has also recorded solo versions of the song, included on albums Elisir (1987) and Personal Jukebox (1999), the latter featuring strings by the London Session Orchestra, arranged and conducted by Gavyn Wright. The original 1984 duet version of the song features on the 2005 career retrospective Studio Collection, in effect making its debut on an Alice album twenty-one years after its recording.

Franco

Franco may refer to:

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