Rock on air – The tricolor song

A journey through the history of Italian songwriting, through the OndaRock charts, in the new episode of Rock on Airthe program hosted by Claudio Fabretti on the digital frequencies of Radio Città Aperta.

From the great pioneers of the Sixties to the crucial figures who wrote the most significant pages of Italian songwriting, an overview that crosses Italian musical history, from Tenco to Capossela, from De André to Battiato, from Conte to Dalla, from Jannacci to Battisti, to provide a summary of the choices of the OndaRock editorial team in the new ranking of our webzine.

Listen or download for free the podcast:

OndaRock rankings of the best albums by Italian singer-songwriters

An episode dedicated to one of the jewels in the crown of Italian music: songwriting. Taking inspiration from the ranking of the best albums of all time created by the OndaRock editorial team, the program offers a long journey through over sixty years of songwriting, retracing the works that have contributed to defining the cultural identity of our country. An opportunity to rediscover fundamental albums, compare different poetics and talk about artists who have been able to transform the song into literature, civil commitment, musical experimentation and the story of Italian society.
The lineup crosses different generations and languages: from the pioneers Luigi Tenco and Fabrizio De André to the great protagonists such as Lucio Battisti, Lucio Dalla, Francesco De Gregori, Franco Battiato, Francesco Guccini, Giorgio Gaber, Roberto Vecchioni, Paolo Conte, Pino Daniele and Enzo Jannacci, without forgetting original exponents of the songwriting tricolor, such as Eugenio Finardi, Ivan Graziani, Vinicio Capossela, Edoardo Bennato, Antonello Venditti, Angelo Branduardi, Carmen Consoli, Rino Gaetano. Alongside the most famous names, there are also figures often considered “cult”, but decisive for understanding the evolution of Italian songwriting, from Enzo Carella to Claudio Lolli, from Alberto Fortis to Sergio Caputo.
The second part of the broadcast, in particular, focuses on the records that have received the greatest consensus in the editorial team's vote, giving space to authentic cornerstones of national songwriting: “Anima latina”, the most experimental masterpiece of the Battisti-Mogol duo; “Those who…” by the brilliant Jannacci; The concept multicultural “Anime salve” by Fabrizio De André, the last great work of the Genoese singer-songwriter created together with Ivano Fossati; “I also saw happy gypsies” by Claudio Lolli, an extraordinary portrait of the political and cultural season of the seventies, and “Rimmel” by Francesco De Gregori, the album that definitively consecrates the Prince of Italian song. In second place is the homonymous “Lucio Dalla”, an authentic collection of classics that includes unforgettable pages such as “Anna and Marco”, while first place goes to “La Voce del Padre” by Franco Battiato, the album that revolutionized Italian pop in the early 1980s, managing to combine research, electronics, irony, high culture and melodic immediacy, also becoming the first album in Italian recording history to exceed one million copies sold.
The episode ends with three bonus tracks taken from the host's personal ranking, dedicated to some greats absent from the general ranking: Ivano Fossati with “La Pianta del Tea”, Renato Zero with “Zerophobia” and Alice with the album of the same name from 1981. An appendix that further expands the story and returns all the richness of a musical tradition that continues to represent one of the absolute pinnacles of Italian culture.

The show lineup

1. Eugenio Finardi – Diesel
2. Vinicio Capossela – March of the cemetery
3. Vasco Rossi – Play it
4. Enzo Carella – Malamore
5. Sergio Caputo – An Italian Saturday
6. Carmen Consoli – Not tired at all
7. Antonello Venditti – Schoolmate
8. Francesco Guccini – The Locomotive
9. Alberto Fortis – The Lillà chair
10. Giorgio Gaber – Freedom
11. Roberto Vecchioni – Velasquez
12. Pino Daniele – I Say I' Sto Ccà
13. Luigi Tenco – Far away
14. Edoardo Bennato – It was your fault
15. Rino Gaetano – My brother is an only child
16. Paolo Conte – Sparring partner
17. Angelo Branduardi – The gift of the deer
18. Ivan Graziani – Mona Lisa
19. Lucio Battisti – Latin soul
20. Enzo Jannacci – Vincenzina and the factory
21. Fabrizio De André – Princesa
22. Claudio Lolli – I also saw some happy gypsies
23. Francesco De Gregori – Pieces of glass
24. Lucio Dalla – Anna and Marco
25. Franco Battiato – Summer on a solitary beach