Lucio Battisti and “L’Asola”, the “April fish” by Rockol

On April 1, 1998 Rockol – who then had only three years of life – architectated an “April fish” who, in his little one, made history: the invention of a album by Lucio Battisti entitled “L’Asola” (I remember that in 1998 Battisti was still alive, and had published what would remain his latest work, “Hegel”, in 1994).

It was a total invention, in fact: starting from the title (“L’Asola” – otherwise readable as “La Sòla”, or the cheating, in Romanesco), to continue with the cover, with the tracklist and with the sale mode. We had built everything, including a reference site that actually can be visited, not so much to make a joke to our readers, as to do it to the newspapers that systematically took news published by Rockol republishing them without mentioning the source. .

In addition to having received the prize for best “April fish” of the year, that joke continues to be recalled every first day of April and, incredibly, there are books and websites that include “the Asola” in the Battistian discography.
For those who want to know more, and smile, here are the links to the launch article (released at 7 pm on March 31, 1998) and the article of the following day in which we revealed the invention, with all the details that should have suspended the colleagues of the newspapers (which instead bangs en masse).

To those who still ask me if Lucio Battisti had liked the joke or had annoyed, I reply that I really don’t know – and I will never know it, unless one day you tell me about Mrs. Grazia Letizia Veronese.

Read here the news of March 31, 1998

Read here the news of April 1, 1998