1966 Chico Viola Award IX

singles:

1. Quero que vá tudo p'ro inferno                Roberto Carlos              CBS
2. Esqueça (Forget him)                              Roberto Carlos              CBS

3. A praia (La playa)                                    Agnaldo Rayol                Copacabana
4. A tua voz (Plus je t'entends)                    Agnaldo Rayol               Copacabana
5. Meu bem (Girl)                                         Ronnie Von                    Polydor

6. A volta                                                      Os  Vips                         Continental

7. Coruja                                                       Deny & Dino                  Odeon
8. Você me acende (You turn me on)           Erasmo Carlos               RGE
9. Michelle                                                     Billy Vaughn                   Dot/RGE

10. Michelle                                                   Golden Boys                  Odeon

11. Disparada                                              Jair Rodrigues                        Philips

12. Tristeza                                                  Jair Rodrigues                        Philips
13. A banda                                                 Chico Buarque de Hollanda   RGE
14. A banda                                                  Nara Leão                              Philips
15. Aline                                                       Agnaldo Timoteo                    Odeon

16. Yesterday                                              Matt Monro                     Odeon (perf. by Leno & Lilian)

17. California dreamin'                                Mamas & Papas             Dunhill/RCA (perf. by Eliana Pittman)

18. Monday, Monday                                   Mamas & Papas             Dunhill/RCA (perf. by O Quarteto)
19. Lara's Theme                                        Al Korvin                         Fermata  (perf. by The Jordans)

20. Strangers in the night                           Frank Sinatra                   Reprise/Philips (by Hugo Santana)

21. Dolar furado (Un dollaro bucato)         Gianni Ferrio                    CGD/RGE (Orquestra Record)
22. L'ultima telefonata                                Pino Donaggio                 Odeon (perf. by Luiz Américo)
23. Dio, come ti amo                                  Gigliola Cinquetti             CGD/RGE (by Lucienne Franco)
24. The more I see you                              Chris Montez                   A&M/Fermata  (shown in video-tape)

Extended-plays:

25. Help                                            The Beatles                             Odeon  (by The Fevers)
26. É tempo do amor                        Wanderléa                               CBS
27. Isto é Renato                              Renato & seus Blue Caps        CBS
28. El Presidente                              Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass      A&M/Fermata  (by Os Versáteis)

Long-plays:

30. Jovem Guarda                                      Roberto Carlos                              CBS
31. Whipped cream & other delights          Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass            A&M/Fermata
32. Dois na Bossa II                                   Elis Regina & Jair Rodrigues          Philips 

1966 established Brazilian rock or Jovem Guarda as it was known then, as the supreme trend in the country. Foreign hits, especially Anglo-American were becoming more & more popular in a trend that would see its peak in the 1970s. Roughly speaking we could say one-third of the 1966's best selling records belonged to Brazilian rock (Jovem Guarda), another third were foreign hits and the last third was comprised of MPB (acronym for Brazilian Popular Music which means samba and its many variations) and Brazilian 'easy-listening' which later in the 1990s was given a proper noun: brega! 

A 100% of those Brazilian acts who received 1966's Chico Violas were under contract with TV Record, the same TV station that issued the Awards. This did not mean there was 'tampering' or any shadowy business. It only meant that TV Record was supreme in the music business. The other TV networks were better in their own fields like TV Excelsior excelled in the drama department and TV Tupi was best in sports. 

Jovem Guarda's troika Roberto Carlos, Erasmo Carlos & Wanderléa had the best year of their lives. Roberto's 'Quero que vá tudo p'ro inferno' (I want all to go to hell) was a forceful tune where he rhymed winter (inverno) with hell (inferno) and went all the way to #1. He also hit with 'Esqueça' a cover of Bobby Rydell's 'Forget him', on top of his album 'Jovem Guarda' that would sell throughtout the whole year until he had a new one near Christmas. 

Erasmo Carlos translated Ian Whitcomb's 'You turn me on' as 'Você me acende' and had a lot of radio air play. 

Wanderlea received a Chico Viola for her EP 'É tempo do amor' which includes 'Ternura' (Somehow it got to be tomorrow today) that turned out the biggest hit of her career. 

Renato & Seus Blue Caps, a rock band from Rio de Janeiro who accompanied both Roberto Carlos and Wanderlea in their recordings at CBS sold a lot of EPs and LPs. Renato covered many Beatles songs; 'Feche os olhos' (All my loving) was one of their biggest hit ever. 

Agnaldo Rayol was a best selling act by anyone's standard. He had a long career with ups and downs but since late 1963 he had been in the charts frequently. 1966 was his best year ever mainly due to his top-ratings TV show on Friday nights. 'A praia' (La playa) was perhaps one of his best ever recording; an agreeable ballad where Rayol could show off alll his vocal potential and still be melodious. 'A praia' went to #1 and 'A tua voz' (Plus je t'entends) getting high up in the charts too. 

New-comer Ronnie Von (Ronaldo Nogueira was his real name) recorded 'Meu bem', a cover of The Beatles' 'Girl' and went to #1. Ronnie was a good looking young man from Rio who had long straight hair that would cover half his face before he gave it a pull with a well-rehearsed movement of his head. Ronnie was the new darling of Brazilian rock. TV Record had to use him somehow so they gave him a TV show of his own on Saturdays called 'The little world of Ronnie Von' where he would sing and introduce modern rock bands that didn't actually fit in with Roberto Carlos' more popular show on Sunday afternoons. 

Ronnie Von and Renato & Seus Blue Caps were not the only acts to cover a Beatles song. Vocal group The Golden Boys also hit the charts with 'Michelle' sung in Portuguese. They came from a very musical Rio de Janeiro family which had already spawned Trio Esperança (see 1963). Actually The Golden Boys started in the early 1960s but only came to national prominence in 1966. 

The Golden Boys in an ealier time: from left to right: Ronaldo, Renato, Waldir (cousin) and Roberto - 3 brothers and cousin Waldir.

'Michelle' also hit the charts with Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra. 'Yesterday' was a hit by British act Matt Monro who had had hits in 1964 ('From Russia with love') and 1965 ('Walk away'). 

There were two rock duos in 1966. Os Vips were brothers Ronaldo Luiz Antonucci (born 17 AUG 1941) and Marcio Augusto Antonucci (23 NOV 1945) who repeated their 1965 feat ('Emoção') and took 'A volta', another Roberto Carlos-Erasmo Carlos tune to the top of the charts.

The second duo was Deny & Dino who topped the charts with 'Coruja' (The owl) released by Odeon. They hailed from Santos-SP. Deny was José Rodrigues da Silva (born 25 APR 1941) and Dino was Decio Scarpelli (9 MAR 1944). Both spotted goatees which was unusual then.

With 12 foreign acts among the winners of Chico Viola Awards - a third of the list - it had become a logistic conundrum for the organizers of the ceremony to solve. So they decided prominent national acts - who had not received any trophy in 1966 - would perform the foreign hits. As TV Record had a huge roster of acts of all persuasions it was an easy task. 

Rock duo Leno & Lilian sang 'Yesterday' in lieu of Matt Monro; Eliana Pittman performed Mamas & Papas' 'California dreamin' and O Quarteto sang 'Monday, Monday'. 

Rock group The Jordans who had a small brass section which they would soon enlarged trying to immitate Herb Alpert's combo performed 'Lara's Theme' in lieu of pistonist Al Korvin. 

Luiz Américo that later in 1973 would become popular as a samba act sang Pino Donaggio's 'L'ultima telefonata' in Italian. Lucienne Franco also sang 'Dio, come ti amo' in Italian. 

DJ and TV personality Hugo Santana sang 'Strangers in the night' for Frank Sinatra. Hugo Santana would soon leave Brazil and start a new career as a TV personality in Puerto Rico.

TV Record's own Orchestra conducted by Cyro Pereira did their own rendition of 'Se tu non fossi bella come sei'.    

Italian music popularity reached its peak in 1964, and now it was on the wane with only 3 hits: Gigliola Cinquetti's 'Dio, come ti amo', Pino Donaggio's 'L'ultima telefonata' and the orchestral rendition of the main theme of spaghetti-western 'Un dollaro bucato' (Dolar furado) which was really popular. 

Dolores Erickson poses for the cover of 'Whipped cream & other delights'. According to Esquire magazine: 'We bought this album for the album cover. For here is what lust looked like in 1966. Today it looks like just a lot of cholesterol. In fact, the stuff wasn't whipped cream, it was shaving cream. And the model, her name was Dolores Erickson was 3 months pregnant when the picture was taken'.

Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass received 2 trophies: one for the EP 'El Presidente' and the second for the album 'Whipped cream and other delights'. Herb Alpert turned out to be a main trend-setter among Brazilian musicians on both sides of the samba-rock divide.

Chris Montez's rendition of 'The more I see you', a 1945 tune written by Harry Warren with words by Mack Gordon especially arranged by Herb Alpert was huge hit and would be emulated and copied by many Brazilian acts like Erasmo Carlos ('O caderninho'), Os Incríveis ('Molambo'), The Jordans, Wilson Simonal, A Turma da Pilantragem and many others for a couple of years coming. 

Michelle Gilliam was the beautiful face in The Mamas & The Papas. She also helped hubby John Phillips write some of their most famous material like 'California dreamin' and 'Got a feeling'. 

Clockwise from top-left: John Phillips, Denny Doherty, Michelle Gilliam and Cass Elliott aka Mama Cass was a great sensation as The Mamas and The Papas, sweeping  the charts with 'California dreamin' and 'Monday, Monday', selling a lot of albums and extended-plays too. 

Bert Kaempfert wrote 'A man could get killed' sound-track. Frank Sinatra decided to get words to one of the themes and release it as a single: 'Strangers in the night' went to #1 everywhere. 

SONG WRITING CREDITS  1966

1. Quero que vá tudo p'ro inferno (Roberto Carlos-Erasmo Carlos) - Roberto Carlos 

2. Esqueça (Forget him) - Mark Anthony; v.: Roberto Corte-Real  -  Roberto Carlos
3. Eu te adoro meu amor (Rossini Pinto)  -  Roberto Carlos               

4. A praia (La playa) - Jo Van Vetter; v.: Bruno Silva)  -  Agnaldo Rayol               
5. A tua voz (Plus je t'entends) - Alain Barrière; v.: Agnaldo Rayol  -  Agnaldo Rayol          

6. A volta (Roberto Carlos-Erasmo Carlos) - Os  Vips
7. Coruja (Deny-Dino)  -  Deny & Dino                  

8. Você me acende (You turn me on) - Ian Whitcomb; v.: Erasmo Carlos -  Erasmo Carlos
9. É tempo do amor (Les temps de l'amour) - Aryan-Françoise Hardy-Samyn; v.: Rossini Pinto - Wanderléa
10. Aline (Christophe; v.:    )  -  Agnaldo Timoteo
    
11. Disparada (Geraldo Vandré-Theo) - Jair Rodrigues        

12. Tristeza (Haroldo Lôbo-Niltinho)  -  Jair Rodrigues 
13. A banda (Chico Buarque de Hollanda) - Chico Buarque de Hollanda   
14. A banda (Chico Buarque de Hollanda) - Nara Leão 
15 Louvação (Gilberto Gil-Torquato Neto)  -  Elis Regina & Jair Rodrigues 

16. Help  (Lennon-McCartney)  -  The Beatles      
17. Meu bem (Girl) - Lennon-McCartney; v.: Ronnie Von - Ronnie Von
18. Feche os olhos (All my loving) - Lennon-McCartney; v.: Renato Barros - Renato & Seus Blue Caps    
19. Michelle (Lennon-McCartney)  -  Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra                

20. Michelle (Lennon-McCartney; v.: Rossini Pinto)  -  Golden Boys

21. Yesterday (Lennon-McCartney)  -  Matt Monro        

22. California dreamin' (John Phillips-Michelle Gilliam)  -  Mamas & Papas             

23. Monday, Monday (John Phillips)  -  Mamas & Papas             
24. Lara's Theme (Maurice Jarre)  -  Al Korvin                        

25. Se tu non fossi bella come sei (Un dollaro bucato) - music: G.Locatelli; wds: Mogol-Pallavicini - Gianni Ferrio e Orchestra  
                 
26. L'ultima telefonata (Pino Donaggio)  -  Pino Donaggio                 
27. Dio, come ti amo (Domenico Modugno)  -  Gigliola Cinquetti              
28. The more I see you (Mack Gordon-Harry Warren)  -  Chris Montez                   
29. El Presidente (Sol Lake)  -  Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass
30. A taste of honey (Ric Marlow- Bobby Scott)  -  Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass

31. Strangers in the night (Bert Kaempfert-Charles Singleton-Eddie Snyder) - Frank Sinatra          

  

1967 Chico Viola Awards X

singles:

1. Namoradinha de um amigo meu                     Roberto Carlos                         CBS
2. Só vou gostar de quem gosta de mim             Roberto Carlos                         CBS
3. Maria, carnaval e cinzas                                Roberto Carlos                         CBS
4. Meu grito                                                     Agnaldo Timoteo                       Odeon
5. O bom rapaz                                                Wanderley Cardoso                   Copacabana 

6. A praça                                                       Ronnie Von                                Polydor
7. A catedral (Winchester Cathedral)                 Ronnie Von                                Polydor
8. Eu te amo mesmo assim                              Martinha                                    AU/Rozenblit
9. Coração de papel                                         Sergio Reis                                Odeon
10. Coisinha estúpida (Something's stupid)        George Freedman                        RCA

11. Quem te viu, quem te vê                             Chico Buarque de Hollanda          RGE
12. Alegria, alegria                                           Caetano Veloso                         Philips
13. Ponteio                                                      Edu Lobo & Marília Medalha       Philips 
14. Livre (Born free)                                          Agnaldo Rayol                           Copacabana 
15. Guantanamera                                            The Sandpipers                         A&M/Fermata

16. Poor side of town                                        Johnny Rivers                           Liberty/RCA
17. This is my song                                          Petula Clark                             Vogue/Rozenblit
18. Bus stop                                                    The Hollies                               Odeon
19. Last train to Clarksville                                The Monkees                            Colgems/RCA
20. Sunny                                                        Chris Montez                            A&M/Fermata

21. A whiter shade of pale                                 Procol Harum                           Deram/Odeon
22. See you in September                                The Happenings                         B.T. Puppy/Rozenblit
23. When summer is gone                                Gary Lewis & The Playboys       Liberty/RCA 
24. Ciao amore ciao                                         Luigi Tenco                               RCA 

Extended-plays:

25. Anna                                                          The Beatles                             Odeon
26. Tributo a Martin Luther King                          Wilson Simonal                       Odeon
27. O caderninho                                               Erasmo Carlos                         RGE
28. Te amo                                                        Wanderléa                              CBS 

Long-plays:

29. Roberto Carlos (Eu te darei o céu)                 Roberto Carlos                         CBS
30. Obrigado, querida                                         Agnaldo Timóteo                      Odeon 

Two songs awarded the Chico Viola were later scrapped from the list due to internal politics at TV Record.

discarded:

31. O ciúme                                                          Deny & Dino                              Odeon
32. Era um garoto que como eu amava os Beatles e os Rolling Stones / Os Incríveis   RCA 


1967 was like a repetition of 1966. Nothing much changed. There were two opposite fields in Brazilian pop music: the so-called real-Brazilian-music (MPB) originating mainly from samba and its many variations as opposed to 'Americanized' rock-pop as performed by Roberto Carlos and his tribe. 

TV Record organized another MPB (Brazilian Pop Music) festival - and tried to de-segregate 'rock' from 'samba' - including acts like Roberto Carlos, Erasmo Carlos and other Jovem Guarda stalwarts into the Festival. Although Edu Lobo's 'Ponteio' won the Festival, the best selling single ended up being Roberto Carlos' 'Maria, carnaval e cinzas' which was ironic. That only went to prove that the 'best' was not exactly the most popular. 

George Freedman sings 'Coisinha estúpida' (Something stupid) at the 1967 Chico Viola Awards presentation - 17 February 1968. 

Ronnie Von

1968 Chico Viola Awards XI

We have followed 'Chico Viola Awards' from 1958 through 1967. The yearly Award presentation used to be eagerly anticipated by those who won the trophies as well as the thousands upon thousands who watched the gala on TV in the first few weeks of the new year. TV Record usually put on a great big show surpassed only by the presentation of TV's own Roquette Pinto Award (Brazilian equivalent of US's Emmys) a few weeks later.

Since mid-1965, TV Record started a winning series of musical shows that would re-definy local show business. June 1965 saw the beginning of 'O fino da bossa' with Elis Regina at the helm. In August 1965 it was Brazilian rock's turn to have its weekly show in 'Jovem Guarda' with Roberto Carlos acting as presenter. TV Record would eventually cater for all kinds of musical preferences in the Brazilian spectrum making it the most popular TV station in the nation from 1965 to 1968. 

By 1969, the Military Dictatorship that ruled the country with an iron fist since 1964, had a new darling called TV Globo owned by a politically conservative family that had a small radio station and a newspaper in Rio de Janeiro. TV Globo was awarded a huge loan by Time-Life Inc. It had the best equipment brought in from the USA and soon would become a monopoly - the only TV network in the country. The other 3 networks knew they were losing ground. TV Excelsior was the first to fold. TV Tupi would be the next and TV Record was eventually sold to an electronic calvinist church. 

But before TV Record was sold out it had a slow death. This 1969 ceremony of Chico Viola's Best of 1968 is an example of its decadence. The format of the Awards - which up to 2 years before only awarded the Best Selling Singles - was changed to awarding (some) albums and (some) extended-plays in a desultory way.

Up to  1965, receiving a Chico Viola meant one had achieved excellency. Now, just look at the 1968 list and you'll see it doesn't represent the best in Brazilian music. Somehow something was amiss. 

Differently from previous years, TV Record did not award any foreign-made recording. No foreign acts were given the trophy. It doesn't mean there were not foreign hits. On the contrary, Anglo-American music was everywhere and getting bigger. São Paulo's Radio Difusora and Radio Excelsior went American-Top-40 in the beginning of the year. Both radio stations would play only US or British hits 24 hours a day. But you won't see that here.  

1968 Best selling singles 

1.  Canzone per te                                   Roberto Carlos                  CBS

2.  Eu daria a minha vida                          Roberto Carlos                  CBS

3.  Eu te amo, te amo, te amo                  Roberto Carlos                  CBS

4.  A pobreza                                          Leno                                 CBS

5.  Aranjuez mon amour                           Lafayette                           CBS

6.  Kokorono Niji (Arco-iris azul)               Os Incríveis                        RCA

7.  Israel / Molambo                                Os Incríveis                        RCA

8.  P'ra nunca mais chorar                        Vanusa                             RCA
9.  Tenho um amor melhor que o seu        Antonio Marcos                  RCA
10.  A chuva que cai (È la pioggia che va)   Os Caçulas                      RCA
11.  Amanhã, amanhã                               Antonio Borba                   RCA
12.  São tantas coisas                              Nilton Cesar                      RCA

13.  Quem será?                                      Agnaldo Timóteo               Odeon

14.  Minha primeira desilusão                    Silvinha                            Odeon

15.  A pretendida                                      Altemar Dutra                   Odeon
16.  Viola enluarada           Marcos Valle & Milton Nascimento            Odeon 

17.  Sá Marina                                          Wilson Simonal                Odeon 

18.  Querida (Honey)                                 Moacyr Franco                 Copacabana 
19.  Quero lhe dizer cantando                     Agnaldo Rayol                 Copacabana

20.  Eu te amo mesmo assim                     Martinha                          AU
21.  A última canção                                  Paulo Sergio                    Caravelle
22.  Segura este samba, Ogunhê               Oswaldo Nunes                Equipe

23.  Perto dos olhos, longe do coração        Dori Edson                       RGE 

Best selling Long-plays & Extended-plays

24.  O inimitável  (LP)                                 Roberto Carlos                 CBS
25.  Roberto Carlos em ritmo de aventura     Roberto Carlos                 CBS
26.  As 14 Mais   (LP)                                compilation                      CBS

27.  Alegria, alegria   (LP)                           Wilson Simonal                Odeon
28.  O sucesso é o astro  (1967-LP)            Agnaldo Timóteo               Odeon
29.  O sucesso é Agnaldo Timoteo (68-LP)  Agnaldo Timóteo               Odeon
30.  Canto solitário (EP)                             Agnaldo Timóteo               Odeon

31.  Paulo Sergio   (LP)                               Paulo Sergio                   Caravelle
32.  Paulo Sergio   (EP)                               Paulo Sergio                   Caravelle

33.  O som da pilantragem  (LP)        A Turma da Pilantragem              Polydor

The impression one gets looking at 1968's Chico Viola's list is that TV Record called the 3 big multinational record labels - Columbia's CBS, EMI's Odeon & RCA Victor - and divided the Awards in 4 parts, giving each a quarter. The last quarter was meagerly divided among the few independent labels like Rio de Janeiro's Caravelle and Equipe; Recife's Mocambo's subsidiary UA and São Paulo's RGE that had been big in the early 1960s but could not compete with the multinationals anymore. 

What was new in 1968? Not much! It was just a boring repetition of trends started in 1965 like 'Jovem Guarda' or easy-listening acts like Agnaldo Timoteo and Agnaldo Rayol who recorded mostly covers of European hits. 

Roberto Carlos was the best selling Brazilian act for the 3rd year in a row. Early in 1968, he went to Italy to sing at the famous San Remo Festival. He was extremely lucky to have been paired off with magnificent Sergio Endrigo who ended up winning the Festival with 'Canzone per te' (Song for you). It looked like Roberto Carlos could do nothing wrong even if he wanted to. CBS usually released a Roberto Carlos album near Christmas. 'Roberto Carlos em ritmo de aventura' was released late in 1967 and played the whole of 1968. It was the sound-track of Roberto's first and only film of the same name. 

As Chico Viola Award's ceremony was delayed due to unknown reasons the panel who chose who would get what decided to include Roberto Carlos' yearly album 'O inimitável', released in late December 1968 that technically would qualify only for 1969. Well, never mind the faux pas; things were getting a bit out of hand by March 1969 anyway. 

Brazil had suffered another political setback in December 1968, when the already bloody Military Dictatorship turned the screws even tighter against freedom when they issued the infamous AI-5 (Institutional Act no. 5) which shut down the already emasculated Congress and suspended habeas corpus or any kind of individual freedom. Brazilians lived in a Dark Age.

Military strongman Costa e Silva sits alone in the National Congress which he shut down with a stroke of his pen in December 1968. 

Lafayette Coelho Varges Limp (the guy in the middle climbing down the ladders of an Aerolíneas Argentinas air-plane) was an organist who accompanied most of CBS's young acts. He must have saved Columbia a bundle for he was a whole orchestra himself. Lafayette, as he was known recorded album after album. This time he hit the singles charts too with 'Aranjuez mon amour' which had been a smash-hit for French-Egyptian Richard Anthony. 

Leno or Gileno had been half of duo Leno & Lilian for 3 years; now he went solo and hit #1 with 'A pobreza' (Destitution) also accompanied by Lafayette on his ubiquitous organ. 

CBS's album 'As 14 Mais - Volume 21' was release mid-1968 and went to #1 in the album charts. It got a Chico Viola which was given to Wanderléa who sings 'Eu já nem sei' - a hit for her in the singles charts even though she didn't get a personal trophy. It is plain to see that CBS was the most popular record label in 1968 and that Lafayette's organ was in 90% of all the label's recordings. 

Paulo Sergio, a struggling young singer from Espirito Santo who recorded for Caravelle a small label in Rio de Janeiro suddenly becomes pop music's new sensation with 'Ultima canção', a cantankerous ballad about unrequited love. Paulo's voice was astonishingly similar to that of Roberto Carlos, Brazilian King of Rock - don't forget that 'Brazilian rock' was much softer than its American counter-part. Actually you could not tell Paulo and Roberto apart unless you knew their repertoires. By the end of the year Paulo Sergio had already released a full album and an EP, both reaching #1. 

Roberto Carlos' label was so incensed with Caravelle's rip-off that it didn't waste time: by December CBS released 'O inimitável' (The Un-imitable) in response to Paulo Sergio's inroads into 'ié-ié-ié' - as Brazilian rock was known then. 

Paulo Sergio's 1st album was filled with self-pity and love-gone-wrong songs. Paulo would be considered a 'poorer' Roberto Carlos and would have a successful career cut short by a massive stroke (Cerebro-Vascular-Accident) in July 1980 dying at the age of 36. 

  

'The inimitable' was CBS's response to Paulo Sergio's #1 single, EP and album.

For those who like what's been called 'brega' - songs and singers with a pench for 'kitsch' (cafona) songs or themes - 1968 could be considered as the year 'brega' was born. What's 'brega' really? It is difficult to describe but one can easily say that Agnaldo Timoteo and Agnaldo Rayol are both 'brega'. Paulo Sergio too! Altemar Dutra is definetely 'brega'. Nilton Cesar too. Actually, looking at Chico Viola's 1968 list it is easier to tell what act is not brega than the other way around.

RCA Victor came in 2nd place after CBS but if one really looks closer one will see that EMI's Odeon sold more records (LPs and EPs) than RCA. 

Odeon actually had a big act in Agnaldo Timoteo who sold singles: 'Quem será?', 'Verdes campos de minha terra' (Tom Jones' 'Green, green grass of home') but also EPs and LPs. Timoteo was awarded trophies for 2 albums: 1967's 'O sucesso é o astro' and 1968's 'O sucesso é Agnaldo Timoteo'; one EP 'Canto solitário' and 1 single: 'Quem será?'. Odeon didn't have to work too much to produce an Agnaldo Timoteo album: just get yourself some writer to 'translate' European hits into Portuguese and that's it! 

'O sucesso é o astro' is made up of adaptations of Adamo’s ‘En bandoulière’ and ‘N’est ce pa merveilleux?; Carmelo Pagano’s ‘L’amore se ne va’; Procol Harum’s ‘A whiter shade of pale’; Armando Manzanero’s ‘No’; Charles Chaplin’s ‘This is my song’ plus ‘Love letters, ‘I love you, you love me and ‘Per una donna’. 9 covers and 3 originals. 

Agnaldo Timoteo received 4 Chico Violas: 2 albums, 1 extended-play and 1 single. 

Moacyr Franco had been on top in 1962 & 1963, but fell from grace with the advent of the modern Italian music in 1964; modern Brazilian music aka MPB in 1965; Brazilian rock aka Jovem Guarda in 1966 and pop music festivals in 1967. Moacyr was back in 1968 with the same old formula of translating/adapting European or North-american hits to Portuguese. This time he chose ‘Honey’, Bobby Goldsboro’s sad tale of losing his wife to cancer. But unfortunately song-translator Fred Jorge couldn’t handle the original idea and wrote a lot of platitudes and non-sense instead. Even so, ‘Querida’ was a local hit. 

Moacyr's idea of making an album was to translate 7 or 8 foreign hits and then make up the rest with local material. The album 'Querida' has got 7 'translations': 1. 'Honey'; 2. 'The apartment'; 3. 'What would I be?'; 4. 'Tengo para darte'; 5. 'All I see is you'; 6. O.C. Smith's 'Little green apples'; 7. Pino Donaggio's 'Io, per amore'; 8. 'Autumn of my life'.

Agnaldo Rayol's sings Dictator's Costa e Silva's favourite tunes in an album released in 1968. 

Agnaldo Rayol had been very popular until recently. He actually had his own ‘Corte-Royal Show’, a variety TV programme that aired every Friday night which had been the top dog for 1966 and 1967. But Agnaldo, who recorded for Copacabana, was getting a lot of competition from his name-sake Agnaldo Timóteo from EMI’s Odeon... and Rayol was losing the fight. Copacabana was the recording label for the brainless and gutless. Rayol had the temerity of recording a whole album with Dictator Arthur Costa e Silva’s favourite songs which showed a lot of opportunism on the part of both the label and the singer himself.

Agnaldo Rayol's 'Quero lhe dizer cantando', his hit for 1968.

Talking about ‘middle-of-the-road’ easy listening acts, Altemar Dutra was still churning out hits – this time Pepe Ávila’s ‘A pretendida’ – even though with less regularity than he did in 1964 and 1965.

The big surprise of the year-with-no-surprises was Oswaldo Nunes’ ‘Segura esse samba, Ogunhê’, which is supposedly half secular and half Afro-religious. Ogunhê could be reference to Ogum, an Afro deity who lords over war - but I'm not sure about it. It was the one and only samba at 1968's Chico Viola. Oswaldo Nunes didn't know who his father or mother were. He grew up on the streets or government 'workhouses'. There is not much information about him in the Net except that he was murdered at Rio's Lapa in 'suspicous circumstances' in 1979.  

Os Incriveis in 1967; Risonho, Manito, Nenê, Netinho, a fan & Mingo. 

Os Incríveis in Japan in 1967. They recorded 'Kokorono Niji' in Portuguese and Japanese.

RCA had a good year with Os Incriveis, a rock band that started in 1963, at Continental Discos as The Clevers, an instrumental combo, then changed its name in 1965, due to a litigation with their manager. They changed their bass-player and started singing their hits. They accompanied Rita Pavone on a tour of Italy in 1964, then had a soujourn in Argentina in 1965 and in Japan in 1967. On their way back to Brazil, they recorded 'Kokorono Niji' (Blue rainbow) which sold well. They also had a double-sided hit with 'Israel', a translation of an Italian hit done originally by Gianni Morandi backed with 'Molambo' (a 1950s hit done orginally by Roberto Luna) very much influenced by those Chris Montez's hits like 'The more I see you', produced by Herb Alpert for his A&M label. 

Antonio Marcos was a good looking young man with a chip on his shoulder. He was moody and had an atittude like 'the world has done me wrong'. He was very talented and could write beautiful songs that he gave other people to sing (Roberto Carlos sang his 'E não vou deixar mais você tão só' and  'Como vai você'). 

RCA invested a lot of their resources into Brazilian rock's Jovem Guarda and it looked like it paid off. New comer Vanusa, a blonde girl from Minas Gerais went to #1 with Carlos Imperial's 'P'ra nunca mais chorar'.

Antonio Marcos, who had been one of Os Iguais, a vocal group signed by RCA, went solo with Roberto Carlos' 'Tenho um amor melhor que o seu' (I've got a love better than yours).

Vocal group Os Caçulas went gold with Bob Lind's 'Remember the rain' that was first translated into Italian by Mogol (È la pioggia che va) for The Rokes and then translated by Antonio Marcos into Portuguese as 'E a chuva cairá'.

Dori Edson started in 1960, recording in English for Young Records, actually sharing a 45 rpm with his friend Marcos Roberto who took the B-side. Then he went into a period of obscurity until 1966 when Dori hit with 'Veja se me esquece' and now melodious 'Perto dos olhos, longe do coração' (Near the eyes but far from the heart) which he wrote with his old pal Marcos Roberto. They had a life-long friendship and musical partnership until Edson died in 26 AUG 2008. Marcos Roberto died 4 year later in 22 JUL 2012. 

Silvia aka Silvinha, just like Vanusa, was blonde and hailing from land-locked Minas Gerais. Both sang Brazilian rock aka Jovem Guarda but had different styles. Silvinha had a high-pitched voice and was a goody-two-shoes sort of wholesome girl whereas Vanusa had a hot voice and exuded sexuality. Silvia's first hit was 'Minha primeira desilusão' (My first heartbreak).

Martinha wearing the Union Jack all over her.

Talking about Minas Gerais, Martinha was bigger than Vanusa or Silvinha. Martinha was a song-writer on top of being a singer and Roberto Carlos had already recorded 'Eu daria a minha vida', one of her best songs. 'Eu te amo mesmo assim', Martinha's very first single went straight to #1 and her subsequent album went all the way to #1 too.  

Simonal saying: 'I can't hear you! Would you please sing a little louder?' That's how he conducted his shows. He commanded huge audiences and made them sing along with him. Sometimes the crowd sang in his lieu.That's how good he was!

In 1968, Wilson Simonal had come a long way from his humble beginnings in Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro trying to be a rock singer at DJ Carlos Imperial's radio show 'Os brotos comandam'. Simonal changed his outlook after Jorge Ben became the toast-of-town with 'Samba Esquema Novo' (New Scheme Samba), his ground-breaking album for Philips in 1963. Simonal, who had been under contract with EMI's Odeon was immediately recruited to change tack and record 'serious' Brazilian bossa-nova. Soon Simonal hit the charts with 'Lobo bobo', a single taken out of 'A Nova Dimensão do Samba' (Samba's New Dimension) his 2nd album for Odeon. Simonal didn't write his own material like Ben, but he was hot and could swing. TV Tupi signed him for 'Spot ligth', a weekly Sunday night jazz show. 

When Elis Regina went to Europe in December 1965, Wilson was invited to present a few instalments of weekly 'O Fino da Bossa' on TV Record. In June 1966, TV Record started Simonal's own programme called 'Show em Si...monal' where he would be backed by Som Três, pianist Cesar Camargo Mariano's jazz combo. 

Simonal recorded a few good albums for Odeon. As he was extremely talented as a singer and as a performer he built up a knack for controlling the crowds he sang to. Musically he could swing from samba to jazz or bossa-nova or even rock-oriented tunes. Around 1968, he had come to be identified with a crowd that was a little right-of-the-centre of the political spectrum. There were those like Geraldo Vandré and Chico Buarque who were in the left. Most of Brazilian rock's Jovem Guarda would be identified as 'right-of-centre'. Simonal was something in between. Carlos Imperial, his former mentor was definitely a man of the right... with a devil-may-care attitude.

Brazilian music as Brazilian politics in general was coming to a water-shed in 1968. Traditional Brazilian musicians abhorred the use of electric guitar and rock influence. Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, who were part of the traditionalists suddenly broke up with them in 1967, and all hell broke loose. Suddenly there were two camps: those for and those against 'electric guitar' usage in pop music. Simonal not only was for total freedom in musical terms but lyrically free as well. 

Carlos Imperial (Nem vem que não tem) and Nonato Buzar (Vesti azul) started writing songs about 'what-the-hell-do-we-care' as long as I've got my big car and some chicks waiting for me down the line. This was a typical atittude of a 'pilantra' that loosely translates as 'rascal' in English. Pilantragem was rascality. The songs were all about 'having fun' in a hedonist way. Selfishness was king! Musically they were songs easy to sing along. If one listens really hard to 'pilantragem' one is bound to realize the influence of Herb Alpert's production of Chris Montez records for his A&M label. It looked like the whole world was a big night-club with everyone clapping their hands in rhythm. 

The most amazing of all is that all this Pilantragem stuff was that it was happening in 1968, when the bloody right-wind Dictatorship was about to become even more sinister with the shutting down of Congress and imposition of draconic laws that would encarcerate lots of people. It was just like living merrily in 1933's Berlin, with Hitler's Gestapo knocking at your door.    

These are the songs included in 'Alegria, alegria!!!'

1. Os escravos de Jó (Antônio Luiz-Wilson Simonal)

2. Agora é cinza (Alcebíades Barcelos “Bide”-Armando “Marçal”)

3. Vesti azul (Nonato Buzar)

4. Aos pés da cruz (Marino Pinto-Zé da Zilda)

5. Belinha (Toquinho / Vitor Martins)

6. P'ra que (Silvio César)

1. Nem vem que não tem (Carlos Imperial)

2. Fim de semana em Paquetá (João de Barro-Alberto Ribeiro)

3. Pára Pedro (José Mendes-José Portela Delavy)

4. Está chegando a hora (Henricão-Rubens Campos)

5. Remelexo (Caetano Veloso)

6. Discussão (Tom Jobim-Newton Mendonça)

Wilson Simonal commanding his weekly TV show at TV Record. He had total power over the crowd he sang to. He was a complete entertainer. He could swing! But he ended up getting mixed up with the wrong crowd in the end and fell from grace a few years later.  

Turma da Pilantragem (Gang of Rascals) was a band created by song-writer and record-producer Nonato Buzar made up of 10 singers and musicians like Pedrinho Rodrigues, Cassiano and Regininha to cash in on Wilson Simonal's style of singing with a devil-may-care-attitude. 'O Som da Pilantragem' is an album of 13 tracks of medleys of old hits performed in a danceable way. See the song-list to have an idea what they meant. Turma da Pilantragem had a follow-up album and then disbanded with no regrets on the part of anyone. 

Side A

1. Não tenho lágrimas / Ela é demais / Tristeza que dói (Max Bulhões-Milton de Oliveira / Carlos Imperial / Nonato Buzar)

2. Lá vem ela (De como um garoto...) / Dá nela, saudade (Nonato Buzar-Chico Anísio-Wilson Simonal / Carlos Imperial-Adilson Silva)

3. Peixe vivo / Lapinha / Uni-duni-tê / Margarida (D. P./Baden Powell-Paulo César Pinheiro / Nonato Buzar-Chico Feitosa / Gutemberg Guarabyra)

4. Kalu  (Humberto Teixeira)

5. Lata d’água / Risque  (Luiz Antônio-Jota Jr ./ Ary Barroso)

6. Procissão / Deixa quem quiser falar / Yes, nós temos bananas (Gilberto Gil / Nonato Buzar- Wilson Simonal / João de Barros-Alberto Ribeiro)

7. Estamos aí / Balanço Zona Sul (Maurício Einhorn-Durval Ferreira-Regina Werneck / Tito Madi

Side B

1. Nós e o mar / O cantador / Sá Marina (Roberto Menescal-Ronaldo Bôscol i/ Dori Caymmi- Nelson Motta / Antônio Adolfo-Tibério Gaspar)

2. Dó-ré-mi / Primavera / Gosto que me enrosco (Fernando César / Carlos Lyra-Vinícius de Moraes / Sinhô)

3. Manifesto / Sambou, sambou / O passarinho (Guto-Mariozinho Rocha / João Mello-João Donato / Chico Feitosa-Luiz Fernando Freire)

4. Passarinho da lagoa / Ponteio / Upa, neguinho (Evaldo Ruy-Fernando Lobo / Edu Lobo-Capinan / Edu Lobo-Gianfrancesco Guarnieri)

5. A banda / Só danço samba / Viola enluarada (Chico Buarque de Hollanda / A. C. Jobim- V. de Moraes / Marcos Valle-Paulo Sérgio Valle)

6. Vesti azul / Onocê Ono Konô / Maracangalha (Nonato Buzar / Allan-Allex / Dorival Caymmi)

April 1969 issue of 'Melodias' with full report of Chico Viola's 1968 award recipients. The ceremony was held in 15 March 1969. 

SONG WRITING CREDITS  1968 

1.  Canzone per te (Sergio Endrigo-Sergio Bardotti) - Roberto Carlos      

2.  Eu daria a minha vida (Martinha) - Roberto Carlos   

3.  Eu te amo, te amo, te amo (Roberto Carlos-Erasmo Carlos) - Roberto Carlos 
4.  A pobreza (Renato Barros) - Leno        
5.  Aranjuez, mon amour (Joaquin Rodrigo) - Lafayette
                   
6.  Kokorono Niji [Arco-iris azul] (J.Hashimoto-T. Inoue; v.: Os Incriveis) - Os Incríveis               

7.  Israel (Zambrini-Cini-Migliacci; v.: Nazareno de Brito) / Molambo (Jayme Florencio-Augusto Mesquita) 

8.  P'ra nunca mais chorar (Carlos Imperial) - Vanusa                
9.  Tenho um amor melhor que o seu (Roberto Carlos-Erasmo Carlos) - Antonio Marcos
10.  A chuva que cai [È la pioggia che va] (Bob Lind- Mogol; v.: Antonio Marcos) - Os Caçulas

11.  Amanhã, amanhã        - Antonio Borba        
12.  São tantas coisas (Osmar Navarro) - Nilton Cesar        
13.  Quem será? (Jair Amorim-Evaldo Gouveia) - Agnaldo Timóteo       

14.  Minha primeira desilusão (Síssi) - Silvinha                    

15.  A pretendida (Pepe Ávila) - Altemar Dutra
          
16.  Viola enluarada (Marcos Valle-Paulo Sergio Valle) - Marcos Valle & Milton Nascimento
17.  Sá Marina (Antonio Adolfo-Tibério Gaspar) - Wilson Simonal
18.  Querida [Honey] (Bobby Russell; v.: Fred Jorge) - Moacyr Franco
19.  Quero lhe dizer cantando (Renato Correa-Reynaldo Rayol) - Agnaldo Rayol
20.  Eu te amo mesmo assim (Martinha) - Martinha

21.  A última canção (Carlos Roberto) - Paulo Sergio
22.  Segura esse samba, Ogunhê (Oswaldo Nunes) - Oswaldo Nunes
23.  Perto dos olhos, longe do coração (Dori Edson-Marcos Roberto) - Dori Edson

100,000 march against Censorship & Police Brutality - in Rio de Janeiro in 26 June 1968. Author Clarice Lispector, architect Oscar Niemeyer, actress Glauce Rocha and singer-song-writer Milton Nascimento.

100,000 march against the Military Dictatorship in Rio de Janeiro - 26 June 1968. 

Geraldo Vandré tries to calm the crowd in Maracanãzinho, Rio de Janeiro before he sings 'Caminhando' or 'P'ra não dizer que não falei de flores' in 28 September 1968. The military censors would not allow the song to win the International Song Festival of that year and the record was banned in December 1968 as soon as infamous Institutional Act 5 was enacted by the Dictatorship.