Wednesday 25 November 2015

1975 - review

1975 Amiga magazine top selling records in Brazil 

Singles with most weeks at the #1 position:

1. Philadelphia freedomThe Elton John Band (DJM-Young-RGE) 3 wks at #1
2. Kung Fu fightin' - Carl Douglas (Pye-Chantecler) 3 wks at #1
3. Moro onde não mora ninguém - Agepê (Continental) 3 wks at #1
4. Tango p'ra Tereza - Angela Maria (Copacabana) 3 wks at #1
5. Happy man - Chicago (CBS) 2 wks at #1

6. Tears - Chrystian (Young-RGE) 2 wks 
7. Forever - Pholhas (RCA) 2 wks
8. One day in your life - Michael Jackson (Motown-Tapecar) 2 wks
9. Lovin' you - Minnie Ripperton (Epic) 2 wks
10. Pôxa - Gilson de Souza (Tapecar) 2 wks

11. I'm not in love - 10 cc (Philips) 2 wks
12. Feelings - Morris Albert (Charger Records-Copacabana) 1 wk at #1
13. Estrada do sol (Alle porte del sole) - Perla (RCA)
14. Sou uma criança não entendo nada - Erasmo Carlos (Polydor)
15. Noi due per sempre - Wess & Dori Gezzi (Durium-Young-RGE)

16. Tu sei così - Fred Bongusto (Ri-Fi-Continental) 
17. João de Barro - Sergio Reis (RCA)
18. Flores mortas - Leno (CBS)
19. Never can say goodbye - Gloria Gaynor (Philips)
20. You're the first, the last, my everything - Barry White (20th Century-Cid)

21. Lucy in the sky with diamonds - Elton John (MCA-Young-RGE)
22. Laughter in the rain - Neil Sedaka (Polydor)
23. Quantas lágrimas - Cristina Buarque de Hollanda (RCA)
24. Mandy - Barry Manilow (Bell-Odeon)
25. Na minha opinião - Odair José (Polydor)

26. A noite é a despedida - Angela Maria (Copacabana)
27. Como se fosse meu irmão - Lilian (CBS) 
28. Bella senz' anima - Riccardo Cocciante (RCA)
29. Shame, shame, shame - Shirley & Co. (Philips)
30. More than you know - Chrystian (Young-RGE)

31. Don't let me down - The Hollies (Polydor)
32. Stand by me - John Lennon (Apple-Odeon)
33. Please Mr Postman - Carpenters (A&M-Odeon)
34. O ouro e a madeira - Conjunto Nosso Samba (Odeon) 
35. Brazil - Ritchie Family (20th Century-Top-Tape)

36. Severina Xique Xique - Genival Lacerda (Copacabana)
37. El bimbo - Perla (RCA)
38. Tornerò - I Santo California (Baby-Records-Young-RGE)
39. Moça - Wando (Beverly)


1975 has a myriad of Number Ones: 40 altogether. British pianist-singer Elton John was at the top of his creativity. His American-theme 'Philadelphia freedom' written as a commemoration of the USA's 200th year of its independence from the UK was the best selling single with 3 weeks at the top of the charts along with Jamaican Carl Douglas' 'Kung Fu fightin', Brazil's Agepê's 'Moro onde não mora ninguém' and Angela Maria's 'Tango para Tereza'. 

Angela Maria who charted intermittently since 1956, was back with a vengeance having reached #1 earlier in the year with 'A noite é a despedida'. 

Foreign acts made up half of the Number Ones with 20 hits. Brazilian Hybrid English acts made up 4 posts with Chrystian (from Goiás) having hit #1 twice with 'Tears' and 'You'll never know', Morris Albert from Rio de Janeiro with 'Feelings' and Pholhas from São Paulo with 'Forever'. 

Perla originally from Paraguay but making her career in Brazil topped the charts twice with 'Estrada do sol' (Alle porte del sole) and 'Bimbo'. 

Talking about Italian music, there seemed to be a revival of Italian hits that sort of reminesced 1964-1965 with 'Noi due per sempre' with Wess & Dori Ghezzi, 'Tu sei così' with Fred Bongusto, 'Bella senz' anima' with Riccardo Cocciante and 'Tornerò' with I Santo California.

Former Jovem Guarda acts were still strong with Erasmo Carlos with 'Sou uma criança não entendo nada', his greatest hit since 'Festa de arromba' (1965). Former duo Leno & Lilian both hit Number One individually with 'Flores mortas' and 'Como se fosse meu irmão'. Paulo Sergio made it to #1 with 'Quero ver você feliz'. Sergio Reis crossed over from Jovem Guarda to Brazilian country-music and hit #1 with 'João de Barro' an old tune he revived. 

Sambas were four: 'Moro onde não mora ninguém' with Agepê sold heaps; Cristina Buarque de Hollanda, Chico's sister, hit #1 with 'Quantas lágrimas', a 'soft-samba' or 'chorinho' was really popular; Conjunto Nosso Samba hit with 'O ouro e a madeira', a traditional samba recording and a Gilson de Souza, from Marília-SP was the new Black Hope with 'Pôxa'.

On the Anglo-American front besides Elton John who also placed John Lennon's 'Lucy in the sky with diamonds' at #1, John Lennon himself took Ben E.King's 'Stand by me' to the top of the charts; British band 10cc's amazing 'I'm not in love' was #1 for 2 weeks; Gloria Gaynor's disco rendition of the Jackson Five's 'Never can say goodbye' was everywhere;  Shirley (Goodman) first charted 18 years before with 'Let the good times roll', in 1956 as a duo, Shirley & Lee took 'Shame, shame, shame' to the top and finally Minnie Riperton with her five-octave coloratura soprano range took 'Lovin' you' to the top.

Talking about 'come back kids' like Shirley, how about 'Brazil', a 43 year-old-hit which was a hit in the USA in 1942. Philadelphia disco vocal group Ritchie Family took 'Brazil' to #1 again. The Carpenters took 'Please Mr Postman' to the top 14 year after Motown's The Marvelettes had charted with it. 

Extended-plays with most weeks at the #1 position:

1. Dio come ti amo - Os grandes sucessos de Gigliola Cinquetti (Epic) 12 wks at #1
2. Despedida - Roberto Carlos (CBS) 7 wks at #1
3. Foi tudo culpa do amor - Diana (Polydor) 6 wks at #1
4. Dois p'ra lá, dois p'ra cá - Elis Regina (Philips) 3 wks
5. Bilú tetéia - Mauro Celso (RCA) 3 wks

6. Pensando bem - Antonio Marcos (RCA) 2 wks
7. Moro onde não mora ninguém - Agepê (Continental) 2 wks
8. A beleza é você mulher - Benito di Paula (Copacabana)
9. Emanuela - Barros de Alencar (RCA)
10. Na sombra de uma árvore - Hyldon (Polydor)

11. Eu não aceito o teu adeus - Renato & seus Blue Caps (CBS)


Extended-plays were a funny bunch. Labels like CBS, for instance,  would release a Roberto Carlos album next to Christmas, then realese 3 E.P.'s with 4 songs culled from the album throughout the next year. They all reached #1 in the E.P. charts. How do you explain that? Why people didn't buy the album in the first place and forget about the E.P.s? The answer is that albums really very expensive for the masses and they fool themselves thinking they 'saved money' buying the E.P.s. 

Why sometimes, like 'Emanuela', 'Bilú tetéia', 'Moro onde não mora ninguém', labels would released them in both single and E.P. formats? This is another way of 'ripping-off' the customer. E.P.'s were much more expensive than the singles. Their production costs were almost the same except for the cover which was more elaborate. An E.P. sleeve were usually made out of more-expensive card-board paper bearing photos of the artist. A little 'improvement' from the label which they charged double from the customer. 

Compactos-duplos also stayed longer in the charts than the single. Gigliola Cinquetti's 'Dio come ti amo' broke all possible records of staying-power. 'Dio come ti amo', written by Domenico Modugno won San Remo Festival on 29 January 1966; it was soon released as a single (compacto-simples) in Brazil by CGD-RGE and charted modestly. A year later, on 26 July 1967, Fama Films released an Italian black-and-white film shot in 1966 called  'Dio come ti amo' in which Gigliola Cinquetti sang the title-song and 'Non ho l'età' (from San Remo's 1964 festival). The extreme romantic film was not a blockbuster but through word-of-mouth it created a cult following that would not allow the film to 'die'. RGE re-released 'Dio come ti amo' as an E.P. and it got to #1 and stayed in the charts for years.

There came a time that CBS-Epic convinced Italian CGD (Compagnia Generale di Dischi) that they could do a better distribuiting job than RGE so CBS got the rights of pressing and distribution of 'Dio come ti amo' and all their backlog. CBS re-released it as an E.P. and it went right up to Number One again. Different label but same smash hit! We could safely say 'Dio come ti amo' was in the charts on and off for 10 years. That's a record hard to break.
'Dio come ti amo' as an E.P. with 2 different labels: RGE in 1967 and Epic-CBS in 1975. It took Gigliola 9 years to finally reach Number One, but when she did, she went all the way... and was the Best Selling E.P. of the Year! Miss Cinquetti also charted with 'Alle porte del sole' which won Canzonissima 1973. Perla's cover 'Estrada do sol', reached #1 on 12 February 1975


Albums with most weeks at the #1 position:

1. Benito di Paula gravado ao vivo (Copacabana)  18 wks at #1
2. Roberto Carlos vol.7 (CBS) 11 wks at #1
3. Canta canta minha gente - Martinho da Vila (RCA) 2 wks at #1
4. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy - Elton John (DJM-Young-RGE) 2 wks
5. Paulinho da Viola (Odeon) 2 wks at #1

6. Fruto proibido - Rita Lee & Tutti Frutti (Som-Livre) 2 wks 
7. Brasil som 75 - Benito di Paula & convidados (Copacabana) 2 wks 
8. Claridade - Clara Nunes (Odeon) 2wks 
9. Escalada (internacional) - various novela songs (Som Livre) 
10. Cuca Legal (internacional) - various novela songs (Som Livre)

11. Hot'issimo - various (Seara-Top-Tape)
12. Maravilha de cenário - Martinho da Vila (RCA)
13. Viagem encantada - Jorginho do Império (Polydor)
14. Refazenda - Gilberto Gil (Philips)

This was only the second time in a long time that Roberto Carlos was not the Best Selling Album of the year. Secos & Molhados interrupted Mr Carlos winning streak in 1973, with their breakthrough album for Continental Records, and now, singer-song-writer-piano-player Benito di Paula does it again. 'Benito de Paula gravado ao vivo' was 1975's best selling album by far with 18 weeks at #1.   

Songs with most weeks at the #1 position on the radio-play lists:

1. Charlie Brown - Benito di Paula (Copacabana) 3 wks at #1
2. Stand by me - John Lennon (Apple-Odeon) 2 wks at #1
3. Foi tudo culpa do amor - Diana (Polydor) 2 wks at #1
4. Pôxa - Gilson de Souza (Tapecar)
5. Feelings - Morris Albert (Charge Records-Copacabana) 1 wk at #1

6. Happy man - Chicago (CBS)
7. Conto de areia - Clara Nunes (Odeon)
8. Tragédia no fundo do mar - Os Originais do Samba (RCA)
9. Eu quero apenas - Roberto Carlos (CBS)
10. Quero ver você de perto - Roberto Carlos (CBS)

11. Flores mortas - Leno (CBS)
12. Lucy in the sky with diamonds - Elton John (MCA-Young-RGE)
13. Sou uma criança não entendo nada - Erasmo Carlos (Polydor)
14. Never can say goodbye - Gloria Gaynor (Philips)
15. Pensando bem - Antonio Marcos (RCA)

16. Tears - Chrystian (Young-RGE)
17. Moro onde não mora ninguém - Agepê (Continental)
18. Only you - Ringo Starr (Apple-Odeon)
19. Farofa-fá - Mauro Celso (RCA)
20. Please Mr Postman - Carpenters (A&M-Odeon)

21. Na minha opinião -Odair José (Polydor)
22. Forever - Pholhas (RCA)
23. Além de tudo - Benito di Paula (Copacabana)
24. Don't let me down - The Hollies (Polydor)
25. One day in your life - Michael Jackson (Motown-Tapecar)

26. Mistura de carimbó - Eliana Pittman (RCA) 
27. Vou te buscar, Maria (Hush hush Maria) - Julio Cesar (RGE)
28. Filho da véia - Luiz Américo (Chantecler)
29. Pisa na barata - Osvaldo Faher (Top-Tape)
30. Lovin' you - Minnie Riperton (Epic)

31. Na sombra de uma árvore - Hyldon (Polydor)
32. More than you know - Chrystian (Young-RGE)
33. Ovelha negra - Rita Lee & Tutti Frutti (Som-Livre)
34. Bilú tetéia - Mauro Celso (RCA)
35. Emanuela (Emmanuelle) - Barros de Alencar (RCA)

36. We all fall in love sometimes - Elton John (MCA-Young-RGE)
37. Severina Xique Xique - Genivaldo Lacerda (Copacabana)
38. Brazil - Ritchie Family (20th Century-Top-Tape)
39. O ouro e a madeira - Conjunto Nosso Samba (Odeon)
40. Fruto proibido - Rita Lee & Tutti Frutti (Som-Livre)

41. Moça - Wando (Beverly)
42. O mar serenou - Clara Nunes (Odeon)
43. O telefone chora (Le telephone pleure) - Marcio José (RCA)
44. Qualquer coisa - Caetano Veloso (Philips)
45. Quero ver você feliz - Paulo Sergio (Beverly)

The most popular songs on Radio's play lists do not necessarily come from singles. Almost half (20) of this list actually come from either albums or extended-plays; 'Charlie Brown' and 'Além de tudo' are tracks of 'Benito di Paula gravado ao vivo' the best-selling album in 1975. 

'Ovelha negra' and 'Fruto proibido' come from 'Fruto proibido', Rita Lee & Tutti Frutti's breakthrough album for Som-Livre. 

'Eu quero apenas' and 'Quero ver você de perto' are either from 'Roberto Carlos vol.7' or his extended-plays which were released throughout the year by CBS. 

Mauro Celso's novelty songs 'Farofa-fá' and 'Bilú tetéia' are part of an E.P. issued by RCA. So is Antonio Marcos' 'Pensando bem' which is part of an E.P., Hyldon's 'Na sombra de uma árvore' and Radio Tupi DJ Barros de Alencar's 'Emanuela'. 

Elton John's 'We all fall in love sometimes' comes straight from 'Captain Fantastic & the Dirt Brown Cowboy'. It has become a major hit for Elton in Brazil. 

There are also songs from singles which didn't hit #1 in the charts but were well played by radio stations like 'Quero ver você feliz' (Paulo Sergio), 'O telefone chora' (Marcio José), 'Fio da véia' (Luiz Américo), 'Pisa na barata' (Osvaldo Faher), 'Only you' (Ringo Starr) & others.