Walter Franco - Tema Do Hospital from compacto simples - Philips (1971)

Walter Franco - Tema Do Hospital from compacto simples - Philips (1971)

I am taking a break from forró in this post to share a great post-Tropicalia 1971 single from experimental MPB artist Walter Franco, who I first heard at the now sadly defunct Tropicalia In Furs record store in the East Village. Joel, the owner, was playing Ou Não, a relentlessly weird LP, which is destined to be discovered by the Euro-intelligensia and heralded as one of the great unheralded strange classics of the 20th Century. Tema Do Hospital, Franco's first single, touches on that LP, but leans much more towards Gilberto Gil's 1968 LP, Gal Costa, Sgt. Pepper and the classic Tropicalia LP. Discographies are spotty online, but I am fairly certain that this was produced by Rogério Duprat. It certainly sounds like his work and the Wiki indicates that he was working with Franco around this time.

Click on the video above to play the song.

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Walter Franco - Tema Do Hospital from compacto simples - Philips (1971)

David Cruz - Batendo Poeira from Rádio Quente - Laço (1982)

David Cruz - Batendo Poeira from Rádio Quente - Laço (1982)

This is great sounding forró that crosses the great sound barrier: 1980. Like most music, forró went through a serious identity crisis in the 1980s with the onslaught of drum machines, synthesizers and click tracks. A few artists managed to record great sounding records, including Zenilton, Messias Holanda and David Cruz. It's much harder to find great forró after 1976. Even the greats, like Genival Lacerda, Jackson do Pandeiro and Luiz Gonzaga had trouble finding material that matched what they recorded in the early 70s and before.

David Cruz - Batendo Poeira from Rádio Quente - Laço (1982)

Click on the video above to play the song.

iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/BMeHpG9M794

David Cruz

Elino Julião & Jacinto Silva - Coração Descontrolado from Desafio - CBS (1972)

Elino Julião & Jacinto Silva - Coração Descontrolado from Desafio - CBS (1972)

When I first discovered forró, I mined the catalog of Luiz Gonzaga looking for gems, which were numerous. After Gonzaga, I wasn't sure who the major players were. Fortunately, a vast number of LPs were available on forroemvinil to preview. I particularly enjoyed Jackson do Pandeiro's early 70s work on CBS, so I sought other artists that recorded for the label. I came to learn that Abdias, head of A&R at CBS, had poached the lions-share of forró royalty from labels like Fontana, Cantagalo, Philips, Maraca, Sertanejo and Mocambo. The mid 1960s through mid 1970s were a wonderful time at CBS. Every record usually had at least one great track. The songs were beautifully recorded and mixed in stereo. Desafio, meaning challenge, was a dual album. Full LPs featuring two or three artists seemed to be in vogue in the late 60s and early 70s, particularly on Fontana and CBS. Half of the songs on Desafio featured vocals by Silva and the other half were by Julião. Coração Descontrolado is an Elino Julião vocal number. When they shared an LP cover, these characters often seemed to be playing pool, cards, chatting up the lassies or getting into brawls. Manly stuff.

Click on the video above to play the song.

iOS? click here: http://youtu.be/qNAsNz9cu6k

Elino Julião & Jacinto Silva - Desafio - polyester & pool