label YOUNG in 1960

1960 promised to be a great year for all those involved in the Young Records dream. And if you read this page you'll agree that the dream did become reality. That was up until circa September when something really mysterious happened between rock-entrepreneur Miguel Vaccaro Netto and Paulinho Machado de Carvalho the manager of Emissoras Unidas that owned TV Record & Radio Panamericana. It may have been a family bad blood since Vaccaro was married to a Machado de Carvalho too. 'Disque Disco' was axed from Radio Panamericana, Vaccaro lost his daily column at 'Ultima Hora' from where most of these reports originate. In other words the dream was over. 

Even though eventually Miguel Vaccaro got himself a new radio show on Radio Bandeirantes, he never flew so high as when he belonged to Record-Panamericana. 

Miguel Vaccaro Netto was born on 7 September 1934, in São Paulo and died on 22nd September 2020. He was 86 years old. I had the chance to meet him in a vynil fair at Galeria Trianon on Avenida Paulista circa 2010. He still commanded respect from his former employees. I remember we were standing up in a circle talking about old times when Vaccaro turned to Hamilton di Giorgio who was by my side and told him point-blank he had a big belly and should lose weight. I was flabbergasted by the remark. I thought it was downright lack of respect for another adult. Hamilton was silent and nobody said a word. Judging by that action I wonder how dicatatorial he must have been with his staff.  

8 January 1960 - Friday - Young Records releases a new single: 'Kiss me honey, honey kiss me' b/w 'I can't live' sung by Lucy Perrier with back-vocals done by The Cupids.

21 January 1960 – Thursday  – Nick Savoia, 22 years old, covers Jimmy Harrison's 'Hiccups' b/w 'Since you've been gone' done originally by Clyde McPhatter (#38 on 3 August 1959). 

12 & 13 January 1960 - Young acts from Sao Paulo tour Rio de Janeiro on the weekend - Young Records acts performed at various venues in Rio on Saturday & Sunday; They were the main attraction at Radio Mayrink Veiga's 'Hoje é dia de rock' and later on at TV Tupi's 'Chacrinha's discotheque' on Channel 6.  

14 March 1960 - guitarrist Jose Provetti aka Gato has left the Jester Tigers to pursue a solo career.  

3 May 1960 - Tuesday - 'Bad boy' b/w 'I go ape' with Nick Savoia accompanied by The Rebels & The Beverlys at the background vocals is released in both 78 and 45 rpm formats.

Radiolandia #313, 2nd April 1960: this lovely girl is called Regiane. She's the first rock'n'roll singer released by São Paulo's new label Young. Regiane has recently visited Rio de Janeiro alongside the Young cast in a tour organized by journalist Miguel Vaccaro Netto. Regine is 18 years old and goes to the Sacred Family High School (Colégio Sagrada Familia). 

14 May 1960 – Saturday  – Nick Savoia sings at 'Chacrinha's discotheque'; Hamilton Di Giorgio, The Beverlys plus Demetrius & The Devils are the main attraction at 'Show da Juventude' on Channel 7, the brand-new rock show MCed by Miguel Vaccaro Netto on Saturdays at 7:10 PM. After the TV programme they all go to Clube Piratininga. 

7 July 1960 - Thursday - Young Records releases Demetrius first single 'Hold me tight' b/w 'Young and in love'; Hamilton Di Giorgio's 2nd single for Young Records is released: 'Teenage sonata' b/w 'We got love'. Di Giorgio is the label's best selling artist. 

9 July 1960 - Rio de Janeiro's daily 'Correio da Manhã' reports about the great event promoted by Miguel Vaccaro Netto during Sao Paulo's very own public holiday. 

25 July 1960 - Monday - a special screening of 'A summer place' (Amores clandestinos) with Troy Donahue & Sandra Dee at Cine Ipiranga is sponsored by Warner Brothers & RGE that released 'Theme from 'A summer place' with Billy Vaughn & his Orchestra.

Radiolandia #333, July 1960: Regiane, her boy-friend & Nick Savoia at Radio Nacional Paulista's 'Discoteca do Chacrinha'; journalist Liba Frydman talks to Young Records promotion man Vicente Lopes.  

7 JUL 1960 – 5a.  O guitarrista Gatto grava “Paris Belfort” para o 9 de Julho. 

25 July 1960 - Monday - 'Ritmo de gente moça' (Young people's rhythm) is a new rock-show produced by Nelson Duarte on Monday nights at ten minutes to 8:00 PM. Nick Savoia, Regiane and all the cast of Young Records is there.  

15 August 1960 - Monday - US singer Johnny Restivo starts his stint at Teatro Record at 10:00 PM. Even though it's a rainy night the theatre is full. Opening for Restivo is 'Um gaiato em Nova York' (A madcap in New York) a rock revue produced by Vaccaro and directed by Esdras Vassalo aka Doca who plays the main role - that of a Brazilian youth who visits New York and finds out about the many different parts of the city. Hamilton Di Giorgio, The Teenagers, Dori Angiolella, Marcos Roberto, Gato and Helena Maria sing each a number in the musical revue. When Doca arrives in Harlem he finds The Beverlys singing one of their hits. Regiane sang 'O Dio mio' in reference to the Italian immigrants in the city. Bobby Darin's latest US hit 'Clementine' (#21 on 4 April 1960) was performed dazzingly by Nick Savoia and Paul Evans' funny 'Happy go-lucky' (#10 on 30 May 1960) plus Johnny Preston's 'Running Bear' (#1 on 21 December 1959) were also performed at the revue. 

17 August 1960 - Tuesday - Vaccaro gives a dinner in honour of teen-idol Johnny Restivo after his recital at Teatro Record and invites the cast of Young Records who worked hard earlier in the night presenting the musical revue. When everyone had already eaten what they could at Zi Teresa's restaurant, on Rua Fernando de Albuquerque, a block away from the theatre, Gato took his guitar and improvised a song having been joined by The Teenagers and Hamilton Di Giorgio. Restivo also sang accompanied by the voices of The Teenagers. Johnny then asked the guys to show him Brazilian songs. Nick Savoia immediately broke into Antonio Carlos Jobim's 'A felicidade' (from 'Black Orpheus') to be followed by The Teenagers again who sang a few bossa nova tunes always accompanied by Gato on his guitar. Johnny Restivo was so taken up by the Brazilian rhythm he improvised a maraca to keep the beat that turned out to be a cross between cha-cha and rumba, the way Americans play samba. Oh what a lovely night that started with pizza and turned into a delicious musical salad.

Young Records ads at Radiolandia in November 1960.

Amelia de Paula Loureiro from The Beverlys, sings the counter-melody in Carlos David's 'In my heart'.

Amelia de Paula Loureiro sings the counter-melody  in Carlos David's 'In my heart'. It is a haunting melody and it keeps up from the beginning up to the last note. Amelia should have been given credit on the record label. Well, at least we know it's been Amelia's work.

OBITUARY 

Regiane aka Regina Celia Belocchi Wacked died on Wednesday, 26 July 2017, in Jundiai-SP where she lived most of her life. Regiane was born on 3rd July 1941. She had just turned 76 three weeks before. 

label YOUNG in 1959

In Brasil everyone knows that the New Year starts after Carnaval... late February or early March which actually coincides with the Chinese lunar calendar anyway... 

So we could say 1959 started in a bad note for DJ journalist Miguel Vaccaro Netto who had a popular daily rock-show on Sao Paulo's Radio Panamericana from 3:00 to 5:00. For reasons unknown to any mortal Vaccaro started a campaign asserting that Brenda Lee, the diminutive native of Atlanta, Georgia who had been singing publicly since she was 6 years old in 1950 did not actully exist. 

By August, when Vaccaro had branched out into being a record producer, a theatre promoter besides being an 'agent provocateur' had to eat up his own words publicly. Paulinho Machado de Carvalho, his boss at TV Record had signed Brenda Lee to sing for a week at their Teatro Record on Rua da Consolação, 1992. 

2nd April 1959 - Thursday - Brenda Lee does not exist! - 'Ultima Hora' music columnist boldly declares that Brenda Lee whose record 'Jambalaya' released by Decca-Companhia Brasileira de Discos in March 1959 does not exist. Miguel Vaccaro asserts he read at 'Metronome' magazine that it was only a ploy devised by Decca Records who recorded a gravel voiced man with the same pitch as Louis Armstrong in 78 rpm and then turned the rotation to 45 rpm. Vaccaro goes on and add that North-Americans could record even the Devil himself as long as it sold records. 

10 August 1959 – Monday - Disc-jockey Miguel Vaccaro Netto launches a competition at his radio show 'Disque Disco' on Radio Panamericana to choose a pseudonym for Regina Celia Belochi who has just recorded 'To know him is to love him' backed with 'Fallin' her first single for the new label Young. 

The Avalons is a sextet made up of 3 instrumentalists: lead-guitarrist Dudu (Francisco Eduardo de Sousa Pereira) is the fair type (alemão); Dudu's brother Paulinho de Sousa Pereira is at the drums & Daniel at the bass; and 3 vocalists: Solano Ribeiro who can also write song, Nilton aka Passarinho and Bob a Chinese fellow from Hong Kong. All guys are not 21 years old yet. They rehearsed at a house on Rua Cristiano Viana, in Pinheiros and started playing on TV programmes when they were spotted by Vaccaro who made them an offer they could not refuse. They were the first act to have a record released by Young Records 'China rock' an instrumental number written by Dudu b/w 'Valentina, my Valentina'. Their 2nd record should be out soon 'Alphabet of love' b/w 'Rebel rouser' a cover of a Duane Eddy hit. 

18 August 1959 - Tuesday - Brenda Lee is for real and will be visiting Brazil soon - Miguel Vaccaro goes back on his words. Actually he had to eat up his words publicly. Later on he made up a story he had 'invented' this lie only to help Decca sell more 'Jambalaya' records. It doesn't make any sense at all. 

22nd August 1959 - Saturday - Mysterious singer has got a name: Regiane. After searching for an artistic name for singer Regina Celia Belocchi in a competition that took a few weeks. 'Disque Disco' listener Carlos Alberto Vallin de Oliveira came up with Regiane which won the competition. It's an easy name to pronounce and it's not too far removed from the singer's real name. Carlos has been awarded half a dozen albums for his choice.

29 August 1959 - The Avalons played at Colegio Eduardo Prado on Saturday night for more than 500 students. They played their songs recorded by Young plus Elvis Presley's 'Hound dog', The Crests' 'Sixteen candles' and The Bell Notes' 'I've had it'.

10 September 1959 - Thursday - Brenda Lee finally debuts at Teatro Record with the venue packed up to the rafters by mostly teenagers. The diminutive Georgian was accompanied by The Avalons who rocked the joint down. TV comedian Renato Corte-Real opened the night introducing Antonio Claudio who sang 'It's only make believe' accompanied by The Jester Tigers plus Regiane who rocked with Neil Sedaka's 'Fallin'. Brenda Lee was impressed by Regiane's performance. 

14 September 1959 - Monday - Brenda Lee and her manager Dub Allbritten pay a visit to Miguel Vaccaro's radio show 'Disque Disco' at the auditorium of Radio Panamericana that was packed with more than 400 young people. Brenda was the main focus of the programme from 3:30 to 5:00 PM. Brenda declared she started singing at 6 years old. She said she can't read music, but plays the piano by ear. Brenda said 'Pennies from heaven' and 'Jambalaya' are her favourite songs.

Miguel Vaccaro presents Brenda Lee, the girl-singer that never was... at his Radio Panamericana's 'Disque Disco'.

25 September 1959 - Friday - a 2-hour live music stravaganza straight from the stage of Teatro Record, on Rua da Consolação, 1992, started at 3:00 PM 'American Music Festival' MCed by Miguel Vaccaro Netto. The venue was packed to the rafters one hour before it started. These were the acts who performed at the microphones of Radio Panamericana:

1. Nick Savoia & the Scarletts covered Lloyd Price's 'Personality' (#2 on 11 May 1959); Elvis Presley's 'Lover doll', from the movie 'King Creole' and Nick's own 'Hiccup' (covered from a Jimmy Morrison record).

2. The Beverlys - a Black vocal quintet among the very best in the land (quinteto negro dos melhores que existe em nossa terra) covered Art & Dotty Todd's 'Chanson d'amour' (#6 on on 21st April 1958) and Jerome Kerns's 'Smoke gets in your eyes' which The Platters took to #1 on 1st December 1958.

3. The Teenagers, a vocal group formed at Brás' Yazigi English-Course doing their debut covering Dion & the Belmonts' 'A teenager in love' (#5 on 27 April 1959) and Paul Anka's 'Lonely boy' (#1 on 8 June 1959).

4. Antonio Claudio accompanied by The Jester Tigers covered Elvis Presley's 'Hard headed woman' (#1 on 30 June 1958); Lloyd Price's 'Where were you on our wedding day?' (#23 on 30 March 1959) and Bobby Darin's 'Dream lover' (#2 on 4 May 1959).

5. The Avalons were the most eaguerly waited by the crowd for the theatre exploded in wild cheering. They covered the Fleetwood's 'Come softly to me' (#1 on 16 March 1959); Ricky Nelson's 'Poor little fool' (#1 on 7 July 1958) crooned by Passarinho aka Nilton; Lee & Paul's 'Valentina, my Valentina', and Solano Ribeiro's own 'All the time'.

6. Regiane came last and did a brand-new song, a cover of The Shirelles' My love is a charm'; Neil Sedaka's 'Fallin' (#30 on 17 November 1958) and The Teddy Bears' 'To know him is to love him' (#1 on 13 October 1958).

The Avalons closed the programme with the instrumental 'China Rock' their greatest hit.

9 OUTUBRO 1959 - sábado - Estreia programa de Celly Campello na TV Record - 'Programa da Juventude' as 18:30 diretamente do Teatro Record, com público e rock'n'roll - Estrelado por Celly Campello, acompanhada pelo conjunto Ritmos Ok, de Taubaté. Participação de The Avalons, Regiane, The Jester Tigers e muitos outros. Apresentação de Randal Juliano. Ingressos à venda na bilheteria do teatro. 

12 October 1959 - Miguel Vaccaro Netto writes at his column at daily 'Ultima Hora' that The Avalons played at Colegio Des Oiseaux on Rua Caio Prado; The Jester Tigers (Tigres Brincalhões) led by guitarrist Jose Provetti recorded 'Dream lover' and 'Where were you on our wedding day?'; the singer is Antonio Claudio. The back-ground vocal was done by the remarkable Beverlys - the best in vocal harmonies. (O coro foi feito pelos notáveis Beverlys, o que de ótimo se possa querer em matéria de harmonia vocal).

22nd October 1959 - Miguel Vaccaro at his 'Discos' column at Ultima Hora that heart-throb Tuffy Jorge goes to Liceu Eduardo Prado, on Rua Jacurici, Itaim-Bibi; Carlos David goes to Colegio Piratininga, on Avenida Angelia, 381 & Hamilton Di Giorgio goes to Colegio Itaquera.

25 October 1959 - Sunday - students from the 8th grade (4a. serie) at Ginasio Saldanha Marinho on Avenida Celso Garcia organized an American Music Festival at Teatro Arthur de Azevedo on Avenida Paes de Barros, 955 at Mooca, featuring The Beverlys, High Teenagers, The Scarletts, The Rebels & The Jester Tigers.

26 October 1959 - Monday - Dolores Duran is buried - Brazilian music is in mourning with the death of Dolores Duran whose body was found at 10:00 PM on Saturday night at her flat in Copacabana. According to an autopsy performed by Murilo Caldas, Miss Duran died of a massive heart attack around 8:00 in the morning.

19 October 1959 - Cizinha Moura's latest single 'Brotinho Lili' written by Domingos Paulo Mamone is the opening title of a drama-series at Radio São Paulo 


31st October 1959 - Saturday - The Rebels, the newest rock combo discovered by 'Disque Disco' debuts at Celly Campello's 4th edition of 'Programa da Juventude' at Teatro Record. 

3rd November 1959 - Tuesday - First Great Festival of American Music - which was actually the 2nd rock extravaganza organized by Miguel Vaccaro at 2:30 PM at Teatro Record. This is the line up:

Carlos David with a great vocal performance covered Elvis Presley's 'That's all right', 'Ebb tide' and 'Be bop a lula'. David's voice is similar to that of Johnny Mathis and Roy Hamilton. 

Tuffy Jorge who has been discovered recently by 'Disque Disco' sang a few sentimental hits like 'Please, love me forever', 'The end' and 'Melodie d'amour'. 

The Rebels with Nenê, an incredible 12-year-old drummer boy did 'Miss Ann', 'Rock of lover' (?), 'Party doll' (Buddy Knox) and 'Hound dog'. 

The Beverlys sang 'There goes my baby', 'Little star' and 'Twilight time'. The Beverlys are José Pereira, José Mariano, Benedito Guido de Castro, Amelia de Paula Loureiro and her brother Vander Loureiro. 

The High Teenagers covered the funny Coasters hit 'Along came Jones', The Mystics' 'Hush a-bye' and Freddy Cannon's 'Tallahassee lassie'. 

Nick Savoia presented his first Young recordings 'Hiccups' and 'Since you've been gone'.

Hamilton Di Giorgio, the remarkable 17 year-old boy with a golden voice launched by 'Disque Disco' performed Ray Paterson's 'My heart is an open book', Sam Cooke's 'You send me' and late Buddy Holly's 'Peggy Sue'. 

The amazing The Avalons did not play due to both vocalists Bob and Solano Ribeiro being in bed with a bad flu. Regiane did not sing for her supporting band are the Avalons.

9 November 1959 - Monday - Neil Sedaka arrives in Sao Paulo - After Brenda Lee's sensational stint at TV Record in October, TV Tupi thought it was about time it also dealt in this new thing called rock'n'roll and signed singer-song-writer Neil Sedaka to a series of recitals at Cine Regencia, on Rua Augusta as TV Tupi didn't have an auditorium of its own except the one in Sumaré that was too far from the city. RCA Victor assigned Angela Maria and Carlos Gonzaga, the man who took a cover of Paul Anka's 'Diana' to the top of the charts - to welcome the writer of 'Stupid cupid' at the airport where a crowd of more than 1,000 teenagers were assembled to greet him. 

13 November 1959 - Friday - Alfredo Soares, Miguel Vaccaro's right-hand man (secretario de produções) met Neil Sedaka in person and told him Young Records' cast members Nick Savoia and Regiane had recorded Sedaka's 'Since you've been gone' plus 'Fallin' and 'Frankie' both recorded originally by Connie Francis.

21st November 1959 - Saturday - The Beverlys record 'There goes my baby' and 'Little star'. After the recording session The Beverlys prepared themselves to appear at TV Record's gala 'Astros do disco' where they sang 'Smoke gets in your eyes'. Antonio Claudio and The Jester Tigers presented 'Dream lover'. 

The Teenagers were college students who met at the Yazigi language-school in the Eastern suburb of Bras. Carlos, Waltinho, Hermes, Toninho & Prandini turned their passion for English and music into doo-wop harmony that made them popular in the Eastern Suburbs and further afield.

Later on, when Pradini left the group they changed their repertoire and their name to O Quarteto and became a fixture at 'O Fino da Bossa', Elis Regina's weekly TV programme which was strictly Bossa Nova (later known as MPB - Brazilian popular music).

They started their career as The High Teenagers... then they lopped off the 'high' and became pure and simply Teenagers.

All Young discs were recorded at this building at Largo da Misericordia in Sao Paulo. This is a 1931 photo of the place when it used to house Columbia that would change its name to Continental Records in 1943.

Columbia would soon change its name to Continental.

Actually the story is a little different. In 1928, industrialist Alberto Byington Jr. becomes the representative of Columbia Records in Brazil. As the phonographic market grew in the 1930s, Byington breaks up with Columbia and starts his own label called Discos Continental aka Continental Gravações Elétricas. 

Antonio Claudio aka Danny Dallas

12 October 1959 - Miguel Vaccaro Netto writes at his column at daily 'Ultima Hora' that The Avalons played at Colegio Des Oiseaux on Rua Caio Prado; The Jester Tigers (Tigres Brincalhões) led by guitarrist Jose Provetti recorded 'Dream lover' and 'Where were you on our wedding day?'; the singer is Antonio Claudio. The back-ground vocal was done by the remarkable Beverlys - the best in vocal harmonies. (O coro foi feito pelos notáveis Beverlys, o que de ótimo se possa querer em matéria de harmonia vocal).

Antonio Claudio later known as Danny Dallas wearing his various striking cardigans...

Antonio Claudio Guimarães do Canto was born on 8 June 1941, in Sao Paulo. Since he was 7 or 8 he used to sing at birthday parties or school events. Circa 1958, he appeared many times at TV Tupi's popular 'Almoço com as estrelas' (Having lunch with the stars) where he'd sing old American standards accompanying himself with an accoustic guitar. MC Ayrton Rodrigues introduced him to a night club owner who wanted to sign him to sing at Cave, on Praça Roosevelt, but due to his being still a minor the plans fell through. 

10 August 1959 -  a note from daily 'Ultima Hora': Antonio Claudio, an 18 year-old student who is a staunch supporter of rock'n'roll has made a strong impression on those at Radio Panamericana's auditorium when he sang 'I believe' (Frankie Laine's), 'It's only make believe' (Conway Twitty's) and 'The end' (Earl Grant). Antonio Claudio said he had already sung at many TV shows when a friend told him Vaccaro was looking for new-talents to record on his newly-opened Young record label. He took his guitar and went out to Radio Panamericana's studios upon the 13th floor of Rua Riachuelo. Vaccaro listened to him and immediately asked if he'd sing impromptu on that very day... and that's how it was.  

A few days later, Antonio Claudio was teamed up with a band called The Jester Tigers made up of Jose Provetti aka Gato (lead-guitar), Horacio (rhythm-guitar), Augusto (double-bass) & Toninho Rossi at drums and they recorded 'Dream lover' b/w 'Where were you on our wedding day?' which today is a valuable collector's item.

Antonio Claudio had a good stage persona and was in the revue that opened for Brenda Lee's recital at Teatro Record from 10 to 16 September 1959. By 1961, Antonio Claudio was a fixture at opening shows for foreign acts having opened for Tony Bennett (17 & 18 May 1961) and Frankie Avalon (19 to 25 June 1961). On 18 May 1961, Antonio had the honour to sing 'Boulevard of broken dreams' - one of Mr Bennett's hit - accompanied by Betinho & his combo at Fasano's Winter Garden. 

On 17 & 18 October 1961, Antonio Claudio opened for Brenda Lee's 2nd visit to Sao Paulo - this time accompanied by  the TV Record Orchestra (read the article about it below).

Antonio Claudio as seen by journalist P.S. for São Paulo daily 'A Gazeta' on 25 October 1961.

Na terça-feira, dia 17 Outubro 1961, quando da apresentação de Brenda Lee em sua segunda temporada entre nós, enquanto o público aguardava o próximo número, havia um zum-zum-zum no Teatro Record. Surgiu então, no palco, um rapaz que não conhecíamos. O zum-zum-zum prosseguiu. A medida que ele foi cantando, porém, o silêncio foi tomando conta de todos, pois a voz do moço trazia algo de diferente. Muito boa voz.

Quem era? Ficamos sabendo depois: Danny Dallas, ou seja, Antonio Claudio Guimarães do Canto. E ele é do canto mesmo. Esse moço vai longe, se souberem aproveitá-lo. 'A Gazeta', em primeiro lugar entrevista hoje Danny Dallas.

Desde criança, com 5 ou 6 anos, Danny cantava em festinhas ou shows de colégios. Apoiado pelo pai, continuou desenvolvendo suas qualidades vocais. Estreou em radio e TV em 1959.

Danny também compõe, tendo gravado pela RGE duas de suas músicas com letra de Vercos, colega de faculdade. Tornou-se amigo de Frankie Avalon e Tony Bennett quando aqui estiveram.

Danny tem apenas 20 anos e está no 2o. ano de Direito. Depois de formado, talvez, irá aos Estados Unidos, dependendo de 'certas possibilidades'. Danny canta também em francês, além de inglês.

Já que Danny ainda não pode escolher todas as músicas que gostaria de gravar, quisemos saber quais ele preferiria. Ele nos apontou 3 norte-americanas: 'Till then', 'Portrait of my love' e 'It's only make believe'; e 3 brasileiras: 'Foi a noite' (de Antonio Carlos Jobim), 'Laura' (de Alcyr Pires Vermelho) e 'Leva-me contigo' (de Duarte Rosado, com Dolores Duran).

Danny também imita os cantores Frankie Laine, Miltinho e Paul Anka.

Antonio Claudio aka Danny Dallas at Radio Gazeta in October 1961.

N.B.: Antonio Claudio died on 29 May 2020. 

ALF SOARES, Brazilian rock 'wunderkind' - 1959-1962

Afonso Soares de Azevedo aka Alf Soares was only 20 years old in 1958, when he scored a dream-job - to be the factotum (secretario de produções) of Miguel Vaccaro Netto, a radio man who had a 2 hour-rock-show - from 3:00 to 5:00 PM - on Radio Panamericana in São Paulo where he played hit parade discs and records not yet released in the Brazilian market.  

Alf who has been living in Miami, Florida since 1992, has recently sent an account of those early rock'n'roll years to blogger Lucinha Zanetti and here are excerpts of that report:

a very young Alf Soares in 1960. 

In 1958, there were 4 big multi-national record companies in Brazil: RCA Victor, EMI-Odeon, Columbia and Philips that had just got into the Brazilian market incorporating local Companhia Brasileira de Discos. As far as rock'n'roll records went RCA had Elvis, the biggest of them all; Odeon-Capitol had Little Richard and Columbia had Johnny Ray. Paul Anka was released in Brazil through Germany's Polydor. 

As Miguel Vaccaro radio show 'Disque Disco' became the highest rating programme among Sao Paulo teen-agers, Enrique Lebendiger, chairman of Fermata do Brasil, a sheet-music-cum-record-label company approached him with an offer he could not refuse. He offered Vaccaro the catalog of various US record companies he had the rights to release in Brazil. Many of these labels had already had number ones at the charts in the US like Atlantic-Atco, Cameo-Parkway, Dolphin, Dorè, Jubilee etc. but they had no outlet in Brazil. 

Mr Lebendiger didn't know what to do with all that material. Most of those records would never be released at all due to the smallness of the Brazilian record market. Suddenly, Vaccaro thought he could assemble a team of Brazilian young musicians who already gravitated around his daily radio-show at Radio Panamericana, ask them to learn those songs so that he could record their covers and release them through his own label.  

Brazilian rock up to that moment was made up mostly of Anglo-American songs translated into Portuguese and  sung by local talents like Carlos Gonzaga who took Paul Anka's 'Diana' to the top of the charts in May 1958. 

During a short period between December 1957 and September 1958, there was a string of rock'n'roll tunes recorded by Brazilian acts singing in English that reached Number One in the charts. It all started with Lana Bittencourt's 'Little darlin' which was a cover of The Diamonds, a Canadian group who had in their turn covered The Gladiola's original. 

On 8 March 1958, Brazilian studio band The Playings took 'Love me forever', a cover of The Four Esquires to #1. Two weeks later, on 22 March 1959, Conjunto Farropilha went to #1 with 'Mr. Lee', a cover of The Bobbettes, to be followed by Miss Bittencourt again with 'Alone' (Why must I be alone?), a cover of the Shepherd Sisters that topped the charts on 8 April 1958. 

On 19 July 1958, Tony Campello took 'Forgive me' b/w 'Handsome boy' sung by his baby sister Celly Campello to #1 in Sao Paulo. Both songs had been written by blind musician Mario Gennari Filho with original English words written by Celia Novaes. Before the year was over Lana Bittencourt reached #1 for the 3rd time with 'With all my heart' on 20 September 1958. 

Vaccaro must have thought that translating hits from English into Portuguese was not necessary. Brazilians could sing in English too: Miss Bittencourt, The Playings, Conjunto Farroupilha, Tony & Celly Campello had proved it. 

That's how the idea of forming Young Records came to be. Now, Vaccaro had only to go through the mountains of 45 rpms received from those US labels via air-mail, choose the tunes he thought would best fit the local trends, hire recording studio time from Continental Records, one of the best recording studios in town and get his musicians to cover that material. 

It was March 1959, just when Celly Campello shot to #1 with 'Estupido cupido', a Neil Sedaka tune Connie Francis had taken to #14 in the US charts. Actually, EMI-Odeon wasn't sure how the teens would react when it released the disc just after Carnaval: it had 'The secret' sung in English on the A-side, but radio DJs immediately chose the flip-side sung in Portuguese. 

The first rock band ever formed in Brazil, The Avalons were spotted singing the Everly Brothers' 'Bye bye love' on a TV Paulista programme produced by David Conde and were invited to record at the new label. They were the first act to record for Young, at the state-of-the-art RGE studios on Rua Paula Souza, under the direction of Stelio Carlini, legendary sound-engineer whose nephew Luis Sergio Carlini would become a guitar hero in the 1970s as part of Rita Lee's Tutti Frutti.

Teen vocalist Hamilton Di Giorgio sang Buddy Holly's 'Peggy Sue' at 'Boite do Minguinho', on Radio São Paulo and was so successful that Domingos Paulo Mamone himself introduced him to Vaccaro at sister radio station Panamericana. 

Regiane was spotted singing and playing acoustic guitar at a Sunday show music-instructor Theotônio Pavão had on TV Tupi. She was invited by Vaccaro to show up at 'Disque Disco' radio live programme where she sang songs of Maysa and Maria Theresa aka 'Mecha Branca'. When Regiane sang in English we knew right away she was 'it'. 

Regiane whose name is Regina Celia Belocchi had to have a name-change due to the existence of another Regina Celia who recorded for Polydor. An instant radio competition was set up on air to canvass for a new name for such a musical prodigy. Regiane was Vaccaro's answered prayer. She could sing as well as Celly Campello, who was fast becoming Brazil's sweetheart.

The Beverlys were a vocal group from Penha, an Eastern suburb, who were in the right place at the right time. They showed up at Radio Panamericana exactly when Vaccaro was assembling a cast of hopeful new talents to launch Young Records. They were four Black men: Pereira, Mariano, Castro, Vander and Amelia who was Vander's wife. They had been performing doo-wop material from The Platters for some time. They were very tuneful and were warmly welcomed into the Young family. The Beverlys were a little older than most of the cast and ended up adding their background vocals to most recordings besides their own. They were among the five top acts in the label. 

Nick Savoia was strictly upper-class whose father had been Sao Paulo mayor for a time after the 1932 upheavals. Nick had an independent streak having worked as an airline steward to travel the world. He had lived in the USA when rock'n'roll began and returned to Brazil at the right time to be teamed up with The Scarletts and swing it all the way. Savoia had a penchant to Tin Pan Alley material the way Bobby Darin had shown in his best selling 1959 album 'That's all'. 

There were many other acts at the Young stable: The Jester Tigers led by guitar virtuoso Jose Provetti aka Gato who usually backed Antonio Claudio; The Rebels with Nenê, a 12 year-old drummer and Zezinho, a singer who could swing like hell; The Teenagers who started as the High Teenagers and came up with great harmonies; Lucy Perrier & The Cupids who gave future Jovem Guarda two excellent crooners: Marcos Roberto and Dori Angiolella aka Dori Edson; The Youngs, a vocal group from Rio Claro-SP; Carlos David, a good looking young man whose 'In my heart' is surely one of the best recordings in the Young catalog. Demetrius was a late-comer who was backed by The Devils. Demetrius ended up being the first Young act to break out into the mainstream in 1962, with a cover of Ray Peterson's 'Corinna, Corinna' he recorded in Portuguese for Continental Discos. 

Marathon recording session in March 1959

As studio-recording time is not so busy during the Holy Week, Vaccaro & Lebendiger booked Continental Discos studios facilities for the whole 1959 Easter weekend for the exclusive use of the Young musicians.  The studio was located at Largo da Misericordia, near Praça da Sé, the heart of the city of Sao Paulo. 

On 26 March 1959, Maundy Thursday (Quinta-feira Santa), at 9:00 AM arrived most of the musicians recruited by Waldemar Marchetti aka Corisco. They were mostly cello & violin players who would record the string sections on tracks to be played back later when Regiane, Nick Savoia, Hamilton Di Giorgio and The Beverlys recorded their voices over the final cut. The string arrangements were written by Elias Slon, the spalla violinist of São Paulo's Symphonic Orchestra who brought along his son Claudio Slon, a 16-year-old drummer who would later play with the likes of Walter Wanderley and Sergio Mendes in the USA. 

On 27 March 1959, Good Friday (Sexta-feira da Paixão) and 28 March 1959, Holy Saturday (Sabado de Aleluia) groups and singers would put their voices & instruments on tape under the direction of Ivany Soares, a very patient sound engineer who was attentive to every minor details. Ivany had 4 additional technicians under him. 

The marathon session would take more than 48 hours eliciting this comment from Regiane in her 2016 written report to Miss Zanetti's blog: 'Me and everyone else at Young recorded everything in one go that took 1,000 hours at Continental, where we had a lot of fun... I recorded 'I'm yours' with a string-section from Sao Paulo's Symphonic Orchestra, Edgard at the guitar and Bolão at the saxophone'. 

There were more than 30 artists gathered in one single recording space. Talented musicians who helped each other to achieve excellency either hand-clapping to the beat or adding his voice to background vocals, giving suggestions on how to improve a song etc. It was a magical long weekend that remains in the memories of those who were lucky to be there. 

Early Easter Sunday morning, 29 March 1959, myself and Gato, who was the last to add his voice on top of the play-back of 'Kissin' time', left the Continental studio at 8:30, walked a couple of blocks up to Praça João Mendes and had breakfast at Santa Theresa bakery. Then we said good-bye and went our separate ways. I went home straight to bed and woke up only on Monday at noon... more than 24 hours later.

Alf & Brenda Lee in 1959; Alf & Neil Sedaka on 17 November 1959.

DJ Miguel Vaccaro Netto presents 14 year-old Brenda Lee at his radio-show 'Disque Disco' on Sao Paulo's Radio Panamericana on a Monday, 14 September 1959; Brenda's manager Dub Allbritten answers questions on the microphone. 

Brenda Lee & manager Dub Allbritten at the microphone of Radio Panamericana on 14 September 1959. Photos taken by Alf Soares.

Brenda Lee at Miguel Vaccaro's 'Disque Disco' radio-show from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM.

Regiane presents Brenda Lee with a bouquet being looked at by Miguel Vaccaro's father in the background and manager Dub Allbritten on the right.

Alf presents Frankie Avalon a Young 45 rpm single when he sang at Teatro Record from 19 to 25 June 1961. 

you may read the whole story as told by Alfie Soares at Lucinha Zanetti's blog or in here at different posts; 

photos taken from Lucy Zanetti's blog: https://luciazanetti.wordpress.com/

EMI-Odeon released a single in late 1958, with Tony Campello singing 'Forgive me' on the A-side and his younger sister Celly Campello with 'Handsome boy' on the flip-side. Both songs were written by blind-accordion player Mario Gennari Filho with words in English by Celeste Novaes. That must have given Miguel Vaccaro the idea that rock'n'roll records in Brazil were only successful if they were recorded in English. 

In March 1959 EMI-Odeon release 'The secret' (sung in English) b/w 'Estupido cupido' (Stupid cupid) with Celly Campello singing the Neil Sedaka song in Portuguese; even though 'The secret' was the A-side Brazilian disc jockeys all around the country chose to play the flip-side 'Estupido cupido' which shot to Number One in the charts ending the year as the best selling record of 1959. That proved beyond any shade of doubt that Brazilians (like everyone else around the globe) liked to listen to songs they could understand the lyrics.