Japanese acts visit São Paulo in the 1960s

São Paulo, being the largest city outside Japan with a Japanese population was the aim of many Japanese acts in the 1950s & 1960s. Here are some of the few acts we spotted on the music media lately. 

Akira Mita visits São Paulo some time in the early 1960s, judging by his album cover which is a photo montage but great nonetheless. 

 

Matsuo Kazuko.

9 January 1965 - Japan's recording artist Matsuo Kazuko sings at Cine Niteroi, on Rua Galvão Bueno and later at midnight she performs at Club Ichiban, on Rua Alvaro Carvalho, 49, owned by Tetsuro Ono & Cia.

# 102, February 1966 - 'Melodias' was one of the few media outlets that recorded the visits of Japanese acts of Brazilian shores. This time is Akira Matsushima, born in Tokyo on 5 July 1944.

'Melodias' # 146, November 1969 - popular Japanese singer Iumi Kaoru visits Sao Paulo in 1969; she'd been Japan's entry at IV International Song Festival in Rio de Janeiro that year. 

Kyu Sakamoto was the greatest of Japanese acts outside Japan. This is his album 'Sukiyaki' released in Argentina. 

The Argentine liner notes fail to explain how 'Ue o Mui Te Aruko' (I look up as I walk) became 'Sukiyaki' but they translate it to Spanish:  'En rigor, 'Sukiyaki' es una melancólica canción:  

"Levanto la vista mientras camino / recordando los felices dias de primavera /  Peró esta noche me siento muy solo. Y levanto la vista al caminar, contando las estrellas con los ojos llenos de lágrimas. 

La dicha está más allá de las nubes / más allá de la comba del cielo. Yo levanto la vista mientras camino para que mis lagrimas no puedan caer / aunque mi corazón está lleno de tristeza, porque esta noche me siento muy solo. La tristeza se oculta detrás de las estrellas / nos acecha escondida en la sombra de la luna. Levanto la vista mientras camino, para que mis lágrimas no puedan caer / recordando esos felices dias del otoño / porque esta noche me siento muy solo."

Kyu Sakamoto presented 'Sayonara, Sayonara' at the 3rd International Pop Song Festival in Rio de Janeiro in 1968.  

Kyu Sakamoto and a young Chico Buarque in Rio, October 1968. 

Kyu in traditional Japanese garb took Rio de Janeiro's Maracanãzinho arena by storm with his rendition of 'Sayonara Sayonara'. The Festival jury nevertheless gave Paul Anka the prize of best male performer provoking a 10-minute booing from the crowd. 

weekly magazine 'O Cruzeiro', 19 October 1968.

William Fourneaud, multi-instrumentalist & night-club singer

Goulart de Andrade, William Fourneaud & the Manfred Fest Trio at TV Tupi, August 1963. 

3rd June 1950 - Diario da Noite - Instrumentalist William Fourneaud holds his accordion and is directed by French band-leader Georges Henry who was really popular at radio auditions beamed by Radio Tupi in Sao Paulo in the 40s & 50s. The newspaper clip says Fourneaud was Mr. Henry's 'trump card'... his discovery. 

2nd December 1956 - OESP nightlife columnist Ms Mary Wynne raves about William Fourneaud's performances at Boite Oasis. She says Fourneaud is better than a lot of 'cartazes internacionais' and it's great when he plays his accordion and imitates the voices of Mario Lanza, Ezio Pinza, Dorival Caymmi, Amalia Rodrigues or Angela Maria. 

 22 December 1957 - Rio de Janeiro daily 'Correio da Manhã' asks Paulistas what they expected for Christmas; William Fourneaud always tongue-in-cheek says he wishes Brazil would launch its own Sputnik...

1 9 5 9 - Maysa, Sylvio Caldas, Teddy Randazzo...

30 April 1959 - American rock'n'roll sensation Teddy Randazzo premieres on 1st of May 1959 at Jardim de Inverno Fasano where he stays for the whole week.

29 April 1959 - Mary Wynne says Maysa would start a stint at Boite Oasis tonight while Sylvio Caldas with American singer Wanda Curtis had premiered last night at Michel. Actually, Ms Curtis was barred from singing by the Musicians's Union due to a invalid work permit. Mary actually says: 'Assistindo aos ensaios durante o cocktail de ante-ontem (27 April), Sylvio Caldas com o violão cantando uma porção das músicas queridas e guardando as novidades para o show e Wanda Curtis expressivamente demonstrando seus 'hits' norte-americanos, me parece que o movimento do 'betting' durante a temporada deve ser bem grande'.

30 April 1959 - just having a look at Mary Wynne's column at Estadão one may gather what 1959 was like: singer-musician Nat King Cole having just visited São Paulo left the impression his was the biggest tour ever performed by any foreign (or national) act. This turned out to be not an 'impression' but real truth. Not even rock band Queen (in 1981) broke this record. Nat Cole was really KING. 

Another look at Ms Wynne's column and one sees that rua Barão de Itapetininga was where fashion sat... Mme. Rosita (Rosa de Libman, born on 10 May 1904 in Montevideo, Uruguay) had her atelier on rua Barão: Vocês notaram todo o movimento da rua Barão de Itapetininga, aquele elegante toldo cor-de-laranja (cor da moda), ante-ontem e ontem à tarde? Mme. Rosita apresentou a sua coleção dos ultra-novos modelos franceses e finíssimas peles a um seleto grupo de senhoras da sociedade. Espetacular sucesso.

French model at Mme. Rosita's on Rua Barão de Itapetininga in the 1950s.

5 May 1959 - Mary Wynne shows a photo taken at Maysa's parents' house with Wanda Curtis & Ginger Ryan, two American singers who were trying their luck at nightclubs in São Paulo. The lovely girls weren't very successful though for Ms Curtis who was supposed to have premiered at Michel's in the same bill as 'old timer' Sylvio Caldas, was barred from it by an injunction from Ordem dos Musicos, Brazilian's Musician Union. 

6 May 1959 - at Michel's the biggest 'come back' of 1959: Sylvio Caldas (born on 23 May 1908) who had been a major Brazilian star since 1931 competing with the other 2 popular singers Francisco Alves and Orlando Silva... was still as good as gold. Mary Wynne says Sylvio's recitals at Michel's were eagerly awaited by many with the house packed to the rafters. Everyone knew Sylvio could quit the whole thing at a drop of a hat... and that's what happened a few days after this note was printed at Estadão. Mr Caldas couldn't wait to celebrate his 51st birthday on the 23rd. He took off and probably went fishing which was his favourite sport; while this was going on at Michel, Maysa, who had been a 'disciple' of Sylvio's herself was doing well at Boite Oasis. 

13 May 1959 - As we have anticipated, Sylvio Caldas 'fell ill' and had to stop his stint at Michel's... Caldas worked less than a week... American Wanda Curtis could not get her 'working permit' so Jimmy Christie, Michel's owner had to make do with Maria Ribeiro a young hopeful who struck lucky... We don't know whatever happened to Ms Curtis... she's probably gone back to the States; Mary Wynne tells us she had a long phone conversation with Mr. Figueiredo Rocha who is Mary Gonçalves' father. The old man, who knows about show business told about his daughter's activities in Chile and Argentina where Mary sang at various theatres & night clubs. Mary Gonçalves who was not a novice when it came to living abroad - would probably extend her trip to Venezuela & Mexico. 

20 May 1959 - Mary Wynne's style of writing Portuguese was really quaint for she sprinkled English words everywhere. Look at this particular note about young singer Agnaldo Rayol: 'Atenção brotos! 'Calling all bobby-soxer'! Estreou ontem no Blue Room da Sears o simpático jovem cantor Agnaldo Rayol, cantanto especialmente para vocês em 'show' durante o 'five o'clock tea'. Naturalmente, seus pais também são 'welcome'; Mary Wynne says Freddy Feld spent the week-end in Rio de Janeiro and told her Cab Calloway (born on 25 December 1907) was still the same at 52 years old as he was at 32 when he was on top. Ms Wynne gets all nostalgic remembering her young years at college when she'd hear a lot of Mr Calloway's 'hey-de-ho'... The Cotton Club Revue has a cast of 30 dancers and singers presenting a complete vaudeville show. 

21 May 1959 - here's the Cotton Club Revue of 1959 which received rave-reviews from Mary Wynne and everyone else led by the great Cabell (Cab) Calloway - jazz singer & band-leader.

Cab Calloway in the 1930s.

Cab in his famous zoot-suit in the 1940s. 

21 May 1959 - Teatro Bela Vista had a more conservative repertoire: Eugene O'Neill's 'Before breakfast', translated by Madalena Nicol as 'Antes do café'; Luigi Pirandello's 'L'uomo dal fiore in bocca' translated by Adacto Filho as 'O homem da flor na boca' and Tennessee Willams' 'Hello from Bertha' translated by Guilherme de Almeida as 'Lembranças de Berta' with Nydica Licia, Sergio Cardoso, Wanda Kosmos, Rita Cléos, Suzy & Alceu. 

21 May 1959 - playwright Gianfrancesco Guarnieri's 'Gimba' in which Maria Della Costa plays a dark woman who lives in the slums directed by Flavio Rangel.

10 October 1959 - The day TV Record started its first rock show 'Programa da Juventude' (Youths's Hour) with rock sensational teenage singer Celly Campello as an anchor & Randal Juliano as an MC. It was beamed live - as there was no video-tape in 1959 - straight from Teatro Record on Rua da Consolação, 1992. 

10 October 1959 - at Black Jack Boite a rock'n'roll act straight from Japan called Takashi Ikeda who lived and worked in Brazil a couple of years. Ikeda played the guitar Elvis Presley style and sang 'Hound dog' and 'Tutti Frutti' as part of his war horse; at the Captain's Bar on Avenida Duque de Caxias, 525, one could hear Claudia Barroso's singing and Paulinho Nogueira's playing; at CHICOTE, pianist Robledo did his routine & Zezé Gonzaga sang beautifully.

10 October 1959 - columnist Mary Wynne tells all about pianist Robledo's premiere at Chicote... with Odilon singing for free... and even Caco Velho dueting 'Rag Mop' maybe to remember his time living in the USA.  

11 October 1959 - Ruth de Souza & Nidia Licia in 'Oração para uma negra' (A prayer for a Black woman) at Teatro Bela Vista.

28 November 1959 - US act Billy Eckstine appears at Teatro Record nightly from 1st to 6 December.

5 December 1959 - the opening act for Billy Eckstine was a millionaire revue 'Você falou, tá falado' (You've always got the last word) with top show girl Mara Rubia and Consuelo Leandro who could be a show girl and a comedienne to boot.

6 December 1959 - Mary-go-round's Carrossel shows a photo with a smiling Billy Eckstine and Michel's owner Jimmy Christie. Eckstein was accompanied by the Fred Feld Trio. 

6 December 1959 - see at Black Jack Boite a real Japanese young man called Takashi Ikeda who played guitar and sang many rock'n'roll tunes he copied from Elvis Presley like 'Hound dog' or Little Richard's 'Tutti Frutti'. I wish I knew how Ikeda arrived in Brazil and how he got himself a working permit to perform at Brazilian night clubs. Brazilian youths were usually too shy to try and sing in English at the end of the 1950s. The Japanese boy had no such qualms... 

1 9 6 2 - Jewish theatre T.A.I.B. - Saloon at rua Augusta

6 June 1962 - Revista do Radio n. 664 shows a full-page ad with Leonardo Vilar & Cleyde Yaconis in their programme on Channel 9, TV Excelsior on Thursdays at 8:30 PM.

'Melodias', says 'Zé do Burro (main character in 'O pagador de promessas') switched the scissors for the stage. He had been trained as a tailor when he was young but when a young man chose the stage as his real calling. 

18 November 1962 - Teatro Record & Otelo Zeloni present the 1956 Italian musical-comedy 'Boa noite, Betina' (Buona notte, Bettina) written by Sandro Giovannini, Pietro Garinei & Gorni Kramer which made Walter Chiari & Delia Scala famous. Brazilian show-girl Anilza Leoni plays Bettina and Otelo Zeloni the part played by Chiari in Italy. 

18 November 1962 - Jewish theatre TAIB - Teatro de Arte Israelita Brasileiro at Rua Três Rios, 252 was designed by Mange, Martins & Engels and opened for the public in 1953. Reflecting Brazilian-Jewish cultural decadence it closed its doors in the 1980s and have been abandoned since then. 

whatever remained of Teatro TAIB in 2016.

TAIB - Teatro de Arte Israelita Brasileiro - was opened in 1953.

TAIB functioned as a theatre up to the 1980s.

18 November 1962 - at Teatro Natal singer-actress Laura Suarez stars in 'Henrique Pongetti's 'Society em baby doll'. Laura was born on 23 November 1909, the same year Carmen Miranda was born in Portugal. Laura as Ms Miranda also worked in the USA for some time. In 1962 Ms Suarez was 53 years old but still played vigorous women on the stage. 

Laura Suarez was crowned Miss Ipanema 1929.

18 November 1962 - Mary Wynne mentions singer Martha Janette and pianist Fred Feld who's been playing at Djalma at Praça Roosevelt, owned by keyboard-player Djalma Ferreira.  

18 November 1962 - a brand-new night-club would open  on 30 November 1962; owned by impresario Paulo Cotrim - who already had Juão Sebastião Bar; Saloon at Rua Augusta, 2203, would soon be the talk of town as far as the 'younger set' was concerned. 

30 November 1962 - Mary Wynne dedicates her whole column at Estadão for the opening night of Saloon - the newest night club in Sao Paulo. 

30 November 1962 - Juão Sebastião Bar at rua Major Sertório, 772 would close on Friday night because everyone went to the opening of Saloon its 'baby-brother' basement night-club on rua Augusta, 2203. This sort of place was usually called 'inferninho' (little hell) by the 'younger set'. The ad says: 'um subsolo anti-atômico para sua guerra fria' (a fall-out shelter for your Cold War)...

2 December 1962 - at Teatro  Municipal Josehey Leão & Mozart Xavier - the 2 senior dancers show their skill with Yara Rossi & Maria Leite...all under the guidance of Maria Olenewa. 

11 December 1962 - inauguration of 'new' Teatro Santana on 13 December 1962; actually the real Teatro Santana, on rua 24 de Maio was demolished in 1958; it had been a major theatre since the turn of the century. This 'new' Teatro Santana was built on rua Amador Bueno, 209, a side-street from Avenida Ipiranga having Cine Marco Polo on the corner... this 'new' Santana was strictly 'teatro de rebolado' or 'burlesque'... only musical comedies with lots of show girls and off-colour jokes uttered by second-class comedians. The 'new' Santana was in the same line of business as Teatro Natal (red room & blue room) which was a 'resurrected' Odeon, on rua da Consolação, demolished even earlier than Santana. You see, there was a tendency to become cheaper with the passing of time. Every demolished theatre would be replaced by a cheaper version somewhere else - usually a seedier location.