Brazilian show business 50s, 60s & 70s: HUGO SANTANA, singer, actor & day-time TV personality

If you lived in São Paulo in the early to mid-1960s you could not have missed watching 'Show do Meio Dia', a variety daily programme on Channel 9, TV Excelsior compered by singer & MC Hugo Santana. He soon became King of Day Time TV.

Hugo Santana was born on 5 December 1936, in Palmeira dos Indios in the Northeastern state of Alagoas. His father died in 1939, when Hugo was only 3 years old - so his mother took him and moved to João Pessoa, further up north in the state of Paraíba.

At 13, when he was at the 6th grade (2a serie ginasial) he was expelled from school due to his association with school bullies. From bad to worse he spent some time at a children's reformatory where he found out to his surprise he enjoyed singing. After leaving the correctional facility Hugo worked for an uncle in Recife-PE.

In 1952, when Hugo was 16 years old he up and left João Pessoa to try his luck in Rio de Janeiro. Hugo tells us he took a 'pau-de-arara' - a bed-truck with wooden seats and a canvas covering - all the way to the Nation's capital. Those trips usually took 15 to 20 days.

Hugo stayed at another uncle's house in Rio and worked as a clerk, dry-cleaner's hand, bread-delivering boy, car-wash hand, ticket-taker at a local cinema etc. He made friends with a fellow who played the guitar and kindly accompanied him sometimes. He started doing the round of radio stations to sing at amateur and gong-shows. At first he was gonged at Radio Vera Cruz but fared much better at 'Ai vem o pato' having been the runner-up.

While singing on radio he met actor Sadi Cabral who gave him a supporting role in a play he had written at Teatro João Caetano. The company toured Sao Paulo and Hugo stayed behind. Not having many choices he became a regular crooner at a Portuguese restaurant for a while, then moved on to the night-club circuit where he met lots of musicians.

Agnaldo Rayol introduced Hugo to TV director Cassiano Gabus Mendes who was impressed with his way of singing and signed him to a 2 year-contract at TV Tupi. Geraldo Vietri, another TV director included Santana in a TV play called 'Os gatos pingados' in March 1960, alongside Lolita Rodrigues, Pery Ribeiro, Dorinha Duval and Geraldo Cunha.

Izio Gross from Mocambo Records signed Hugo and released his first 78 rpm: 'Na rocha da siribeira' backed with 'Seu sorriso' written by Lupercy Fiorini & Oscar Castro Neves.

Hugo recorded for Chantecler; a whole album for Continental Records and ended up at Odeon in 1965, with the theme-song from 'Deusa Vencida' the most popular novela of the year.

Now, there is a gap in Hugo's career from 1966 through the end of the 1960s, but I know Santana left Brazil sometime after 1967 and made himself a brand new career as a TV presenter in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Brazilian press didn't bother to follow his foreign career but as I lived in the USA in 1971 and 1972, I became aware from Puerto Rican fellow-workers that Hugo Santana had become really popular in that country.

We don't know much more about Santana's destiny after his Puerto Rico phase. I was told Hugo has died but no one knows where or when.

1. Chegou a minha vez de amar (What kind of fool am I?) Bricusse-Mewley; adpt.: Hugo S.
2. Aconteceu de-repente (Ana Clara Borges)
3. Canção da menina triste ( Edmundo Villani Cortes)
4. Berimbau - Baden Powell-Vinicius de Moraes)
5. Só o amor ficou (Edmundo Villani Cortes)
6. O amor chegou (Hugo Santana)

1. Papagaio azul (Edmundo Villani Cortes)
2. Amanhã chegou (Manquito-André Perez)
3. Caminho do amor (Luiz Vieira-José Di)
4. Sem defeito (Roberto Siom)
5. Enfim você voltou (Mario Albanese)
6. Samba sem porque (Geraldo Cunha)