Wilson Simonal could sing & swing like few others in Brazil in the 1960s. He was a gifted performer who could control an audience like it were on the palm of his hand.
Simonal's pinacle was reached in 1969, with Jorge Ben's 'País tropical'. As Brazil was plunged deeper into a bloody dictatorship - that had started in a milder form in 1964 - many singers and song-writers fearing for their lives fled the country into exiles in Europe or elsewhere.
Censorship was ruthless and implacable with musicians like Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Geraldo Vandré having their work banned or badly disfigured by a bureaucracy that didn't understand much about popular art.
That's when the so-called Pilantragem, a new genre started to take root among some musicians. Pilantragem comes from the word 'pilantra' which means 'a good-natured petty-criminal'. A 'pilantra' would be a 'nice fellow' who doesn't really like to work and live by sponging on others. A 'pilantra' is also a male who lives off prostitutes - a sort of 'atenuated pimp'.
Wilson Simonal was strongly attracted by this new 'philosophy' and that was his undoing. Pilantragem was actually a shallow 'movement'. There was not really much to brag about especially when the country lived under such a brutal regime.
In other words, Simonal squandered his enormous talent into Pilantragem that went nowhere. After a few albums, people got tired of 'pilantragem' and Simonal lost his way. This here post is about Simonal 'before the fall'. He was pretty good until 1969. And that's what counts.
Milton Nascimento is a guest at 'Show em Si...monal' at TV Record in 1969.
8 May 1969 - 'O Estado de S.Paulo' - Simonal opens his revue 'De Cabral a Simonal' at Nidia Lícia's Teatro Bela Vista after a Rio de Janeiro stint that took him 4 months. 1969 was Simonal's best year ever.
Now, let's go back in time and read what 'Revista do Radia' published about Wilson Simonal at no.676, on 1st September 1962:
'He's got a headache-pill name but is really the King of Cha-Cha'.
'He's got a headache-pill name but is really the King of Cha-Cha'.
Wilson Simonal de Castro was born on 23 February 1938, in Rio de Janeiro. He went to boarding school at Colegio da Casa São Roque. When he was 14, Simonal worked as a delivery boy for Western Union. He would deliver telegrams around the city riding a bycicle until he was 19 and had to serve the Brazilian Army at Artilharia de Costa. He was a good soldier having taken the course to become a corporal.
He had always been interested in learning English and Spanish at school and at Western Union. As soon as he left the Army, he started hanging around DJ-MC Carlos Imperial who had a rock show at TV Tupi called 'Clube do Rock' in which Simonal sang tunes in English. He also sang at Jair de Taumaturgo live radio show 'Hoje é dia de rock' at TV Tupi theatre in Urca. Simonal followed Imperial when he moved to TV Continental becoming engaged in the organizing of the TV show.
Wilson formed a vocal group called The Dry Boys in which he was the lead-singer. They would also sing at top-rating 'Programa Cesar de Alencar' at Radio Nacional. The group disbanded but Simonal kept singing 'solo' at Radio Nacional.
Soon he was spotted by a talent-scout at Radio Nacional and recorded a 78 rpm single for Odeon-EMI, a cha-cha called 'Terezinha' b/w 'Biquini de borboletas' which had a fair amount of radio-play in Rio de Janeiro.
Wilson Simonal was signed by Radio Nacional on 15 June 1962, and Odeon-EMI released his 2nd 78 rpm: another cha-cha called 'Beija-me bem' b/w 'Eu te amo', a guarânia.
Carlos Imperial came up with a title 'King of cha-cha' but as Simonal was really too versatile to be identified with only one rhythm.
He had always been interested in learning English and Spanish at school and at Western Union. As soon as he left the Army, he started hanging around DJ-MC Carlos Imperial who had a rock show at TV Tupi called 'Clube do Rock' in which Simonal sang tunes in English. He also sang at Jair de Taumaturgo live radio show 'Hoje é dia de rock' at TV Tupi theatre in Urca. Simonal followed Imperial when he moved to TV Continental becoming engaged in the organizing of the TV show.
Wilson formed a vocal group called The Dry Boys in which he was the lead-singer. They would also sing at top-rating 'Programa Cesar de Alencar' at Radio Nacional. The group disbanded but Simonal kept singing 'solo' at Radio Nacional.
Soon he was spotted by a talent-scout at Radio Nacional and recorded a 78 rpm single for Odeon-EMI, a cha-cha called 'Terezinha' b/w 'Biquini de borboletas' which had a fair amount of radio-play in Rio de Janeiro.
Wilson Simonal was signed by Radio Nacional on 15 June 1962, and Odeon-EMI released his 2nd 78 rpm: another cha-cha called 'Beija-me bem' b/w 'Eu te amo', a guarânia.
Carlos Imperial came up with a title 'King of cha-cha' but as Simonal was really too versatile to be identified with only one rhythm.
Simonal and Nara Leão at Teatro Record in São Paulo, 1967.
At an interview for 'Melodias' #154, in 1970, Simonal realizes 'Pilantragem' wasn't going anywhere and it was not really funny. He tries to blame old mentor Carlos Imperial for the 'farce' he had helped create. Simonal ruled out 'pilantragem' but he wasn't sure what to do next. His talk is heavily laced with 'bas-fond' slang and his attitude is that of a man who's in for the kill. He rejoices in winning whatever he does. He talks about having sung at Midem, a recording industry gathering in France but being disappointed with the results for (he claimed) Portuguese is a difficult language for 'foreign audiences' to digest.
He wasn't really pleased with things. He said he'd just finished shooting 'País tropical' and he was sure it would be a hit (it wasn't). He also said he was proud of having worked with Dutch oil company Shell to promote Brazil's Football Team who would play FIFA's World Cup in Mexico (it ended up winning the Cup and boosting the Military Dictatorship for another 15 years).
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