1963 - Review

1963 best-selling singles in Sao Paulo & Rio de Janeiro

1. Tudo de mim - Altemar Dutra (Odeon) 14

2. Afrikaan Beat - Bert Kaempfert (Polydor) 10 

3. Sonhar contigo - Adilson Ramos (RCA) 9

4. Volta por cima - Noite Ilustrada (Philips) 7

5. Boogie do bebê (Baby sitting boogie) - Tony Campello (Odeon) 6

6. Hava Nagila - Chubby Checker (Parkway-Fermata) 6

7. I can't stop loving you - Ray Charles (Polydor) 5

8. Doce amargura (Ti guarderò nel cuore) - Moacyr Franco (Copacabana) 5

9. Esta noite eu queria que o mundo acabasse - Silvinho (Philips) 5

10. Al di là - Emilio Perícoli (Warner Brothers) 4

11. Que será de ti? - Moacyr Franco (Copacabana) 3

12. El relicário - The Clevers (Continental) 3

13. Olhando para o céu (Ue o muite arukou) - Trio Esperança (Odeon) 3

14. Tem bobo p'ra tudo - Alcides Gerardi (CBS) 3

15. Amor ingrato - Silvinho (Philips) 3

16. Amorzinho querido (Mariquilla linda) - Idalina de Oliveira (Chantecler) 2

17. Il tangaccio - The Clevers (Continental) 2

18. Confissão (Confesión) - Clovis Candal (Copacabana) 2

19. Sabe Deus (Sabrá Diós) - Carlos Alberto (CBS) 2

20. Mulher governanta - Silvinho (Philips) 2

21. Amor sincero - Silvinho (Philips) 2

22. Legata a un granello di sabbia - Nico Fidenco (RCA) 1

23. Samba em prelúdio - Ana Lúcia & Geraldo Vandré (Audio-Fidelity) 1

24. Uirapurú - Nilo Amaro & seus Cantores de Ébano (Odeon) 1

25. Filme triste (Sad movies) - Trio Esperança (Odeon) 1

26. Apache - The Jet Blacks (Chantecler) 1

27. Maria Cristina - The Clevers (Continental) 1

28. Mas que nada - Jorge Ben (Philips) 1

29. Papa oom mow mow - The Rivingtons (RCA) 1

30. O amor mais puro - Francisco Petrônio (Continental) 1

31. Acorrentados (Encadenados) - Agnaldo Rayol (Copacabana) 1 

32. O prisioneiron (Birdman of Alcatraz) - Jorge Goulart (Copacabana) 1 

33. Na cadência do samba - Elizeth Cardoso (Copacabana) 1

34. Ave Maria dos namorados - Dalva de Oliveira (Odeon) 1

35. Abraça-me - Anísio Silva (Odeon) 1

36. Pó de mico - Emilinha Borba (Columbia) 1

37. Canção do fim (Make haste, my lovely) - Moacyr Franco (Copacabana)

38. E agora? (Et maintenat) - Wilson Miranda (Chantecler) / Alda Perdigão (Philips)

39. Et maintenat - Gilbert Becaud (Odeon)

40. Leva eu, sodade - Nilo Amaro & seus Cantores de Ébano (Odeon)

41. ...E você não dizia nada - Gilberto Alves (Copacabana)

42. Limbo rock - Chubby Checker (Parkway-Fermata)

43. Cuando calienta el sol - Antonio Prieto (RCA)

44. Coração de pedra - Menina de Lourdes (Contintental)

45. Gina - Johnny Mathis (CBS)

46. Return to sender - Elvis Presley (RCA)

47. Papai Walt Disney - Conjunto Farroupilha (Farroupilha)

48. Ramblin' Rose - Nat King Cole (Capitol)

49. Passo do elefantinho (Baby elephant's walk) - Trio Esperança (Odeon)

50. Não diga a ninguém (Eu já fiz a sua trouxa) - Leila Silva (Continental)

51. Tamanco no samba - Orlan Divo (Musidisc)

52. A hora do amor (Les filles de Cadix) - Gilda Lopes (Odeon)

53. O ultimo dos Mohicanos - Moreira da Silva (Odeon)

54. Pobre Elisa - Moacyr Franco (Copacabana)

55. Vento do mar (That happy feeling) - Idalina de Oliveira (Chantecler)

56. Bolinha de sabão - Sonia Delfino (Philips)

57. Blame it on the Bossa Nova - Eydie Gorme (CBS)

58. Pequena marcha para um grande amor - Juca Chaves (RGE)

59. Balada do amor divino - Moacyr Franco (Copacabana)

60. Garota de Ipanema - Pery Ribeiro (Odeon)

61. Ninguém chora por mim - Moacyr Franco (Copacabana)

62. Fujo de ti - Osny Silva (Continental)

63. Foi assim - Jamelão (Continental)

64. Bossa Nova baby - Elvis Presley (RCA)

65. Tutta la gente - Nico Fidenco (RCA)

66. Cuore (Heart) - Rita Pavone (RCA)

67. Chove chuva - Jorge Ben (Philips)

68. Maria Ninguém - Brigitte Bardot (Philips)

69. Por causa de você - Jorge Ben (Philips)

70. Sugar shack - Jimmy Gilmore (Dot-RGE)

71. I will follow him - Lana Bittencourt (CBS)

72. Babysitter boogie (Baby sitting boogie) - Ralf Bendix (Odeon) 

What a great year 1963 was. The best selling single of the year was sung by Altemar Dutra, a complete unknown until 'Tudo de mim' was played on the radio. Altemar would sell many millions more through the rest of the decade. The second best selling single, 'Afrikaan beat', an instrumental played by German band-leader Bert Kaempfert. Could there be anything more topsy-turvy than that? Maybe a single recorded by a Martian, pardon my joke. 

The 3rd best seller of 1963, 'Sonhar contigo', sung by Adilson Ramos, a 18 year-old new face who could belt his way into #1 at any time. At 4th place 'Volta por cima', a samba written by biologist Paulo Vanzolini took Noite Ilustrada, a 35 year-old singer from Minas Gerais whose real name was Mario de Souza Marques Filho.

Tony Campello placed 'Boogie do bebê' at 5th place, a cover of Buzz Clifford's 'Baby sitting boogie'. The irony is that Tony whose sister Celly Campello reigned supreme in Brazilian charts in 1959, 1960 and 1961, decided to get married and retire from show business in May 1962. Tony who until then could never get higher than the 7th position went straight to Number One when he covered 'Baby sitting boogie'. Isn't it ironic? Besides Tony's cover, German rocker Ralf Bendix also chartered with his German version of 'Baby sitting boogie' which he called 'Babbysitter boogie'. 

Discrepancies: Whenever you come across some discrepancies like 'Al di là' which started charting in São Paulo in May 1963, ran its course from 4 to 8 weeks and then, suddenly it crept up again in September...in Rio... it is because Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo had different timetables. Some songs charted first in São Paulo and then caught up in Rio later but the opposite was also true. As we use charts from both cities in a chronological order, you may end up thinking the lists don't make much sense... but they actually do. 

As we have mentioned before weekly magazine 'Revista do Radio' was really biased against foreign acts. The bias was applied not only to their articles but to their Weekly Hit Parade too. When the RR columnist responsible for the charts knew there was a new foreign hit going up the charts like Ray Charles's 'I can't stop loving you', he first tried to foist the Brazilian cover 'P'ra sempre te adorar' (translated by Hamilton di Giorgio) sung by Paulo Marquez instead of the original record (see the week of 19 January 1963). After a while when the facts were too obvious to be hidden under the carpet, then and only then, they would acknowledge the truth and get Ray Charles's 'I can't stop loving you' on the top of the list (see 26 January 1963).

'Revista do Radio' was created in 1949 by journalist Anselmo Domingos and soon became the most popular music business rag in the country. By 1959, though the magazine had become a little stilted. Times were quickly changing and the magazine editor didn't realize it. RR kept on promoting declining acts and scorning new faces, foreign acts and the emerging rock'n'roll crowd. This chauvinism showed up in its Hit Parade with rigging and endless repetition. 

Carnaval has been a most popular celebration in Brazil since colonial times for it coincides with the Southern Hemisphere summer. Since the 1930s record companies released 'carnaval hits' every year that sold like hot cakes from December through March. That trend though changed gradually and by the early 1960s carnaval had become much different. People didn't rely on new releases anymore; they kept on singing the same old hits from the 30s & 40s so recording for Carnaval became obsolete. Record buyers kept on buying their favourite artists' releases unrelated to Carnaval. Revista do Radio's editor did not realize the change in market attitudes and kept on insisting in the old formula. That's why we have this sad situation where they wasted 6 weeks posting Carnaval lists that nobody was interested in. 

The charts of weeks 16 February, 23 February, 2 March, 16 March, 22 March (there was no charts whatsoever) and 22nd March 1963 were exclusively of carnaval-hits but the radio stations played 'regular' hits like 'I can't stop loving you', 'Volta por cima' or 'Filme triste' (Sad movies make me cry). So beware when you study these charts and come across those 6 weeks.The last real carnaval-hit was Moacyr Franco's 'Me dá um dinheiro aí' that went #1 on 14 February 1960.

30 April 1963 - 'Correio da Manhã' shows a photo of France's latest teenage sensation: singer-song-writer Françoise Hardy. She would only be heard in Brazil in mid-1964.