The turn of the 60s to the 70s was marked by profound musical transformations. The consecration of psychedelism, sedimenting the bases of progressive rock and hard rock, the mixture of styles and influences, technological evolution associated with experimentalism, all these factors have been successively recalled during the last decades and pointed out as the main responsible for a period almost unanimously regarded as the most fertile pop music in the world: the 1970s. But in Brazil? Did everything happen the same way, and at the same pace? How was the trajectory of pioneering progressive rock bands in the national territory, such as O Terço, A Bubha or Módulo 1000? Trying to reassemble a little of this history, the Musical Box talked with some old members of the Module 1000, one of the few Brazilian bands of the style to achieve some special projection
The group's trajectory began in the mid-60's, not unlike that of so many others: boys from the south of Rio, college friends, with a lot of disposition and practically no money in their pockets. After several unsuccessful experiences, Daniel C. Romani (guitar) and Eduardo Leal (bass) set up the Code 20 set, already going through, at the end of 1968, the traditional dance circuit of the clubs of Rio de Janeiro. Friends of childhood, for years they played together, with various formations and names: The Who, Brazilian Monkes (sic), The Scorpions, etc. "Daniel said he was putting together a set with Armando (drums) and that he was in need of a base guitarist," says Eduardo. Self-taught, living the beatles of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, they would save up the last penny to get some instruments. They collected scrap iron, made guitars (or something vaguely similar, which ended up gaining that name, lacking another better one ...) to sell, and played for free, because, as Armando defended it, "playing was the great thing" . The results were coming in slowly, as Daniel says: "It was Armando on drums, I playing solo, German on base guitar, and Eduardo already playing bass. Although we were not much, we were not weak, we got to play in the best places around here in terms of dancing. The great thing about this time was you playing in Fluminense, Botafogo, in great domingueiras where they also played groups like The Wilds, for example, that they threw themselves on the floor, jumped on the tables, the trousers saint-tropez fell, it was madness .. . ". At that time of events, as the band progressed in small steps, a new member appeared on the scene, who would give a great professional turn in the young set, opening several doors and making possible everything that happened later.
Paulo Cezar Willcox was a jazz musician par excellence, and a great vibraphone player, but he seemed to have arrived a bit late to the Brazilian music scene. After the boom of instrumental bossa-nova from the mid-60s, this sound was already getting too saturated, and he decided to try his luck in the growing and promising rock'n'roll market. He joined Code 20 shortly before a TV Globo amateur band competition, which offered as a prize four performances in Paulo Silvino's program, as well as a whole new set of instruments and musical instruments, something that the band urgently needed. Integrated into the ensemble, "Zé Bola", as it was called, soon put itself in a prominent position, introducing great doses of professionalism and planning the performance of the group in the grand finale. To the horror of most guys (who did not wear a jacket or marriage), they would feature Herman's Hermits' "There's a Kind of Rush", followed by "Tequila," that classic Champs title sung in unison at the end of each sentence. In the final performance on Chacrinha's program, Willcox played the vibraphone fiercely, then left the stage and came back pushing two huge orchestral eardrums, attacking them in a furious duel with the drums. This caused great fury in the public and the jurors, and made the group finally take the first prize out of literally thousands of competing young bands.
Soon after Willcox's entry, drummer Candinho (Candido Souza Farias), already with some experience and also versed in the language of jazz, had also joined the band. "In fact, Willcox and Candinho at the time almost went together," recalls Daniel. "The Willcox came to me and said that with Armando it did not work, there was no way. I argued that I set up everything with him from the beginning, but he insisted on bringing the Candinho. Armando was very annoyed, but the Willcox had knowledge, was going to open some doors for us. In fact they did not come in just because we were cool ... Deep down they saw the band more as an opportunity to make a change. We were technically and theoretically weaker musicians in front of their level, so we had to grate a lot to be able to accompany them. " And that was the time when everyone began to leave amateurism behind and to effectively mature as musicians.
At the beginning of 1969, the set got a contract in the nightclub Catraka of São Paulo. After Bossa Nova (more specifically the Agora-4 group), keyboardist Luiz Paulo Simas joined the band on that occasion: "The group needed an organist to fulfill a long contract at a nightclub in São Paulo. They hired me because I had an Eletrocord organ, and I left the second year of architecture college in Fundão (N.R .: UFRJ) to go with them to São Paulo. It was a good salary, and a good excuse to drop out of college. " Thus, with Willcox on the vibraphone, Daniel on the guitar, Luiz Paulo Simas on the organ, Eduardo on bass and Candinho on drums, the first formation of the 1000 Module was born, a name inspired by the American and Soviet lunar modules, much in vogue at that time of space race .
In the season at Catraka, the 1000 Module played the repertoire of classics of the era, such as Beatles, Stones, Hair and Hendrix. Mirna, Daniel's sister, participated for a while, adding a female voice, more commercial and accessible, to Willcox's taste. However, his goals and the rest of the group were beginning to drift apart. "Catraka was a very large house, and we lived upstairs; only slept, rehearsed and played all day. It was there, in these essays, that we began our plot, "recalls Daniel. "Willcox realized that in those extra hours off work, the four of us would do a parallel jam session to write down some things, record others. He noted that we were always wanting to take a turn for that side, but there was no fight, we never argued. He even realized that that sound no longer housed his vibraphone or his annoyance ... We wanted to get out of that show-dance scheme, wanted to make a progressive rock band, it never left our heads. Before bidding farewell to the group, Willcox still lent a hand at Record's V Festival of MPB in November 1969. To take revenge on the hated tequila-imposed suits in the previous year, a typical "tropicalist" costume - fully carved - was hand-picked for Willcox's discomfort.
"Módulo 1000 was that band that said, 'I do not want to touch anyone else,'" says Daniel. The four musicians began 1970s willing to everything. Not that there were no exceptions - in a certain context, something like "Communication Breakdown" (for Led Zeppelin) or "Sweet Leaf" (of Black Sabbath), for example - but the goal now was to win on its own terms, definitely. Staying longer in São Paulo, where the circuit of shows offered more opportunities, the spaces were being patiently conquered. The four-hour dance shows were reduced to forty minutes. "We got a contract to play in Praia Grande, at the Siri Club. We played to dance at the club every night - seven times a week! - to a hall always crowded with young people who worshiped us. When the season came, we would only give them to the club, "recalled Eduardo and Luiz Paulo, about the club where they would still perform for another two years. Daniel also has fond memories of this period: "Module 1000 already had an acceptance; it was not a sound of a successful stop, but the staff came to see. People recorded, asked, knew the songs already by name, even sang together in Latin! Everywhere we went, there were car commissions accompanying us. "
The convictions could be strong as to musical direction, but the goal was also to record, after all. Through a contact with the pair of composers Sérgio Fayne and Vítor Martins (later partner of Ivan Lins), the group got a hearing at Odeon, which was opening space in its cast for alternative groups. Following the advice of the pair, the set presented a much more accessible material, with influences of MPB and lighter sounds, which gave result, pleasing the producers. Six tracks were released in full by Odeon. While acknowledging that the effort was legitimate to reach an exclusive LP by the label, Daniel does not have much affection for these tracks: "We did all these songs, which I did not like at the time and still do not like, did not reflect our sound. At that time we did not do any of that. But the guys (Odeon) found the previous tracks interesting, and then I could do something different, which I liked more, it was the sound I was about to make. I composed something in a vein over Led Zeppelin, in that swing. I asked Candinho, 'I want this John Bonham-type beat,' in which he would say, 'Fuck, I'm going to make mine.' We would fight a lot, I would say that it had to be more rock, he said that he was going to give a jazz drum, and then it would be totally different ... ". The composition in question was called "Rust and Soot," and was released in Odeon's excellent "Positions" compilation, along with the track "Curtíssima" (which was actually very short ...). Next to the Module 1000 dividing the LP, there was a team of respect, counting on the groups Som Imaginary, Tribo and Team Market. Of these, only Imaginary Sound would effectively release LPs (three) by the label.The Odeon period also allowed participation in the V International Song Festival in October 1970. They defended the song "Cafusa" (by Fayne and Martins) in the national phase, where O Terço also participated with his "Tribute to the Smile" ( ranked ninth). Eduardo recalls the importance of the event: "We got a contract with Odeon and from there we were classified for the final of the FIC, which was going to happen at Maracanãzinho. That was when we returned to Rio with another status, closer to the gods. It was on this lap that we actually started composing. " Rehearsing 8 hours a day, seven days a week, before the end of the year the Module 1000 already played all the tracks that would compose his future debut LP. Basically the material was Daniel and Luiz Paulo, with Eduardo and Candinho participating in the arrangements. Because of the Latin lyrics of "Turpe Est Sine Crine Caput," at a show in Juiz de Fora the DOPS federals took the stage, turned it off, and called on the musicians to explain the "terrible ciphered and subversive lyrics." In reality it was only "It's a fact, it's a fact, it's horrible a head with no hair ...".
Again based in Rio, the group worked with the businessman Marinaldo Guimarães, a typical character of the time, always concerned with making the public think. The show "Open for Works" may have represented the pinnacle of its aesthetic propositions. Mounted at the Arena Theater of Largo da Carioca, the public entered through narrow corridors and was separated from the stages by fences of barbed wire. Finally discovering how to get to their seats, they had to choose between looking down, where Module 1000 was, or up, where the Rosary was. Below was also a woman preparing popcorn on a stove and later, sitting in a toilet, Jorge Amiden's brother (d'O Rosário) wielding a static guitar for three hours at a time, only to rip him off at the end of everything. In the middle of the audience, several painters, among them Wander Borges, who would make the cover of the LP of the band. "Among the concerts we did in Rio," recalls Luiz Paulo, "I remember the Teatro da Praia, with the 'Lion of the Metro' projected on the curtains before they opened, mannequins scattered around the audience and I debuting with the first synthesizer in the Rio (maybe in Brazil?) - my Synthi A from the English EMS factory. Our manager was very close to happenings, avant-garde and the like, and he always gave us strength when things went that way. " The group also experimented with finding new sounds, creating the "mandum", their version of the talk-box (voice bag).
It was at that moment that Ademir Lemos's invitation to the recording of an LP by Top Tape appeared in 1971. The big problem was that the studio would only be available if the recording was done immediately, and the group was in a moment of transition between the material from the previous year and a new phase of the repertoire. However, the new material was not yet polished enough, whereas those songs of 1970 were already more than right. Not to let the opportunity escape, the solution was to record that repertoire that was already far behind, and was not even played live.
In Musidisc's modest studio the sound technicians did not welcome the experimentation of the set. The Leslie boxes of the organ, the echoes, the placement of the amplifier in the bathroom (where else could you get that sound? Even Deep Purple did these things ...), guitars etched backwards, it was all a pain in the ass for Valter, the chief technician. The studio was available to the group, and although the technicians, unaccustomed to the whole madness, found the results horrible and "dirty", the beer always ended up distracting their attention, and the album was thus finished. The expensive triple cover, with psychedelic illustrations by Wander Borges, seems to have been inspired by the Daniel track that gave the album its name: "Walls were the obstacles people had in order to express their political, sexual, . The walls always existed inside our own house ... I was not a political guy but at the time guys always filled your bag. " The Rolling Stone newspaper, in its national issue of issue 4 (January 21, 1972), featured a full-page ad: "Our sound is the sound of the world, to be drawn and tanned" - Module 1000, quartet and the cover of the disc, bringing only the name of the band, the disc and the producer Ademir.
The final result of these troubled sessions, the LP "Do not Talk With Walls", did not have, as would be imagined, a reception of the warmest. At that time, Zezinho, the director of the Rio de Janeiro Top Tape label, was already somewhat sorry to have given carte blanche to Ademir Lemos - also known in the dances as DJ Ademir - then on Top Tape (with the success of his "Heavy" discs). At the time when the gap was opened for the Ademir to produce some records, the disc jockey soon remembered the friends of Module 1000, who had already performed several dances with him. He indicated the band, took responsibility for their quality and produced the LP himself. When Zezinho finally heard the work, the LP was already pressed and ready to go to the stores. He knew that Brazilian rock no longer gave much money, even more ... That!
The four Musicians of the 1000 Module had been very lucky to have achieved in full 1971 - even if in a small record company - that all production for an LP. Even though Musidisc's studio was modest and the sound technicians unprepared for all that news, Ademir had given them complete freedom to record whatever they wanted. When they finally talked to the director, they already knew beforehand that he was very annoyed with the record. Arriving at his office, he went straight to the point: "This record sucks!" What he did not expect was Daniel's response: "So you're going to have to eat this whole shit, because you were a bad guy, did not show up on recordings to see which band you were playing with, so fuck you." This did not really help the group's situation at the label, but either way the album eventually went to the stores. After all, people knew that it would be virtually impossible for another record company to accept what they did, without any restriction.
Analyzing the musical context of the time under perspective, the director of Top Tape had his reasons there for not having liked the work. Commercially speaking, the album was a suicide. If not even the weekly exposure on TV Globo's "Som Livre Exportação" program guaranteed a lot of return to the Mutantes and O Terço, cutting-edge ensembles of the time, what to expect then from the hard psychedelia "pauleira" of Módulo 1000, influenced by Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, and also with letters in Latin ??? This sound practically did not exist in the country. The very little space that was given to rock was for foreign bands, and it was a sacrifice to take notice of shows and national rock releases, despite the goodwill of the Brazilian Rolling Stone (short lived in these arid soils). Since the 1960s, survival has been in playing foreign material in dances, or getting work with some successful artist such as A Bubha (Top Tape companions and direct competitors of the Module 1000, because their entrepreneurs did not get drunk a lot ..) .) would do later, playing with Erasmo Carlos.
The disagreement with the direction of the label did not, however, prevent the group from releasing another compact by Top Tape. In that decade, a great source of income from these stamps were the Brazilian artists, under pseudonyms and recording in English (the Mark Davies of life ...). Daniel remembers with difficulty the details: "Someone came and said that he had so many hours of studio, if we did not want to do something with a different name, like Love Machine. Our reaction was not euphoric, especially since the pay was not at all fantastic. Maybe we did it because Ademir was our friend, he arranged a record for us, and Zezinho might be happier if we recorded some cool songs in English. Side A, 'Cancer Stick', was almost a rap, me speaking in full voice over the malice of the cigarette, and Ademir coughing in the background. 'Waitin' For Tomorrow 'was composed the day before and quickly finished in the studio. "
Of the group's work still in 1972, Daniel continues: "In fact, the new material was completely different from LP, it was a concern not to repeat itself. It had 'Lages Cadaverinas', 'Seven Rooms' (one song, guess what, in progress 7/4!), 'Radish Liqueur', 'Barren Look', 'Naked'. We explored the broken bars more, making a greater dialogue of riffs that did not exist before. In addition to the guitar, there was already a synthesizer, and a Farfisa organ. Sonorously the concept changed, we changed the whole style - there was a lot of random and a lot of things marked, with a punch that was missing before. We even did the use of cavaquinho and mandolin in a very different context. " This new phase was also striking for Eduardo: "We were starting a show at the Teatro da Praia in Copacabana, when I broke my bass guitar string. I tried to mend, I tried to play without using the staff, I could not. Candinho told me: 'Man, I think you need a shock to see if you change.' He was absolutely right! From then on I started to compose just like a madman. This new phase of the Module 1000, which was not registered, was very important for me, because I was assured of my capacity and creativity. If I am not mistaken, Daniel or Luiz Paulo, one of the two made a comment, soon after a show, that the best music of the Module of this phase had been created by me! "Despite the lack of prospects for a second album, several shows and events still boosted the band. In 1972 they were invited by the Government to reopen the acoustic shell of Brasilia. With no less than 46 speakers connected to the PA, the rumble could be heard 3km away. The following year the group would participate in the third outdoor festival in Brazil, "Transa-Som-Folk-Rock-Pop in the Sertão", in the Jequitinhonha Valley, alongside DJ Ademir, Rui Maurity, Jorge Mello and Serguei. "An absolutely surrealistic event, in an absolutely surrealistic place too", in the words of Luiz Paulo, "All armed by the son of a farmer of the region. The locals had never seen hairy, never heard rock. It was a scare! "
In the mid-'73, the story of Module 1000 comes to its final chapter. "I think it was for lack of prospects and money. No one really fought, "says Luiz Paulo. That same year would be marked as the beginning of a kind of boom in Brazilian rock. Gradually, it became (relatively) easier to release and release a record. The recently launched Pop magazine was already in the position of the late Rolling Stone, and in Rio de Janeiro, the historic Eldopop FM radio was broadcasting, which would change various concepts and implement new musical patterns in the minds of many people. Despite all this, all those years of struggle had worn out the group quite a bit. In Daniel's words: "The expectation was to release a second album, but the mood was no longer the same. The last thing I remember from the band's last days was after a winter festival in Juiz de Fora. We came talking, me and Luiz Paulo, of the personal reasons that led us to some wear and tear. We set up a meeting, if I'm not mistaken in Alto da Boa Vista, and we agreed that the band should really end. Each one was going to follow his path ... Luiz Paulo, for example, was already getting in touch with Lulu Santos, of Veludo Elétrico, to set up another band ".
And that's what really came to pass. After the end of the Module 1000, Luiz Paulo and Candinho joined Fernando Gama (bass), formerly Veludo Elétrico, and formed the mythological Vímana. Shortly after Lulu Santos (guitar) completed the training that participated in the festivals Banana Progressiva and Hollywood Rock in 1975. When the group released in 1977 a piece by Som Livre, "Zebra", Candinho had already been replaced by Lobão and Ritchie Court had taken up the flute and vocals. This was the only work of the band published (in fact, a whole LP was actually recorded, never to be released). The Vímana would split up the following year, with its final months being dedicated to a partnership with keyboardist Patrick Moraz (N.E .: ex-Yes) that did not materialize, leaving only a few tracks recorded in the studio and abandoned. Some time later, Ritchie would still propose a partnership with Daniel, showing him his new job, much more direct and focused to the market. However, despite all the obvious commercial potential of those songs, "Poison Girl" was a little too far away from Daniel's goals ... Luiz Paulo, in turn, started to create tracks and jingles for movies and TV (interestingly, he is the creator of the famous "plim-plim" of Globo), also participating in tours and recordings of various artists. On a single occasion he met Daniel and Candinho again, in one of the six days of the show at the Carioca Planetarium. Other guests also participated in the event Sérgio Dias, Cláudio Nucci, Marçalzinho and Liminha. In 1989 he moved to New York, where, faithful to his musical roots, he dedicated himself to Brazilian rhythms, having already released some CDs. In 2007 he released the "Cafuné" CD in the USA and Brazil. Your current work can be checked on their website, http://www.luizsimas.com. Candinho, possibly inspired by Luiz Paulo, also migrated to the United States, and currently resides in Florida, working with crafts and still playing drums. Eduardo moved to Brasília and currently devotes part of his time to the activity of musician (now in keyboards) and composer, having two new age CDs already released, as well as own compositions recorded by local scene artists. At the moment it develops its new work, called "Opera Leiga do Cerrado". Daniel eventually turned to work as a studio musician, also devoting himself to giving guitar lessons and consulting on the instrument. For over ten years he has been working continuously on the "Four Walls" project, reflecting his development as a musician over the last three decades, as well as his interest in progressive and ethnic music. Finally, Paulo César Willcox, after leaving the group, worked as a studio musician and arranger during the rest of the seventies, very respected among his peers, having died of a heart attack at the end of that decade.Nowadays, to the surprise of the musicians themselves, who considered the album almost buried, "Não Fale Con Paredes" continues to arouse interest from collectors and fans from all over the world. Several web pages collect passionate appreciations about the band, always elevating the album to the category of "masterpiece" of Brazilian hard-prog-psych. Recent CD and LP reissues (not always official, but with reasonable quality of recording and presentation, faithfully reproducing all the graphic work and the triple cover, such as the vinyl edition and CD of the German "World in Sound" label) available on a larger scale. Original LP editions, however, remain avidly coveted around the world. Distributed in specialist retailers' catalogs and virtual auction sites, they easily reach the price of a few hundred dollars. All these factors together help keep the aura of Module 1000 still bright today, and although not responsible for creating any musical style, it was one of the honorable pioneers in the introduction of progressive rock in Brazilian lands. Ipso facto!......~
