Titãs

Titãs
Titãs, classic formation (from left to right: Charles Gavin, Paulo Miklos, Tony Bellotto, Arnaldo Antunes, Marcelo Fromer, Branco Mello, Nando Reis and Sérgio Britto)
Background information
Origin	São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Genre(s)	Rock Punk Rock Pop Rock
Years active	1981 - present
Label(s)	WEA Abril Music BMG Sony/BMG
Associated acts	Os Camarões Kleiderman Trio Mamão Cabine C Banda Performática RPM Ira! Nando Reis e os Infernais
Website	http://www.titas.net/ http://www.endino.com/titas/
Members
Paulo Miklos Tony Bellotto Branco Mello Sérgio Britto Charles Gavin
Former members
André Jung Arnaldo Antunes Nando Reis Ciro Pessoa Marcelo Fromer (deceased)

Titãs are one of the most successful rock bands in Brazil, along with Legião Urbana, Os Paralamas do Sucesso and Barão Vermelho. The best-known line up is the one in the album Cabeça Dinossauro (1986): Nando Reis, Branco Mello, Marcelo Fromer, Arnaldo Antunes, Tony Bellotto, Paulo Miklos, Charles Gavin and Sérgio Britto. Out of these, only Mello, Bellotto, Miklos, Gavin and Britto remained in the band as of 2007.

History

Beginnings and first works

The majority of the members of the band met at Colégio Equipe in São Paulo at the end of the seventies and, after their first live performance at the school itself in 1981, the band began to play shows in several night clubs in the city. The first formation was: Arnaldo Antunes (vocals), Branco Mello (vocals), Marcello Fromer (guitar), Nando Reis (bass guitar), Paulo Miklos (sax and vocals), Sergio Britto (keyboards and vocals), Tony Bellotto (guitar), Ciro Pessoa (vocals) and André Jung (drums). It was a pop/new wave-styled band, with a rather conventional sound and odd looks, with tender and little ball neckties. In 1984, without Ciro Pessoa, who left over a disagreement about Andre Jung's drumming skills, the band signed with the WEA label to record their first album, Titãs, produced by Pena Schimdt. Although poorly promoted and hardly a success, the band spawned their first hit: "Sonífera Ilha"(Sleepy Island), later recorded by singer Moraes Moreira. In 1985, with Charles Gavin replacing André Jung on drums (the latter going on to Ira!), their second album, Televisão (Television), produced by Lulu Santos, was released with tighter arrangements than their debut album. Not only was the title track their greatest hit to date, the album was more heavily promoted than the first one and brought more opportunities to the group.

Up to the Spotlights

In November 1985, Tony Bellotto and Arnaldo Antunes were arrested for heroin traffic and transportation. The episode made so much of an impact in the band, the next album, Cabeça Dinossauro, released in June 1986, contained a lot of tracks criticizing the public institutions ("Estado Violência"(Violence State) and "Polícia"(Police)), as well as other "pillars" of the Brazilian society and indeed society in general ("Igreja" (Church) and "Família" (Family)). The heavy and punk-influenced rhythms and the forceful lyrics, characteristic of the band in this phase, are fully represented in this album which is considered by the critics one of the best works of the group and one of the landmarks of the Brazilian rock. Jesus Não Tem Dentes No País Dos Banguelas (Jesus doesn't have teeth in the country of the toothless), released at the end of 1987, continued in the same vein as the previous album in tracks like "Nome aos Bois"(Name to the Oxes, an expression meaning "Naming the guilty"),"Lugar Nenhum"(Nowhere) and "Desordem"(Disorder), however adding samplers in tracks like "Corações e Mentes"(Hearts and Minds), "Comida"(Food) and "Diversão"(Fun). After some international performances, the band recorded some of their hits in live Montreux Festival and released Go Back (ao vivo) in 1988. The producer Liminha (a former adjunct member of Os Mutantes) was always an important associate of the band since Cabeça Dinossauro, and this association arrived to its climax in Õ Blésq Blom (untraslatable), one of the most popular productions of the band by that time. Some of the prominence tracks: "Miséria" (Misery), "Flores" (Flowers),"O Pulso" (The Pulse) and "32 Dentes" (32 Teeth). One of the prominent features of this work was the special guest appearance of a couple of improvisors, called Mauro and Quitéria, discovered by the band in a beach in Recife.

The First Changes

The band had arrived to a decisive point in its history and the next album, Tudo Ao Mesmo Tempo Agora(Everything at the Same Time Now) mark a strong yaw at the musicians' style, searching for heavier, alternative and authorial sound. The members themselves produced the album and the work was possibly the final reason for Arnaldo Antunes to leave for a solo career. The following album, Titanomaquia (Titanomachy), in 1993, continued the previous work in a way, with heavy instrumentation and disgusting lyrics, only now produced by Jack Endino, producer of important bands like Nirvana, which contributioned for the grunge-influenced sound.

Titãs, as depicted in their MTV Unplugged album. Standing, from left to right: Marcello Fromer, Paulo Miklos, Branco Mello and Nando Reis. Sitting, from left to right: Sergio Britto, Charles Gavin and Tony Bellotto.

The MTV Unplugged Era

In 1995 the band decided to take a break for one year during which many of its members decided to work solo or work with other bands (most notably Nando Reis), or to do different activities. Tony Bellotto, for example, wrote his first book. By releasing Domingo (Sunday) at the end of 1995, the band definitively took up a pop sound, but its popularity only reached a second climax on the commemorative work, Titãs - Acústico MTV (MTV Unplugged), released in 1997, which sold 1,7 million copies, followed by Volume Dois (Vol.2), modelled in the same way of their unplugged album, only recorded in studio. The record of covers of others artists in As Dez Mais (Top 10) wasn't very sucssesful and the band decided to make another interval in 2000. In June 11th 2001 Marcelo Fromer was rammed by a motorcycle in São Paulo and died two days later. It was a hard stroke to the band, that had to start recording their new album the day after.A Melhor Banda de Todos os Tempos da Última Semana (The Best Band Ever of The Last Week) was released at the end of 2001 and brought "Epitáfio" (Epitaph) as the prominence (aside of the title track), song which could represent the moment lived by the band that, after losing Marcelo Fromer, saw the departure of Nando Reis, who currently leads a successful solo career with many singles prominent in Brazilian charts (including songs penned for other artists) fronting his own band Nando Reis e Os Infernais. With the release of Como Estão Vocês? (How Are You?), at the end of 2003, the five remaining members continued to write the history of more than 20 years of the band. Facing declining sales and the ageing of their fanbase, a lot of people think it's time for the band to call it quits before their erratic late-day releases erode what remained from their 1980s relevance. With self-help hits as "Enquanto Houver Sol" (As Long As There's Sun), questions on relevance remain on Titãs' side.

Titãs as of 2004 (from left to right: Sérgio Britto, Charles Gavin, Tony Bellotto, Paulo Miklos and Branco Mello)

In 2005, they released another MTV-branded album, only this time in a real live performance. This album generated a new hit for the group, called "Vossa Excelência" (Thy Excellency), that basically criticizes the hypocrisy and lack of care from politicians, thus bringing the band back to its roots. It was seen as another opportunistic stunt by Brazilian critics, as the song was released exactly when Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government was facing manifold accusations of corruption. And, in 2007, the band started a tour, entitled 25 Anos de Rock (25 Years of Rock), joining Os Paralamas do Sucesso to celebrate the 25th anniversary of both bands, as well as the 25th anniversary of the rising of 1980s Brazilian rock bands. The two line-ups play together most of the time on the shows, presenting also some invited musicians, like Arnaldo Antunes, Andreas Kisser and Dado Villa-Lobos.

Members

Current Members

• Paulo Miklos - Lead Vocals, Saxophone, Guitar, Bass, Mandolin, Banjo,Harmonica.
• Branco Mello - Lead Vocals, Bass.
• Sérgio Britto - Lead Vocals, Keyboards.
• Tony Bellotto - Guitar, Acoustic Guitar.
• Charles Gavin - Drums and Percussion.

Past Members

• Marcelo Fromer (1981-2001) - Guitar, Acoustic Guitar.
• Nando Reis (1981-2002) - Lead Vocals, Bass, Acoustic Guitar.
• Arnaldo Antunes (1981-1992) - Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar.
• André Jung (1981-1985) - Drums.
• Ciro Pessoa (1981-1984) - Lead Vocals.

Discography

Studio Albums

• Titãs (1984)
• Televisão (1985)
• Cabeça Dinossauro (1986)
• Jesus Não Tem Dentes No País Dos Banguelas (1987)
• Õ Blésq Blom (1989)
• Tudo Ao Mesmo Tempo Agora (1991)
• Titanomaquia (1993)
• Domingo (1995)
• A Melhor Banda de Todos os Tempos da Última Semana (2001)
• Como Estão Vocês? (2003)

Live Albums

• Titãs - MTV ao vivo (2005)
• Titãs & Paralamas Juntos Ao Vivo (2000)
• Titãs - Acústico MTV (1997)
• Go Back (ao vivo) (1988)

Compilations

• Titãs - 84 94 Um (1994)
• Titãs - 84 94 Dois (1994)
• Volume Dois (1998)
• As Dez Mais (1999)
• E-collection (2000)

Singles

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]

External links

• Official Website (in Portuguese)
• Official English Website (by Jack Endino)
• Rádio Terra - Listen to Titãs online.