"That's the point, the interest, the beauty of modern music...the sound of electric guitars hurting the ear – the audience needs it", VÃtor Gomes, 1964
Even if completely isolated in the Western part of Europe, "proudly alone" as they said, slowly and completely "ignored" by the media, the new music and youth culture was arriving to Portugal. Under the names of Twist, Yé-Yé, Shake, Surf, etc, terms associated with dance moves, Rock' n' Roll arrived to the Portuguese Sixties. The 50’s tried to introduce, with Joaquim Costa and others, music that was shallow, devoid of any meaning and "rebellious"; it became what Zeca do Rock intended from the very beginning of the 60s: a nationalization of rock, the least connected to the sounds of teddy-boys, deviants and immoral acts as possible. Songs like Nazaré Rock or Hino a Jesus were an example of what he was trying to achieve, and how ultimately he set a trend that portrays the early 60s. Being a strongly traditional and religious country, Portugal could accept this new kind of sounds, that were mostly Shadows-like versions of traditional Portuguese music and covers of Spanish, Italian and other hits. This way bands could please both young and older audiences and find a way to play live.
But all this was about to change and by mid-60's, via radio, with late night shows such as Em Órbita or 23ª Hora, private parties with imported records, and DJ sets at university cafeterias. Airplay was given to what was happening around the Western world, everything the teens wanted and needed to know and TV refused to show. All of a sudden it became impossible to avoid this new youth culture. What the cinema and magazines were bringing in, had now a soundtrack. From The Beatles to The Shadows which were allowed by the censorship, to the garage, psych and freak-beats arriving via the broadcasts of Radio Caroline, by English ships sailing along the Portuguese coast and caught by do-it-yourself antennas, and also brought by tourists who came to Portugal in search of cheap holidays – music was everywhere. But not strong enough to become an industry... Being a poor country, records had very small pressings and imports were extremely expensive. Out of curiosity, by 1966 statistics stated that there were 8.000 record players in the whole of Portugal, a country with almost 10 million people. But shows were getting more and more crowded, and festivals and contests in cinemas and theaters were being organized. All of a sudden every club was opening their doors for these new bands to play. Night-Clubs, Casinos, Societies, private parties, birthday parties and even in Angola bands were playing in stores.
It was in contests, especially those at the Monumental Theater, that bands were heard and could get noticed and maybe get some lines written in magazines. And if they were lucky they could get some airplay on RTP., the only existing TV. channel in Portugal at the time. The Sheiks did it. So did Fernando Conde, Conjunto Académico João Paulo, José Manuel Silva, Os Conchas, Os Tártaros and some others. Still very few when there were 200 or more bands in Portugal. Organized by the Movimento Nacional Feminino (National Feminine Movement) these "modern rhythms" contests and shows had the aim of not only supporting bands but also of raising money to send to soldiers abroad. Because sooner or later every band member would have the same destiny and, as described by a magazine, their new rhythm would be that of marching...
Military service was the harsh reality of every Portuguese male teenager and, music wise, it resulted in splitting almost every band. Still, some were lucky to join a military section Alerta Está! (Aware Be!) and rather than fighting they were made to play to soldiers in Portuguese colonies, like Conjunto Académico João Paulo or Os Ãlamos, and record songs for Christmas records to send abroad, like The Keepers. Many others also refused this alternative and had to emmigrate... If bands were dissolved, new ones were formed, such as Os Dragões. But the military service and the beginning of the war brought a new poltical conscience. All of a sudden there was a new reality that teens had to deal with: fighting and dying for their country. It was in face of this that lyrics started to have a meaning. Os Ekos wrote Habitat 736 (“I’m a despised human being where all is wrong"), Sérgio Borges’ O Salto, Conjunto Oliveira Muge’s A Mãe, Quarteto 1111 and many others started denouncing the situation. The records were apprehended. Censorship was heavy on anything that mentioned even if only the word "liberdade" (freedom). Heavy, but run by illiterate militaries, English and even French or Portuguese but more poetic lyrics could find a way of spreading through and subvert Portugal. The following years saw a rise of folk music, which became extremely popular by the end of the 60s and beginning of the 70s, with Zeca Afonso, José Mário Branco, Júlio Pereira or with a more progressive approach with Filarmónica Fraude or Petrus Castrus.
If the days were grey in sunny Portugal, it was in the night that some light shone through. Hidden away from the eyes of those asleep, youth found a bit more freedom and less control in places like bars and night-clubs. But while Lisbon was growing with new neighbourhoods, new spots emerged following the modern tradition of the cafes, with cinemas as an alternative. From "O Galeto" to "Pic-Nic" or "Vá-Vá", young people now had a place to meet, talk and discuss, in these snack-bars. Along with this came new imported life-styles and habits. If the arrival of the first wounded in war, brought with them the colour red, Pop-Art brought the rest of the colour palette. The drugs arriving at recreation facilities brought new forms and shapes while cinema had the mission of bringing a new reality, that wasnt so new, that has always been there...The state was falling apart, and so did Salazar fall off his chair...
...so here it is, another compilation of Sixties Portuguese rarities! We're still amazed with the amount of 7"s of one-release-only bands that keeps on popping out of nowhere. When we thought we had been through it all, listened to all the painful ballads, Portuguese versions of mediocre international hits or, even worst, Portuguese people singing Italian hits in Italian, all of a sudden Nuno Filipe's Os Gatos appears! making it necessary for someone to compile another LP with this and other Portuguese obscurities, completely unknown to the world and completely forgotten in Portugal. If ever listened...
If the three volumes of Portuguese Nuggets were successful in revealing part of this unknown musical side of the Sixties in Portugal, combining them with some of the forgotten hits of that time, there are quite some more songs that need –MUST – be heard! The wild screamed version of The House of the Rising Sun played by Conjunto José Nóvoa can not remain in silence, the rare Os Celtas 7" can not rest in the hands of a few collectors somewhere around the world, and the psych version Uma Velha foi à Feira played by the ex-Os Inflexos, then called Impacto, has to be heard by others besides the audience that night at the Hotel Girassol, in Lourenzo Marques. Moreover, Os Demónios Negros, out of Madeira Island, played more interesting songs than The Shadows-like version of Coimbra for which they became known, like Slow Down. And Os Tubarões, from north of Portugal with their fancy Paul Revere-like dress had this psych "Frog-man Poem", Poema do Homem-Rã which was hardly read or listened to at the time, and can now finally be heard! How about the collaboration of the international act The Satins with the early Portuguese rocker, Fernando Conde?... And Quinteto Académico+2, and their international line-up after most of the original members joined the army? And the forgotten Ababilah of Quarteto 1111? Os Psicodélicos with Gino Garrido, The Strollers, Os Ãlamos, and many others can’t remain unknown... and what was happening in Portugal at the time? Where did all this fall into and why did it not come out of obscurity?
