When he first broke through as a national star, Brazilian pop singer Luiz Caldas represented a new generation of Brazilian popular artists. Caldas had been born in 1963, during the first full flush of Brazilian ye-ye teenybopper rock'n'roll, grew up during the ascendancy of the genre-busting tropicalistas, and the era of the great classic MPB artists of the 'Seventies. When he emerged as a champion of the new wave-ish '80s pop scene, Brazilian pop had moved past a lot of the imitative tropes of the previous decades, and found a new national voice that infused "foreign" musical styles with new, homegrown voices. Here's a quick look at his work...
Luiz Caldas "Magia" (PolyGram, 1985) (LP)
Despite his outlandishly New Wave-y appearance on the cover art, and the obvious MTV-ish musical aspirations, this isn't actually nearly as bad or as wimpy as one might expect. In fact, if you take in to consideration the kind of stuff Caetano Veloso was doing just a year or two earlier, this batch of Bahian soft rock holds up rather well. Not great, but not awful.
Luiz Caldas "Flor Cigana" (Polydor, 1986)
Luiz Caldas "La Vem O Guarda" (Polydor, 1987)
Lightweight axe music from the wimpier end of the spectrum. His Michael Jackson-y appearance on the cover -- a Sgt. Pepper-y outfit complete with epaulets; a Geri-curled mullet -- make his mainstream aspirations all-too plain, and the tinkly arrangements inside don't do much to help. There are interesting elements to the overall mix, but really, it wouldn't be very hard to find much, much more interesting material from the axe scene to enjoy. This mix of early MTV soft-pop and Disneyesque Caribbean riffs is a little nauseating.
Luiz Caldas "Muito Obrigado" (Polydor, 1988)
Luiz Caldas "Timbres" (Polydor, 1989)
Luiz Caldas "Nos" (Polydor, 1991)
Luiz Caldas "Retrato" (Polydor, 1992)
Luiz Caldas "Luiz Caldas" (WR Discos/Universal, 1994)
Luiz Caldas "Forro De Cabo A Rabo" (EMI, 1998)
Luiz Caldas "...E Convidados: 15 Anos De Axe" (BMG, 1999)
A retrospective set, made of re-recorded versions of some of Caldas' old hits. Plenty of guest performers, too, including Banda Eva, E O Tchan, Margareth Menezes, Daniella Mercury, Timbalada and others...
Luiz Caldas "Ao Vivo En Salvador" (Universal, 2006)
A live album, with guest appearances by Carlinhos Brown, Ivete Sangalo, Raimundo Fagner, and others.
Luiz Caldas "Ao Vivo En Salvador" (Universal, 2006) (DVD)
Luiz Caldas "Minha Historia" (PolyGram, 1997)
Luiz Caldas "Serie Millennium" (PolyGram, 1998)
No real surprises here: lightweight pop which ranges from fluffy orchestral pop to disco-y lambada and perky ditties with toned-down Afro-Brazilian percussion. For what it's worth, this is a the good collection of his work, but it's not a keeper as far as I'm concerned.
