Brazilian teen idol and record producer Tony Campello was the older brother of teen idol Celly Campello. He started his career singing rock and pop on a radio show with his sister, and later retired from performing to take up a career as a record producer, working with several of Odeon's more promising jovem guarda artists (such as Desi & Dino, Os Incriveis and Sergio Reis). Here's a quick look at his work as a recording artist.
Tony Campello "Tony Campello" (Odeon, 1959) (LP)
This was Tony Campello's first LP, made after he'd been playing professionally for several years. The set features covers of rock-adjacent American pop tunes from folks like Paul Anka, Neil Sedaka and Steve Lawrence, and versions of songs such as "As Time Goes By" and the Rick Nelson hit, "Poor Little Fool." Several tracks include musical credits for Mario Gennari Filho (1929-1989) a Sao Paulo bandleader whose career bridged the 1950s and '60s.
Tony Campello "Baby Rock" (Odeon, 1960) (LP)
Easygoing teenybopper rock -- early Brazilian ie-ie-ie jovem guarda pop -- with a few mildly vigorous tunes and several slower songs that seem closer in spirit to mainstream pop vocals. I guess you could characterize Campello as a Brazilian Pat Boone, though given the dearth of South American rock stars at the time, he's a little higher up the rock'n'roll foodchain than Boone was, back in the United States. This won't blow your mind, but it's better than a lot of the soft-pop JG stuff that would come later... Worth checking out.
Tony Campello "Tony Campello" (Odeon, 1961) (LP)
It's worth noting that Campello's emulation of American pop continued to pair teenybopper rock with older, squarer, material such as "Blue Moon," "Baby Face" and "Yes Sir, That's My Baby," although I imagine these oldies were still fairly new to Brazilian ears... and a good melody is a good melody. Also, the peppy rocker tunes from the likes of Dave Appell, Robin Luke and Bobby Rydell are kind of a hoot: Campello and Odeon seem to have had some kind of special deal with the folks at Cameo Records... Or maybe he was just really, really into Bobby Rydell.
Tony Campello "Nao Te Esquecas De Mim" (Odeon, 1963) (LP)
Tony Campello "Tony Italiano" (Odeon, 1964) (LP)
Tony Campello "Serie Bis" (EMI, 2000)
A pretty spiffy 2-CD collection... It's worth noting that while his sister continued on as a jovem guarda star, Tony Campello hung up his singer's hat early on, recording only the handful of albums above, while moving into a producer's role, helping craft the sounds of 'Sixties stars such as Sylvinha Araujo, Deny & Dino, Os Incriveis, and Sergio Reis. He also worked in the Brazilian TV industry and dabbled in film, though record producing became his main focus after '64.
