Бразилиялық "Titãs" тобы және олардың тарихы

Brazilian rock band
the band's self titled debut album

Titãs (tʃiˈtɐ̃s) are a Brazilian rock band from São Paulo. Though they primarily play pop/alternative rock, their music has touched a number of other styles throughout their 40 year career, such as new wave, punk rock, grunge, MPB and electronic music. They are one of the most successful rock bands in Brazil, having sold more than 6.3 million albums as of 2005 and having been covered by several well known Brazilian artists and a couple of international singers. They were awarded a Latin Grammy in 2009 and have won the Imprensa Trophy for Best Band a record four times. Titãs started with a rather unusual line up of nine members (including six lead vocalists): Nando Reis (bass guitar, vocals), Branco Mello (vocals), Marcelo Fromer (Rhythm guitar), Arnaldo Antunes (vocals), Tony Bellotto (Lead guitar), Paulo Miklos (sax, mandolin, harmonica, vocals), André Jung (drums), Sérgio Britto (keyboards, vocals) and Ciro Pessoa (vocals). Pessoa quickly left the band even before their debut album, Titãs, was released. André Jung was the initial drummer, but just after Titãs he also quit and was replaced by Charles Gavin, establishing their classic line up. Since then, the band lost five members who were never officially replaced: in 1992, Antunes left to pursue a solo career. In 2001, Fromer died after being hit by a motorcycle in São Paulo. In the next year, Reis also left the group to focus on his solo albums. In 2010, Gavin left due to personal reasons. The most recent change was the departure of Miklos, who wanted to focus on personal projects. After Fromer's death and Reis' departure, the band performed with some session guitarists and bassists, but ended up having Mello and Britto as full time bassists (with Britto performing only when Mello sings) and Miklos as the rhythm guitarist. After Gavin left, the band has been working with Mario Fabre, a session drummer. For Miklos' position, they hired Rita Lee's son Beto Lee. The band has released their latest studio album in 2022, titled Olho Furta Cor.

Most of the band members (except for guitarist Tony Bellotto and drummer Charles Gavin) 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 perform live in several night clubs around the city. Their very first performance was at the Mário de Andrade Library on that occasion, Nando Reis played the drums. The first lineup was: Arnaldo Antunes (vocals), Branco Mello (vocals), Marcelo Fromer (rhythm guitar), Nando Reis (bass guitar), Paulo Miklos (sax and vocals), Sérgio Britto (keyboards and vocals), Tony Bellotto (lead 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. The band's name has its roots in their early sessions, at Bellotto's parent's home library, where there were books such as Titãs da Ciência, Titãs do Esporte, Titãs da Literatura (Science Titans, Sports Titans, Literature Titans), among others, and that inspired them to create the name Titãs do Iê Iê. Their first shows happened on 15 and 16 October 1982, at Sesc Pompeia. Soon after, the band signed with the WEA label to record their first album, Titãs, produced by Pena Schimdt, and featuring songs previously recorded with Pessoas's vocals. Although poorly promoted and hardly a success, the band spawned their first hit: "Sonífera Ilha", later recorded by singer Moraes Moreira. Following the release, Reis briefly left the band, willing to focus on another group he played at (salsa act Sossega Leão, in which he was a percussionist and crooner), but two weeks later he changed his mind and was accepted back. It is considered by the band as the climax of their first crisis, started with the first two albums low sales. 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 (1989), one of the most popular productions of the band by that time. Some of the prominence tracks: "Miséria", "Flores", "O Pulso" and "32 Dentes". 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 at a beach in Recife.

On 12 February 2010, Titãs announced in their official website that drummer Charles Gavin would leave the band for personal reasons. Gavin later stated that he was physically and mentally exhausted because of the tours and album releases. The quartet continued their performances of the Sacos Plásticos tour with drummer Mario Fabre, When asked about the status of Fabre in the band, Bellotto explained that "he is the official drummer! He's the drummer of Titãs! But he isn't one of Titãs, because our history began long ago, at Greek mythology "

During an interview, keyboardist Sérgio Britto said the band was planning to start recording a new album in 2011. Nothing else was said since then, until March 2013, when they revealed they were starting to work on a new album, to be released in the second half of 2013. The album would be self produced, and, according to Britto, it would be "a mixture between Cabeça Dinossauro and Õ Blésq Blom". The show would celebrate the 30 year career of the band, and would include guest performances of other friends of the band, and there were plans for a DVD release. According to Bellotto: They were planning to begin work on a new album in April or May 2014. In March, radio Globo FM announced that the album would be actually released in April and would feature 14 tracks. On 16 April, the band announced that the album was ready and would be really released in May, via Som Livre records. On 28 April, they announced the title, cover and release date for the album, which is called Nheengatu and was released on 12 May. In August 2015, they released Nheengatu ao Vivo, a live album and DVD with songs from their Nheengatu Tour. In February 2016, they opened a Rolling Stones Brazilian show for a second and third time, this time at the Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo, on two different dates.

On 11 July 2016, vocalist, guitarist and founding member Paulo Miklos announced he would leave the band to focus on his personal projects. He was then replaced by session member Beto Lee, son of Brazilian notorious rock singer Rita Lee. His first recording with the band is a version of "Pro Dia Nascer Feliz", originally by Barão Vermelho, for the soundtrack of the 24th season of Malhação, a Rede Globo series. With Lee's inclusion, the band recovered some old songs for its live setlists, including Titanomaquia's "Será Que É Disso Que Eu Necessito?" and "Nem Sempre se Pode Ser Deus". They also started to have Bellotto sing in some songs. and the band intended to enter the studio until mid 2017 so the album could be released in the year's second half. Drawing inspiration from albums such as The Who's Quadrophenia and Green Day's American Idiot, the over 30 track rock opera would have its story written by Hugo Possolo and Marcelo Rubens Paiva. By that time, none of them were expected to be featured in the band's new album. In December 2017, they announced that they had already started recording the album and that it would be released via Universal Music. On 31 January, they announced that the opera rock would be released in early 2018 and that its title would be Doze Flores Amarelas. In May 2018, after the Doze Flores Amarelas DVD had been recorded, Mello was diagnosed with a tumor in his larynx, which forced him to step down from the band activities for three months. Lee Marcucci, who worked for the band as a session musician from 2002 to 2009, stepped in to replace him.

From 2019 on, they did a series of acoustic shows in order to celebrate 20 years of Acústico MTV, which was not possible in 2017 since they were focusing on Doze Flores Amarelas. The tour was named "Trio Acústico" ("Acoustic Trio") and was conciliated with the Doze Flores Amarelas promotional tour and a third tour called "Enquanto Houver Sol", this one in an electric format and involving songs from many eras of the group. In 2020, the band announced it had recorded a studio version of the project and that it would be released as three EPs, under the collective title Titãs Trio Acústico. A re recording of "Sonífera Ilha" was released as a single and video on 20 March, when it was also announced that the EPs would be released starting in April via BMG, the label to which then returned by the end of 2019. On 5 May 2020, original founding member Ciro Pessoa died following complications from a cancer and COVID 19. In October 2020, the remaining members were featured in a cover of "Comida" (from Jesus não Tem Dentes no País dos Banguelas) released by singer Elza Soares. The version was originally planned for her 2019 album Planeta Fome, but she chose to save the song for later and decided to release it at the album's first anniversary and also to celebrate its nomination for the Latin Grammy Award. In January 2022, former member Nando Reis said he has rejected for now the possibility of taking part in the band's 40th anniversary tour, due to him having "one idea" and them "another". In 2023, Titãs started the tour "Encontro: Todos Ao Mesmo Tempo Agora" which reunites the former members Arnaldo Antunes, Charles Gavin, Nando Reis and Paulo Miklos. The tour is allusive to the band's 40th Anniversary.