Customer Reviews

Hello, Hello Brazil: Popular Music in the Making of Modern Brazil

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For any who are interested in the effect Getlio Vargas's nationalism as projected via 1920s radio's promotion of the Samba had upon the national character, I find "Hello Hello Brazil" a fascinating book. I got into this field because the Bossa Nova seduced my musical tastes. I had to know more. Clearly Rui Castro's book on the subject, plus a book entitled "The Brazilian Sound" by Chris McGowan and Ricardo Pessanha told me much. "Hello, Hello Brazil" though scholarly oriented, fills in many of the blanks. I'm still reading it and I can barely put it down.

This is a fascinating book that begins a much needed investigation into how the politics of Getulio Vargas' "Estado Novo" were tied to the development of many of the trends that led to overt "Brasilidade" in popular music. McCann argues that these relationships were intricately connected and complicated as he balances the varying ideas of nationalism, commercialism, and creativity. McCann carefully traces concurrent histories of radio development, musical development, the influence of the US, the invention of choro as traditional music, fan culture, advertising, and regional styles in a rich and deeply nuanced tale. McCann gets most of his sources from radio archives, which clearly come from work he did for his dissertation. Fittingly, his discussion is framed by the rise and fall of radio as the primary medium for entertainment in Brazil.

As a music scholar, I was a little sad to see that McCann's discussions of music were limited to the lyrics of the songs he described. When he attempted to discuss rhythm (essential to any discussion of the samba or choro), he was reduced to using syllables like "tam tam-tam" which hardly do the music any justice. Understandably, McCann is not a trained music scholar, but in this period of interdisciplinarity, I was surprised by its complete absence. Additionally, the chapter on fan clubs and auditorium shows marked the only point in McCann's book where he lost his momentum and got bogged down by details. Otherwise, the book is a thorough and fun read.