Biography
Behind the emergence of youth-oriented music and the Jovem Guarda trend during the late 1950s and 1960s, Carlos Imperial played a pivotal role as a producer by introducing talents including Roberto Carlos, Erasmo Carlos, Ed Wilson, Sérgio Murilo, and Dudu França through his popular television and radio programs. In his work as a songwriter he supplied material that reached the catalogs of the Demônios da Garoa with “A Outra Praça,” as well as Roberto Carlos, Erasmo Carlos, Silvinha, Wilson Simonal, Ronnie Von, Eduardo Araújo, and additional performers.
His earliest known composition, “Menina,” dates from the early 1950s; around the same period he made his acting debut on TV Tupi. Soon afterward he joined producer Jaci Campos as an assistant and began inserting rock segments into the Meio-Dia television program. By 1958 Imperial had become one of the most visible songwriters championing the new wave of Brazilian youth music and helped foster an expanding audience for rock in São Paulo. While directing and hosting Clube do Rock on TV Continental, he encountered Roberto Carlos—already known to him from their shared hometown—and arranged the newcomer’s first recordings, the Imperial pieces “João e Maria” and “Fora do Tom.” Roberto Carlos later cut two additional Imperial songs, “Brotinho Sem Juízo” and “Canção do Amor Nenhum,” both styled in the bossa nova idiom that reflected an unsuccessful attempt to emulate João Gilberto.
At the time Imperial was also active in film, appearing in Atlântida productions such as Agüenta O Rojão and in Herbert Richers’ Mulheres, Cheguei alongside Roberto Carlos, while simultaneously presiding over Festa de Brotos on TV Tupi and Os Brotos Comandam on TV Continental and Rádio Guanabara—platforms that showcased emerging Jovem Guarda figures including the Fellows. With the movement’s growing popularity he contributed further hits, among them “Goiabão” and “Vem Quente Que Eu Estou Fervendo,” both co-written with Eduardo Araújo and recorded respectively by Eduardo Araújo and Erasmo Carlos; “Vou Botar Pra Quebrar,” which Silvinha took to success and which prompted a subsequent television special on TV Excelsior; “Mamãe Passou Açúcar Em Mim,” recorded by Wilson Simonal; and “A Praça,” interpreted by both Ronnie Von and Wilson Simonal. The latter track held the top chart position for a month and moved 22,000 copies within its first fortnight, an exceptional figure at the time.
After Jovem Guarda concluded in 1968, Imperial became a central participant in the Pilantragem circle initiated by Wilson Simonal that also included Nonato Buzar, Regininha, and lyricist Ronaldo Bôscoli; one of his compositions from this phase, “Tropicalhorda,” was banned by censors. Late in the decade he collaborated on three sambas with Ataulfo Alves, the most widely received being “Você Passa E Eu Acho Graça.” During the 1970s he turned again to cinema and continued hosting television programs that introduced new artists such as Dudu França. In the following decade he entered politics and captured the largest vote total for Rio de Janeiro city councilor in 1984.
His earliest known composition, “Menina,” dates from the early 1950s; around the same period he made his acting debut on TV Tupi. Soon afterward he joined producer Jaci Campos as an assistant and began inserting rock segments into the Meio-Dia television program. By 1958 Imperial had become one of the most visible songwriters championing the new wave of Brazilian youth music and helped foster an expanding audience for rock in São Paulo. While directing and hosting Clube do Rock on TV Continental, he encountered Roberto Carlos—already known to him from their shared hometown—and arranged the newcomer’s first recordings, the Imperial pieces “João e Maria” and “Fora do Tom.” Roberto Carlos later cut two additional Imperial songs, “Brotinho Sem Juízo” and “Canção do Amor Nenhum,” both styled in the bossa nova idiom that reflected an unsuccessful attempt to emulate João Gilberto.
At the time Imperial was also active in film, appearing in Atlântida productions such as Agüenta O Rojão and in Herbert Richers’ Mulheres, Cheguei alongside Roberto Carlos, while simultaneously presiding over Festa de Brotos on TV Tupi and Os Brotos Comandam on TV Continental and Rádio Guanabara—platforms that showcased emerging Jovem Guarda figures including the Fellows. With the movement’s growing popularity he contributed further hits, among them “Goiabão” and “Vem Quente Que Eu Estou Fervendo,” both co-written with Eduardo Araújo and recorded respectively by Eduardo Araújo and Erasmo Carlos; “Vou Botar Pra Quebrar,” which Silvinha took to success and which prompted a subsequent television special on TV Excelsior; “Mamãe Passou Açúcar Em Mim,” recorded by Wilson Simonal; and “A Praça,” interpreted by both Ronnie Von and Wilson Simonal. The latter track held the top chart position for a month and moved 22,000 copies within its first fortnight, an exceptional figure at the time.
After Jovem Guarda concluded in 1968, Imperial became a central participant in the Pilantragem circle initiated by Wilson Simonal that also included Nonato Buzar, Regininha, and lyricist Ronaldo Bôscoli; one of his compositions from this phase, “Tropicalhorda,” was banned by censors. Late in the decade he collaborated on three sambas with Ataulfo Alves, the most widely received being “Você Passa E Eu Acho Graça.” During the 1970s he turned again to cinema and continued hosting television programs that introduced new artists such as Dudu França. In the following decade he entered politics and captured the largest vote total for Rio de Janeiro city councilor in 1984.
Albums