Watch What Happens

[Harry]

From another thread in the Small Circle forum:

Strange--I think it was on Frank's Place that I heard "Watch What Happens" by Brasil '66. Certainly an odd choice, being just an album track!

"Watch What Happens" is one of those 'favored' album tracks, I suppose. It shows up on several greatest hits type compilations of Brasil '66 music.

Notably, it appears on the 1986 West German compilation THE VERY BEST OF SERGIO MENDES & BRASIL '66, an expanded version of the old GREATEST HITS album with a few added tracks. "Watch What Happens" is one of the added tracks.

An identical track list graces a 1999 U.K. compilation called THE ESSENTIAL SERGIO MENDES (though these were mastered a lot better than the old VERY BEST OF). Released as a budget title on the Spectrum label, you'd expect worse quality sound, but these are noticeably better.

Two more comps that "Watch What Happens" show up on are the 2000 issue called CLASSIC SERGIO MENDES, THE UNIVERSAL MASTERS COLLECTION as well as the ancient FOURSIDER issued on LP and CD.

"Watch..." also appeared on the GRANDES NOMES box set, no big surprise there - but what IS a surprise is that it's one of the few tracks that DIDN'T make the 48-track 2-disc extravaganza from the UK called THE VERY BEST OF SERGIO MENDES & BRASIL '66. (I know - same name as the German comp above!)

So the recording has received a sort of filtered-through-history hit status, particularly with the Adult Standards radio format. Before it flipped to oldies, our AM station used to play "Watch What Happens" in regular rotation.

Harry
NP: "Watch What Happens", Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66

 

[jimac51]

The fact that this version remains just under the bubble is a tribute to its popularity. The Michel Legrand song was originally a major theme for Jacques Demy's opera film,"The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" and,in its mid '60s popularity,was covered at near the numbers as "Fly Me To The Moon" and "More". An instant classic and Sergio's interpretation stands with the best. BTW,the film is a charmer-understand that all dialogue is sung in French-but a treat that gets better with repeated viewings. Mac

 

[JMK]

If you like "Umbrellas," make sure to catch the other Demy/Legrand film musical, "The Young Girls of Rochefort." Both are out on DVD (get the newer "Umbrellas" release, it's noticeably better, the framing on the first release was off).