🎵 AotW Sergio Mendes - CONFETTI (SP-4984)

[LPJim]

1 Olympia Lead Vocals – Joe Pizzulo Lyrics By – Cynthia Weil Music By – Barry Mann 5:25
2 Say It With Your Body Lead Vocals – Siedah GarrettLyrics By – Cynthia Weil, John BettisMusic By – Barry Mann 4:31
3 Let's Give A Little More This Time Guitar [Solo] – Dan Huff*Lead Vocals – Joe PizzuloLyrics By – Cynthia WeilMusic By – Barry Mann 3:42
4 The Sound Of One Song Directed By [Choir Vocal Coordinator] – Jon Paul JoyceLyrics By [English] – Cynthia WeilMusic By – Ivan Lins, Vitor Martins 3:23
5 Alibis Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Arranged By [Backing Vocals] – Joe PizzuloSaxophone [Solo] – Ernie WattsWritten-By – Tom Snow, Tony Macaulay 3:59
6 Dance Attack Lead Vocals – Phil Perry (2)Lyrics By – David BatteauMusic By – Don Freeman 3:55
7 Kisses Lead Vocals – Gracinha LeporaceLyrics By [English] – Alan & Marilyn BergmanMusic By – Ivan Lins, Vitor Martins 3:20
8 Real Life Electric Guitar [Solo] – Dann HuffLead Vocals – Joe PizzuloLyrics By – Barry AlfonsoMusic By, Lyrics By – Tom Snow 3:59
9 Morrer De Amor (To Die Of Love) Lead Vocals – Gracinha LeporaceLyrics By [Portuguese] – Luvercy FioriniMusic By – Oscar Castro-Neves 3:29

• Acoustic Guitar – Oscar Castro-Neves (tracks: 4, 7, 9)
• Arranged By – Don Freeman (tracks: 6), Gilson Peranzetta* (tracks: 4, 7), Ivan Lins (tracks: 7), John Barnes (tracks: 6), Robbie Buchanan (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 5,, Sergio Mendes* (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
• Arranged By [Backing Vocals], Backing Vocals – Gary Falcone (tracks: 5)
• Arranged By [Strings] – Oscar Castro-Neves (tracks: 9)
• Arranged By [Strings], Conductor [Strings] – Dave Grusin (tracks: 7)
• Art Direction – Roland Young (3)
• Backing Vocals – Carmen Twillie (tracks: 2, 3), Harold Clousing (tracks: 1), Joe Pizzulo (tracks: 1), Julia Waters (tracks: 2, 3), Maxine Waters (tracks: 2, 3), Phil Perry (2) (tracks: 1), Sergio Mendes* (tracks: 1), Tom Faragher* (tracks: 5)
• Bass – James Johnson* (tracks: 5,, Nathan East (tracks: 3, 4)
• Cello – David H. Speltz* (tracks: 7, 9), Harry L. Shlutz* (tracks: 7), Mary C. Lane* (tracks: 7, 9), Raphael Kramer (tracks: 7, 9)
• Choir – Beth Anderson* (tracks: 1), Brandon Roberts (tracks: 4), Carmen Twillie (tracks: 1), Deborah Davis (tracks: 1), Elizabeth Cathcart (tracks: 4), Gary Falcone (tracks: 1), James Ingram (tracks: 1), Jeffrey Osborne (tracks: 1), Jennifer Cathcart (tracks: 4), Jessica Harris (tracks: 4), Joe Pizzulo (tracks: 1), Joel Harris (tracks: 4), Julia Waters (tracks: 1), Kristin Bernhardi (tracks: 4), Kristina Birk (tracks: 4), Lani Hall (tracks: 1), Latisha Smith (tracks: 4), Maxine Waters (tracks: 1), Olympic Choir (tracks: 1), Phil Perry (2) (tracks: 1), Rebecca Clinger (tracks: 4), Richard Hamilton (4) (tracks: 4), Sandie Hall (tracks: 4), Teresa Dawson (tracks: 4)
• Conductor – Oscar Castro-Neves (tracks: 9)
• Design, Artwork By [Illustration] – Tracey Shiffman
• Drum Programming [Synthesizer] – Robbie Buchanan (tracks: 1), Terry Bozzio (tracks: 1)
• Drums – Carlos Vega (tracks: 4, 5,, John Robinson (2) (tracks: 1, 2, 3)
• Drums [Clap-trap] – Terry Bozzio (tracks: 6)
• Engineer [Assistant] – Benny Faccone
• Guitar – Dan Huff* (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4), Paul Jackson, Jr.* (tracks: 2, 3, 5)
• Keyboards – Don Freeman (tracks: 6), Gilson Peranzetta* (tracks: 4), John Barnes (tracks: 6), Michael Boddicker (tracks: 1, 2, 5), Robbie Buchanan (tracks: 1, 5,, Sergio Mendes* (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6)
• Keyboards [Fender Rhodes] – Gilson Peranzetta* (tracks: 7), Sergio Mendes* (tracks: 7)
• Liner Notes [Author] – Sergio Mendes*
• Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
• Percussion – Ron Powell (tracks: 2), Steve Forman (tracks: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7), Sergio Mendes* (tracks: 4, 7)
• Photography By – Otto Stupakoff
• Piano – Ivan Lins (tracks: 4), Ivan Lins (tracks: 7)
• Producer – Barry Mann (tracks: 1), Robbie Buchanan (tracks: 2, 3, 5,, Sergio Mendes* (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
• Producer [Associate], Liner Notes [Author], Recorded By, Mixed By – Bruce Swedien
• Programmed By [Synthesizer] – Don Dorsey (tracks: 1, 5), John Barnes (tracks: 6), Michael Boddicker (tracks: 1, 2, 5), Robbie Buchanan (tracks: 1, 3)
• Recorded By – Geoff Gillette
• Synthesizer – John Beasley (tracks: 4), Randy Waldman (tracks: 4), Robbie Buchanan (tracks:, Sergio Mendes* (tracks: 3, 4)
• Violin – Bill Hybel (tracks: 7, 9), Constance Meyer (tracks: 7, 9), David Montagu (tracks: 7, 9), George Kast (tracks: 7, 9), Gerald Vinci (tracks: 7, 9), Harold Wolf (tracks: 7, 9), Isabelle Daskoff (tracks: 7, 9), Mari Tsumura-Botnick* (tracks: 7, 9), Norma Leonard (tracks: 7, 9), Reg Hill* (tracks: 7, 9), Robert Sushel (tracks: 7, 9), Spiro Stamos (tracks: 7, 9)

Also available as CD 4984
Entered the Billboard Top 200 on May 19, 1984
Peaked at # 70 and charted for 22 weeks

JB

 

[Harry]

I remember seeing this album in the CD racks at the old Wall To Wall Sound store in the mall. It was the place that we'd gotten our first CD player and with CD prices up around $18 a piece, it was always a long, hard thinking process as to whether an album was really needed on this new format. I of course was scouring the racks for any of those great, old Brasil '66 albums on CD. Those would have been an instant buy. This one? Not so much.

I looked long and hard at the track list and didn't recognize a single song. It was great to see Lani Hall's name in the credits for "Olympia" with all of those other names, but still, it just wasn't a priority. It wasn't until around 1999 or 2000 that I located a Japanese copy of the CD to fill in my Sergio collection and was happy to do so. After hearing BRASIL '86 on LP and liking it, I was anticipating another great listening experience with CONFETTI, but it just never really clicked with me.

Sometime around 2002 or so, I happened to spot a copy of CONFETTI selling on eBay. It was a cassette, of all things, and was getting some really big bids. That had me quite confused for awhile, until I realized that it was a Canadian cassette with one extra track, "Olympia (instrumental)", included at the end of the album. I think that cassette sold for a ridiculous amount like $150. Later on, I found a Canadian copy of the LP for next to nothing, and it, too has the extra instrumental version of "Olympia" on it.

Harry

 

[jfiedler17]

This album tends to really turn off most Sergio/Brasil '66 fans 'cause it does admittedly have very little resemblance to Sergio's traditional sound, but I do like this one all the same. It's not quite as strong as its immediate successor - Sergio's self-titled '83 comeback disc that spawned "Never Gonna Let You Go" - but it's got its moments, namely two of the most addictively catchy songs Tom Snow ever wrote, the minor Top 40 hit "Alibis" and the wildly underrated "Real Life." (How that one could miss the Top 40, I will never figure out.) Definitely not the record I would recommend as a starting point for someone wanting to get an introduction to what Sergio's music is all about, of course, but I still listen to this one fairly frequently, especially for those Tom Snow songs. Actually, I'm gonna go listen to "Real Life" right now!

 

[Dave]

Time for a NEW Sergio Mendes album! Though, not this one... Other than 'A&M Corner AOTW-wise', really more than trying to follow-up Sergio's block-buster return to A&M w/ his previous one...

That is, without the sure-fire single "Never Gonna Let You Go" was, little else in the Mendes catalog during this time had much to offer...

The right sort of material if you dig the songwriting mills of Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Tony Macauley and Tom Snow... OK '80's music if you're a fan of the strings, synthesizers, and programmed drums... And passable singing if you like Siedah Garrett, Joe Pizzulo, Phil Perry and whatever remnants an original member like Gracinha Leoparace gets to sing...

But, otherwise, too great of a departure from Mendes traditional oeuvre, for his typical fans, while the contemporary pop music connoisseurs usually skip this sort of thing, in favor of what was the more familiar and recognizable names blazing the charts...


-- Dave

 

[Mike Blakesley]

the wildly underrated "Real Life." (How that one could miss the Top 40, I will never figure out.)

Boy, isn't that the truth! This CD is one of those rare disks that I bought just for one song, and that is the song. (Actually I like all of the last 3 tunes due to Gracinha appearing on the other two.) But "Real Life"...It's one of my favorite pop tunes. I also can't see why it wasn't a top 40 hit. Somebody in the promo department dropped the ball on that one...considering that is the exact type of song that was all over the radio at that time.

I also really like the album cover art. I think it's my favorite "later period" Sergio cover.

 

[toeknee4bz]

Well, I guess I'm just not the big fan of Sergio's work in it's entirety, because this album, and the self titled predecessor are the two albums which I DO like. BRASIL '86 was passable, but when it got to 1989, and I heard the ARARA album, I was done. Ironically, I'm a fan of Lani Hall's solo work, and of course, her work with Herb... but I never could get into the old Brasil '66 stuff. Elevator Muzak central, with syruppy strings, ultra-dated late '60s easy listening arrangements, and Sominex city mixed chorus for the most part. "Mas Que Nada" was ok, but the others... Nah, I'll pass.

Not so for CONFETTI. Like it's predecessor, SERGIO MENDES (or as it was titled in Latin markets, PICARDIA), this was a radical musical departure for Sergio, and it was a fresh, new direction in the 80s. But then again, I was a teenager in the 80s, so I guess that influenced my musical tastes. Awesome instrumentation, even better vocals, and a virtual who's who of studio musicians. Great songwriting, great production, and a variety of different musical styles. A 'potpourri'.

 

[Rudy]

After hearing BRASIL '86 on LP and liking it, I was anticipating another great listening experience with CONFETTI, but it just never really clicked with me.

That is the 80s for me also--Brasil '86 had a lot more of the "Brasil" in it than other albums, so I liked that one quite a bit due to listening to a lot of the related artists during that same time. But beyond that, his 80s sound just wasn't (and still isn't) my cup of tea. I can't say it's bad music at all, but we all have our different tastes in music and what works for me will not necessarily click with others, and vice versa.

I didn't listen to Confetti, but I did pick up scattered promotional 12" singles over the years when I'd see them, and whichever single I'd grabbed for this LP didn't really register with me. I can't even recall if I have this in my LPs or not--oftentimes I would see a used promo LP for a dollar or two and pick it up if I knew the artist. (Maybe that says something--if I own it and don't even remember it... )

If I had to pick a favorite, some of Sergio's early pre-A&M albums are among my favorites. And from the Brasil '66 days, everyone knows my dislike of the string arrangements that bludgeoned some otherwise perfectly good music. Yet I can understand, too, that one cannot keep remaking the first Brasil '66 album several times in a row and expect to hold everyone's interest. At least Sergio changed it up and remolded the group for Fool On The Hill. His version of "Casa Forte" is still one of my favorites. And, he had the freedom to make something like Primal Roots.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

The thing that bugged me about most of his 80s output was, he stripped most of the "Brasil" out of the mix. Of all the later-A&M albums I would have to say Brasil '86 is my favorite, and even on that album my favorite tracks are the Brazilian tunes, not the American-pop-styled ones. Sergio definitely has a way with a pop tune (such as "Real Life" on the subject album for this thread and "Never Gonna Let You Go"), but they don't give any hint that he's from Brazil, unlike many of his other records.

The Arara album has a lot of Brazil in it, but it suffers from a seriously dated sound with all the synths and computer-driven percussion on some tracks.

ultra-dated late '60s easy listening arrangements

I'd have to disagree here for the most part. To me, the B'66 material has a timeless quality to it and doesn't sound like "60s" to me, with the exception of a couple of early songs like "So Danco Samba" and "Tim Dom Dom." Most of my favorites are the ones where the band plays on its own without orchestral backing, although I do love some of the orchestrated songs from Fool On The Hill.

 

[Rudy]

That is a risk of trying to sound "current," as ten or twenty years down the road, it sounds dated. It's true with any artist, really. The strings that were in vogue in the 60s were expired milk by the 70s. The same for 70s pop/funk that many were doing, then synths in the 80s, etc. Yet some other albums by the same artists sound timeless, where they hold up many years later and you can't really pinpoint a style that screams of the decade it came from.

 

[TulitaPepsi]

Not one of my favorite Sergio albums - too heavy on the 1980s cheese and of course, not nearly enough Brasil. But I love "Alabis" (much prefer it to "Never Gonna Let You Go") both shimmering Gracinha cuts (I love the mournful violin on "Morrer de Amor") and sue me, I'm a sucker for the sappy "Sound of One Song".
But overall, the album sounds '80s at its most dated. Not a fan of the "Real Life" or "Let's Give A Little More This Time" at all - '80s pop ballads at their most generic. And "Say It With Your Body" and "Dance Attack" sound like something left on the FLASHDANCE cutting-room floor.

 

[toeknee4bz]

"Say It With Your Body" and "Dance Attack" sound like something left on the FLASHDANCE cutting-room floor.

Despite my affinity for the 80s, I have to agree on this point. If you didn't know any better, you'd never expect that these two songs are on a Sergio Mendes record. Same goes for "Nonstop" on the BRASIL '86 album (in fact, I don't think Sergio even played on that one, arranged or produced it... it's just kinda there, out of place).

 

[Bobberman]

Interestingly Enough my first mendes experience was not with his 80s albums ( although i have them and everything else almost) it was with Herb alpert presents" which i first heard in 1982 thanks to the local public library who had a vintage copy of the LP i really enjoy most of the confetti album with the exception of Dance attack and Say it with your body. IMO those two tracks just didnt belong there however the albums closer "Morier De Amor" was a wonderful way to end the album with Gracinha singing. For some unanswerable reason the song almost brings tears to my eyes.the melody somehow moves me inside. And i have to agree that Real Life "Should have been a Hit". But at least to some of us it was.

 

[Harry]

Is it possible that "Olympia" will get a second life with the Olympics being held in Rio De Janeiro this year? I doubt it, but it was a passing thought...

 

[Bobberman]

Is it possible that "Olympia" will get a second life with the Olympics being held in Rio De Janeiro this year? I doubt it, but it was a passing thought...

But oh it's a Good Thought nonetheless. And it would be A very appropriate gesture if they did use " Olympia" being that it was created by one of their own. And Sergio along with Jobim and others pratically helped make Brasil more famous for its musical contributions to the world.

 

[toeknee4bz]

But oh it's a Good Thought nonetheless. And it would be A very appropriate gesture if they did use " Olympia" being that it was created by one of their own. And Sergio along with Jobim and others pratically helped make Brasil more famous for its musical contributions to the world.

Agreed. We're about 32 years too late on that one. Unfortunately, these artists nowadays wouldn't know good music if it reached up and bit them in the rear. Geez, I sound like an old fogey. Wait a minute. I AM an old fogey, music-wise!

 

[Bobberman]

Agreed. We're about 32 years too late on that one. Unfortunately, these artists nowadays wouldn't know good music if it reached up and bit them in the rear. Geez, I sound like an old fogey. Wait a minute. I AM an old fogey, music-wise!

I would not feel so all alone toeknee4bz. I been called an Old Fogey too. And i agree i believe the reason some of these newer artists Have No Idea about Good Music may be because They Listened to so much of the Bad Music when they were growing up and that is why they are just regurgitating the same top 40 garbage they been pushing since the Late 90s. IMO