Sergio Mendes (The Essential - Sergio Mendes)

Member Name: edie

Product:	The Essential - Sergio Mendes
Date:	13/02/01 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Classy stuff

Disadvantages: Not for Metallica fans

Sergio Mendes, a Brazillian composer and arranger, was once marketed as "a delicately mixed blend of pianistic jazz, subtle Latin nuances, John Lennon/Paul McCartney style, some Henry Mancini, here and there a touch of Burt Bacharach, cool minor chords, danceable upbeat, gentle laughter and a little sex" .Which sums him up perfectly and describes his band Brasillia 66’s records better than I ever could.

Listening to Sergio Mendes I think of wonderful things I’ve never done: living in a space age apartment with white furniture and lava lamps, driving on a twisty mountain road in an open topped car, sitting in an airport VIP lounge, drinking cocktails on the beach in Rio. These records often sound like the soundtrack to some amazing imaginary Sixties movie. In fact sections of Sergio, notably Mais Que Nada were used to great effect in the first Austin Powers film, (the parts where they are driving down the strip in Las Vegas).

Maybe thanks to Austin, Sergio Mendes, along with his near contemporaries Bert Bacharch and Herb Albert (who first released his records and who’s wife Lani Hall was one of Sergio’s singers), are often dismissed as kitsch which I find quite annoying. Partly because I think they have an undeserved reputation for being bland MOR, when they are certainly no more cheesy than Westlife. And songs like "The Look of Love and "Out of my Head" ("I think I’m going out of my head") are as realistic and unsentimental as pop music has got. But mainly because I hate the idea of liking something "ironically". Either you love these elegant re-workings of some of the best songs ever written or its not your thing (or bag, baby.)

There’s a great selection of Sergio Mendes to buy these days, now that all the original records have been translated copied onto CD from vinyl. The most comprehensive record is probably the self-explanatory Best of Sergio Mendes
and Brasilia 66. But I prefer the eponymous compilation on A+M Gold. It has all the classic, famous versions of the Beatles and Bacharch’s oevure as well as some of his less well-known Portuguese language stuff. All at bargain mid-price value, plus there’s a wonderful original picture of Sergio and his singers on the front cover. Groovy!

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