«In Porto football is much more important than in Lisbon»
Musician and author, lyricist and composer, singer and producer. Tozé Brito, 70 years old, now administrator and director of the Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores, is also the son of a former FC Porto director, but a partner at Benfica for over half a century.
He switched clubs as a child, when he saw Eusébio lead the reds to win the second European Cup, and then became friends with several football players, when he too became a music star, and made the country dance, in the 1960s and 1970s, with the Pop Five and the 1111 Quartet – later on lived the Green Widows and the Gemini.
In the 1980s, he was the mentor of the «Doce» phenomenon and specialized in creating another prodigy with his friend Tavares-Teles and the genius of Herman José: the hilarious sports commentator «José Estebes».
In the more than 500 songs that he authored there are two or three dozen about football.
Football, therefore, has always been around, spying on the life of this Benfica player who vibrated in Luz and also in Antas.
In conversation with Maisfutebol, Tozé Brito confesses to being a critical supporter, for having memory of the time when going to a Benfica game «it was like watching a symphony» and recognizes a greater virtue to the club in the city where he was born. rival: «When FC Porto enters the field, the intensity that the players put into the game is twice as much as Benfica’s players. They play with the will and delivery of those who have the race, who are there suffering. »
MOREFOOTBALL: What is the first memory you have of a football game?
TOZÉ BRITO: I was born in Porto, in Cedofeita, but I went to live in Paranhos when I was very young. My first club was FC Porto. My father was a white and blue football player and even became the club’s financial director. I started going to soccer with him, to the old Estádio das Antas. I saw, for example, the victory in the 1956 championship at the age of five. I knew that FC Porto team by heart, I knew the players up close. My idol was Hernâni.
However, that happy memory was not enough to hold him as a FC Porto fan.
At that time, FC Porto earned little and suffered a lot. It wasn’t the great FC Porto champion of Europe. It had a completely different dimension. When games went bad, there was fierce clubbing there. The people tore up the cards and protested. I was a child and that distressed me a lot and my father was also upset.
Do you remember the day you became a Benfica fan?
Perfectly. When Benfica beat Barcelona in the first European Cup final, then I shook it up. But the following year [1962], when I saw Benfica be European champions again and beat Real Madrid 5-3, I said: “I’m from Eusébio!”
Was this decision well accepted?
Not a lot. With great pity for my father. To compensate, as my brothers were leaning towards FC Porto and he ended up resigning there: «There, this one left.» Later, in 1969, I came to live in Lisbon, because of the music, and I became a member of Benfica. I have been for 50 years. I have also been a partner at Académica for as many years as I have been at Benfica. Because of a girlfriend of mine who was from Coimbra. I was going to watch the games with her. At that time, I met many players: Toni, Artur Jorge, later Humberto Coelho. I would watch them play and later we would have dinner, have a drink, etc. Later I also met Carlos Manuel, Diamantino, Chalana and also players from Sporting and FC Porto.
Of the games you saw live in Luz, were there any that marked you in particular?
On the negative side, I remember a “beat” that we took from Liverpool, by 4-1, in which it rained in torrents: the water went in through the neck and out through the feet. It was a disgraceful night. But, for the rest, Benfica walked on the field and dominated the national scene.
Of the more than 500 songs he composed, there were two or three dozen about football. Of these, which ones most marked you?
I wrote, for example, the national team’s anthem for Euro 84. Some players, those who were less out of tune, sang in the studio with us. I also wrote songs for my club, such as “Benfica to the end” or “Venceremos”. Curiously, I wrote a song in 1985 for FC Porto with the lyrics of my great friend António Tavares-Teles, who was a “sick” FC Porto player.
This song sings «FC Porto the biggest in Portugal». Didn’t that refrain make an impression on you as a Benfica fan?
The lyrics are by António Tavares-Teles. I have this alibi. I wouldn’t write this. [risos]
The «José Estebes», character of Herman José, emerged from this partnership with António Tavares-Teles. How did this happen?
We wrote the texts, then Herman gave them a big tour. Not understanding football, Herman, as a brilliant comedian that he is, therefore the potential that football has. So, we created the puppet, he brought it to life and it was a huge success.
Do you agree with Herman that José Maria Pedroto’s visit to «Tal Canal», to be interviewed by «Estebes», supervised the guarantee of a character with some FC Porto supporters?
Herman said “I want to make a sports commentator” and we started writing the texts without knowing if a character would have an accent from Porto, Lisbon, Algarve or the Azores. When we saw the doll for the first time, we realized that it had been inspired by a famous artist from the north. When we realized that it could hurt some sensibilities, António, who was very close to José Maria Pedroto, invited him to go to the program and he did us this favor.
What was Pedroto like?
I lived with him a lot, although Tavares-Teles was much closer. He was a super-intelligent man, he lived for football, he knew a lot. He had been a great midfielder and had become a great coach. It was Pedroto who started to work as FC Porto is today. I was at Antas when this phase started, in one of the games that most impressed me in my life.
What game was that?
The classic, in 1978, in which FC Porto drew with Benfica (1-1) and ended up being champion 19 years later. I was in Antas with my friends, Porto fans, and with my brother Pedro, who is fierce. I was the only Benfica fan and in the middle I couldn’t even express myself… [risos] The game starts with an own goal by Simões (defence of FC Porto) and Benfica will hold that and will defend well… It was almost impossible to enter there. With a quarter of an hour to go, Humberto Coelho retrieves a ball in midfield, goes to the edge of the area and, when Fonseca leaves, he hits the crossbar. It was almost 2-0 for Benfica and the stadium was silent. There was total silence. Nobody believed it anymore. Then, five minutes from the end, Ademir shoots between a bunch of players and scores the equalizer. The stadium exploded with joy. As a Benfica player, I was relieved with that FC Porto goal. The guys jumping beside me and me jumping too. I was seeing so many people suffering that I only thought “that FC Porto will score a quick goal”. After that game, curiously, we went to Pedroto’s house, which was close to the stadium. From then on, FC Porto began to be another club, with a different dynamic and mystique. Sometimes it might seem like a stupid word, but it’s not. The mystique exists. While still young, I played federated handball at Académico do Porto and I know it’s the mystique of a spa.
He watched exciting matches at Luz and Antas, among other stadiums. Do you live differently from football in Porto and Lisbon, for example?
I would say that in Porto, despite everything, football is much more important than in Lisbon. FC Porto is not just a club: it symbolizes a city and a region. When FC Porto enters the field, the intensity that the players put into the game is double that of the Benfica players. Benfica players have quality and fight with FC Porto. One year wins one year, another wins another… But on the pitch, FC Porto plays with a will and with a delivery that is classic for a club that has race, for those who are suffering there. In Benfica players, as much as they sweat their shirt, I don’t notice the same. There is a mystique that even foreign players when they arrive in Porto quickly internalize. Here, in Lisbon, each one goes to their own side and then they get together in Seixal to train.
So, do you consider that there is a cause there that transcends merely the game?
Clearly. Liverpool have that, as did Manchester United, which for a long time was the one who did the opposite in relation to London. Chelsea or Manchester City, for example, don’t have it. I felt that in the two years I lived in England. In fact, my club was Chelsea. I lived very close to Stamford Bridge and chose the walking path to the stadium. Beyond football, FC Porto represents this cause of flag against centralism, which means that all power is concentrated in the capital. By the way, I felt that when I lived in Porto.
Can geography be decisive in the way you see football and life?
That maxim from the North is that you work, it’s not true. Work is done both in Lisbon and Porto. There is more entrepreneurial spirit in the North. By the way, why are there a series of industries – textile, footwear, etc… – concentrated in the North? Because people don’t wait for them to solve their life. Lisboners have a more relaxed outlook on life. In Porto there is a natural tension, a drive that makes everything more vibrant. And the city of Porto has become more cosmopolitan in recent years.
Returning to your vocation: do you find similarities between football and music?
Football is sport, music is art, but both are entertainment. I have many friends in football and there is an affinity between some of the musicians of my generation and former Benfica players, for example. We meet in the proper places, we chat…
However, in Portugal, why aren’t there so many songs about football?
In commercial terms, the experiments that were carried out were not very successful. People might think it’s funny, but then they don’t buy an album to listen to football songs. Better to hear about love! [risos]
Returning to «José Estebes»: one of the exceptions of timeless songs about football will be «Vamos lá Cambada».
“Vamos lá Cambada” is a very accurate shot by Carlos Paião, who was a genius at writing. It’s the songs related to football that the guys still sing, but did people go to a disco to buy this record?
Speaking of his Benfica: last year he was not happy with the team and he even said so publicly.
I am a critical supporter.
Are you more satisfied this year?
On the one hand, yes. Because after last year, Benfica could hardly do worse. It gives me more pleasure to see the team play this year, they play more beautiful football. Now, let’s see if this is to last. The time when I went to see Benfica and knew I was going to see a symphony is long gone. There were Benfica teams that never played badly, there were days from time to time when they lost, like all teams in the world. At that time, out of 10 games, nine were guaranteed to be good. Today there are six or seven good ones and three or four bad ones.
Does this memory sharpen your critical side?
I can’t help but be, because football moves millions. There are people who make huge sacrifices to see their clubs play, to pay quotas, to buy components for their children… For what you pay footballers, in my view they have to be as spectacular as I as a musician have to be on top of a stage. I can’t go on stage thinking “for this audience, cod is enough. I sing some songs and put my cachet in my pocket”. That’s what I don’t forgive: the lack of professional pride, especially those who earn millions. On stage or on the pitch, we have to give it all.
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«A café with …» Maisfutebol sits at the table with eminent figures of our society, names with no apparent connection to sport, except for passion. Music, literature, cinema or fashion entangled in the four lines of free and relaxed conversations.