Tremendão and Erasmo Carlos: between the individual and the celebrity

Abstract

The year of 1965 signals the beginning of Jovem Guarda, a media phenomenon which aimed at developing a youth culture regarding music consumption. With songs about luxurious cars and dating, Jovem Guarda turned young artists into celebrities; idols and models of recognition, identification and behaviour. By studying the emergence of Tremendão, alter ego of Erasmo Carlos, this text empirically analyzes the construction of celebrities; a process which is not limited to industrial production formulas, but rather reconstitutes and repackages unique life trajectories to create an effect of authenticity. Supported by empirical data — reports, songs, album covers, photographs —, but also interviews and biographies, this paper aims at problematizing the relationship between the individual and the structural spheres, as well as between the singular and the massive ones.

Keywords popular music; celebrity; trajectory; youth; Jovem Guarda