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The Untouchables/Os Intocáveis

The dictionary says an "Untouchable" is someone or an entity that cannot be attacked or criticised, because they are protected by powerful people or institutions. But the meaning is different here.

Paulo Fernando and Orlando Dias Agudo were responsible for the Untouchables (Os Intocáveis) show of Rádio Clube Português: "despite being done in a light, though serious, tone, it has raised a whole world of controversy", read the caption that announced the programme (Nova Antena, 14 February 1969). Soon afterwards, Orlando Dias Agudo would explain the reason for the programme, which started in 1967: “to point out any bad things that were happening in the Portuguese musical panorama” (Nova Antena, 14 March 1969). The target was only Portuguese music and, in particular, the lyrics of the songs. The programme was a great success, even though it was only broadcast ten minutes per week.

The major impact of the short programme was the sound of a record breaking. The authors had recorded the noise of a record breaking on the floor and accompanied their critique of untouchable by saying "catrapum, zás, catrapaz", thus lending more realism. In terms of the ease of making a record - as the journalist wrote: "nowadays, any old person can make a record" - the authors of the article proposed quality. Of course, the initiative annoyed the authors but, at the same time, there would have been publishers who asked them to play the records they had published. The catchphrases of the programme were "talk about me, if only to say good things" and "this record is untouchable but fortunately not unbreakable, so let's break it". They are two phrases as creative as radio itself.

Rogério Santos, 2020

Original text with images, at https://radio.hypotheses.org/2887.


Author: Rogério Santos, 2020

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