RADIO EXCELSIOR 1963 - 1965

Radio Excelsior, ZYR-56, Rua 24 de Maio, 208, 2o. andar; Radio Nacional de S. Paulo, Rua Sebastião Pereira, 218 - Organização Victor Costa. 

Circa 1963, when TV Excelsior became the Number One TV station in São Paulo, they started investing heavily on their radio station that existed since the early 1930s and had changed hands a few times. Just like the TV station, Radio Excelsior poached the other major stations and signed the biggest names around. DJ Walter Silva was lured away from Radio Bandeirantes where he had been king of  the 10:00 AM slot with his popular 'Pick up do Pica Pau' (Woodpecker's pick up). Even though Pica Pau had been Walter Silva's nickname due to his big nose, Radio Bandeirantes had patented the programme's title. Walter, then, changed from 'Pick up do Pica Pau' to 'Programa do Pica Pau'.

Henrique Lobo had been a big name in São Paulo radio since the 1950s. Now Mr. Lobo was the station's artistic director.

Humberto Marçal was also poached from Radio Bandeirantes where he was king of the 12:00 AM slot giving away 78 rpms to those listeners who answered the right thing in his '1.000 discos é o limite' (A thousand discs is the limit). 

Come to think of it, Radio Excelsior made a point of emulating Radio Bandeirantes in almost every aspect. Paulo Rogerio started doing a show 'Peça bis para o sucesso' which was a copycat of Bandeirantes's 'Telefone pedindo bis' made popular by Enzo de Almeida Passos at the same time slot. 

17 March 1963 - Radio Excelsior de São Paulo 6790 kilociclos -

Edson Leite, Alberto Saad, Oliveira Netto, Humberto Marçal, Paulo Rogério, José Carlos Romeu, Antonio Aguillar, Maria Aparecida Alves, Mario Moraes, Walter Silva (o Pica Pau do Pick-up), Paulo Pimentel, Luiz Aguiar, Henrique Lobo.

Diáriamente:

22:00 – Correspondente Renner – Paulo Pimentel

21:00 – Saudade também tem hora – Delon Santo
24:00 - Varig é a dona da noite (Henrique Lobo)

Segunda à Sexta:

15:00 – Qual é o disco? - Henrique Lobo 

17:30 – Album musical – Helio de Araujo & José Carlos Romeu

Segunda a Sábado:

8:00 – Você é quem manda – Oliveira Netto

9:30 – 11:30 - Programa do Pica Pau – Walter Silva

11:30 – Você é o limite – Humberto Marçal

Peça bis para o sucesso – Paulo Rogerio

Disco... não se discute – Henrique Lobo

14:30 – O bis é o sucesso – Paulo Rogerio

Encontro com a juventude – Antonio Aguillar.

Radio Excelsior at Cinelândia no.316. 

José Carlos Romeu when he still worked at the record-library at Radio Bandeirantes in 1960.

Radio Excelsior's DJ José Carlos Romeu (wearing a pin-striped suit) having Radio Nacional's Ademar Dutra on his right at Rita Pavone's press conference at Terrazza Martini on Rua Barão de Itapetininga on 22 June 1964. 

11 August 1963 - Just when comedian Chico Anisio was top of the heap at TV Record, Channel 7, with his 'Chico Anisio Show' TV Excelsior made him an offer he couldn't refuse. TV Excelsior poached him off TV Record because they paid more money. As simple as that. 

TV Excelsior became the most popular and best TV station in the country. No one could topple it. The TV management was the best in the country. They were young and they knew what they were doing. The only thing they didn't figure out was the military coup that would happen in less than a year in April 1964. That was the beggining of the end of such an intrepid heart. 

'Melodias' June 1962, with a photo of  a very young Antônio Celso, mellow-voiced speaker at Radio Excelsior who went on to be the Identifying Voice of Excelsior when it turned into a Top-40 radio station 6 years later, in early 1968. 

'Melodias', May 1965 - Radio Excelsior in yet another turning point in its outline: Projeto-65 brought to its microphones the likes of Jacqueline Myrna, Oliveira Neto, Hebe Camargo, Newton Prado, Lourdes Rocha, José Geraldo de Almeida, Virgínia de Moraes, Hugo Santana, Maria Teresa, Chico Anysio etc.