Xou da Xuxa (album) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Xou da Xuxa
Studio album by Xuxa
Released	30 June 1986 (1986-06-30)
Recorded	1986
Genre	Pop children's music
Length	35:25
Language	Portuguese
Label	Som Livre
Producer	Guto Graça Mello Michael Sullivan Paulo Massadas
Xuxa chronology
Xuxa e Seus Amigos (1985) Xou da Xuxa (1986) Xegundo Xou da Xuxa (1987)
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Xou da Xuxa (meaning Xuxa Show in English) is the second studio album by the famous Brazilian singer, TV host, and actress Xuxa. It was released on June 30, 1986, by Som Livre. This album came out at the same time as her popular television program on Globo.

The LP version of the album broke sales records. It sold over 2.6 million copies! This made it the best-selling album ever in Brazil and all of South America at that time.

How Xuxa's Album Started

At 23 years old, Maria das Graças Meneghel was already a well-known model and TV host from Rio Grande do Sul. She was hired by Globo to host the Xou da Xuxa morning show. Globo paid a lot to bring her from another channel, Manchete, where she had hosted Clube das Crianças since 1983.

Her new show, Xou da Xuxa, quickly became super popular. Xuxa earned the nickname "Queen of the Baixinhos" (which means "Queen of the Little Ones"). Her show was watched by about 7 million people every day! Her music career had actually started earlier, in 1984, with an album called Clube da Criança.

Making the Music

Because Xuxa's TV show was such a big hit, Globo Network decided to keep supporting her music career. She had released her first studio album, Xuxa e Seus Amigos, a year before in 1985. For this new album, Xou da Xuxa, a producer named Guto Graça Mello was hired.

When Guto first met Xuxa, he realized she wasn't a trained singer. He wasn't sure what to do! So, he asked João Araújo, the president of Som Livre (the record company). João told him to "make an album happen" no matter what.

Since Xuxa wasn't a natural singer, she sometimes felt frustrated in the studio. To help her, Guto brought in a backup singer named Nina. Nina would sing the songs first, acting out the character Xuxa would play. Xuxa would then listen to Nina's recordings for days, trying to copy her style. Guto shared that back then, there wasn't special equipment to fix voices. So, Xuxa would sing each song "hundreds of times" on different tracks. Guto would then pick the best parts to create the final version.

It was also hard to find songwriters for the album at first. Guto wanted to use composers who didn't usually write children's songs. For example, "Quem Que Queo" was written by Aretuza, who worked in public relations for the label. She made up the song as a fun way to get her kids to eat! The idea for the album was to have songs for kids, but with music arrangements by national rock musicians. That's why famous artists like Rita Lee and Roberto Frejat helped with the songs. Even Evandro Mesquita and Patricia Marx (who was part of the group Trem da Alegria at the time) sang on the album.

Album Release and Versions

Xou da Xuxa was the first album Xuxa released with the record company Som Livre. It arrived in stores in the first week of August 1986. You could buy it as an LP (a large vinyl record) or an audio cassette.

Years later, the album was released on CD for the first time in 1996. This CD version had two extra songs: "Parabéns da Xuxa" (which means "Happy Birthday from Xuxa") and "Papai Noel Dos Baixinhos" ("Santa Claus from the Little Ones"). These songs were originally on a different album called Xuxa Karaoke. The CD was re-released again in 1996 and 2006.

There's a cool difference in the song "Garoto Problema" ("Trouble Boy") on the re-released versions of the album. Xuxa's voice sounds a bit different, and the conversation between her and Evandro Mesquita is also changed from the original.

In 2013, Som Livre and Xuxa Productions released a special "Xuxa Collection." This was a box set with all seven albums from her TV show era. It also included a CD with new songs chosen by her fans!

Amazing Sales Success

The Xou da Xuxa album sold about 100,000 copies in its very first week! This quickly earned it a "gold record" award. In the second week, it sold 250,000 copies, and the sales kept growing every week.

When the album reached 2.5 million copies sold, João Araújo, the president of Som Livre, had to stop making more records. He said, "Either we make a record to sell or a [premium] record." The producer, Guto, joked, "Invent a diamond disk, make a platinum-like album, slip a little diamond and give it to your artist." This album's sales were huge for that time, even beating popular artists like RPM and King Roberto Carlos. In total, the album sold an amazing 2,689,000 copies!

One of the songs, "Doce Mel (Bom Estar com Você)," was the 4th most played song on Brazilian radio in 1986. Even after more than 30 years, songs from this album are still very popular. "Parabéns da Xuxa" is one of the most played songs at parties, according to a survey by Ecad, which tracks music copyrights.

Promoting the Album

Since the songs from Xou da Xuxa were also themes for Xuxa's TV show, almost the entire album was performed on the program. Outside of the morning show, two songs from the album got music videos on the TV show Fantástico (Fantastic): "Doce Mel" and "Turma da Xuxa." There are stories that Xuxa might have sung one of her songs on the show Cassino do Chacrinha, but there's no video proof of that yet.

To promote the album, Xuxa held a concert at Playcenter São Paulo on August 9, 1986, just a week after the album came out. This show led to many more concert invitations, which became the Xou da Xuxa tour. The only concert from this tour that has video recordings is the Santa Claus Arrival show in Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, held on November 29, 1986.

Xuxa's Lasting Impact

The Xou da Xuxa album and its songs, along with Xuxa's special way of talking to children, had a huge impact on Brazilian pop culture and the music industry. Soon after she joined Rede Globo, Veja magazine published a big story in 1986. It talked about Xuxa's success and called her the "Children's Queen" for the first time. The magazine said her success came from being "innovative, creative, and having unique qualities, like talking directly to children, which made them feel close to her."

Guto Graça Mello, who helped produce the album, believes the album and Xuxa's success came from how well she connected with kids. He said there was a gap in the market for children's products, and kids still love her products today. Buzzfeed even wrote that Xuxa taught important lessons to Brazilian children who watched her show. A writer for Forum magazine also praised the album's contribution to the Brazilian music industry, even 30 years later. They called Xuxa a "real phenomenon" who broke sales records, even beating Roberto Carlos and RPM.

The album also helped boost sales of vinyl records and cassettes in Brazil. The writer noted that Xou da Xuxa sold about 2.5 million copies. This happened at a time when music piracy wasn't as big a problem. They also called "Doce Mel" one of the album's most memorable songs. They described its introduction as "shocking" and similar to rock songs like "The Final Countdown" by Europe or "Jump" by Van Halen.

Xuxa quickly became a pop culture icon in Brazil after this album. She was called "A pop product that worked." Many people see her as a great example of Brazilian pop culture. Xuxa became a symbol for Brazilians of all ages. After the album's huge sales, Xuxa became known worldwide as the "Children's Queen" because she was the best-selling child singer in history.

The website Terra even compared Xuxa to famous American singers Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson. Just as Elvis was the "rock king" and Michael Jackson influenced a whole generation of pop artists, Xuxa was called the "Queen of the Little Ones." No matter what Xuxa did – modeling, TV, music, or movies – she found huge success.

This album is also seen as the reason why other children's TV hosts started releasing their own music. The album cover, showing Xuxa in an iconic pose, also became very famous. In 2011, a Tumblr page called "Xuxa is all around!" started. It collected photos of fans copying Xuxa's pose from the album cover. This page became nationally famous!

Xou da Xuxa is still one of Xuxa's most successful albums, selling over 2 million copies. It's the eighth best-selling album in Brazil's history, and Xuxa has three other albums from the same series on that list. It's also one of the best-selling albums by a solo artist for children worldwide. The huge success of this album even led to the creation of the "diamond certificate" award in Brazil for albums that sell so many copies.

Songs on the Album

Album Team

Awards and Sales