BLITZ 40 years: “A good review on BLITZ meant I was going to buy the album without listening to it”, Flak (Rádio Macau)
As we enter the countdown to the big BLITZ 40th anniversary party, at Meo Arena, in Lisbon, on December 12th – with shows by Xutos & Pontapés, Capitão Fausto, Gisela João and MARO –we asked musicians, promoters, journalists, radio hosts and other personalities to go to the trunk to retrieve memories from four decades of history, also leaving us a message for the future.
Flak keeps “leaving” as his first memory of BLITZ. “There were already magazines [sobre música]like ‘Música e Som’, but in the newspaper format, which was weekly, was the first. And it was super important for Portuguese bands and Portuguese music”, highlights the Rádio Macau and Micro Audio Waves guitarist. “In addition to the articles, we always had reviews of shows – one thing we followed a lot at BLITZ was reviews of shows by new bands at Rock Rendez-Vous. It created something new and a movement that was very important.”
The musician assumes that his own work was widely publicized by BLITZ. “It contributed immensely. We always had interviews, reviews of albums, shows, reports… [jornal] BLITZ did this to everyone – in that respect, he was very democratic. We were always up to date with what was happening, it was essential for Portuguese music in the 80s”.
“I always followed music. I’m always attentive, I’m very curious about music”, he says. “We can now hear in streaming but back then, we often couldn’t listen to the CDs when they came out. They played the singles on the radio, but we had to go to the club to hear the album. Often a good review on BLITZ meant I would buy the record without hearing it. Most of the time I got it right.”
For Flak, it would be good if BLITZ “wasn’t just an online newspaper”. “Things are difficult, but it would be good if there was a physical publication”, he says. In the past, most newspapers even had supplements dedicated to music, which have been reduced. There is no physical publication that is dedicated only to music. In that respect, it was important. But I know it’s difficult. So let’s follow the news online. The world is changing, we have to adapt…”.
