Os Paralamas do Sucesso

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Os Paralamas do Sucesso
Origin Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Genre(s) Brazilian rock
New Wave
Post-punk
Ska
Reggae
Years active 1977 - present
Label(s) EMI
Website Official site
Members
Herbert Vianna
Bi Ribeiro
João Barone
Former members
Vital Dias

Os Paralamas do Sucesso is a Brazilian rock band, formed in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1970s and still active as of 2006. The band are considered one of the "Big Four" of Brazilian rock bands from the 80's, along with Barão Vermelho, Legião Urbana and Titãs. From its very beginning, the band combined rock with ska, influenced by The Police in the early '80s. Later on, they added horn arrangements and Latin rhythms.

Contents

[edit] Influence on Brazilian Rock

In the years of 1987–88, Afro-Bahian rhythms began to influence some of the main bands of Brazilian rock, notably Os Paralamas do Sucesso, creating a break with the original English-oriented, white rock that influenced national groups. [1] The were able to criticize English neocolonialism while they simultaneously created new opportunities for Brazilian rock and a more genuinely national product. Movement toward the “black sound” also followed the explosion of funk, hip-hop, and rap internationally. [2] Throughout its 20 years of existence, the band has kept a regular production of albums and hits, including a few polemic works, such as the song "Luís Inácio (300 Picaretas)" which criticized the Brazilian Congress. [3] The band was able to overcome adversity and make a new sound for Brazilian hip-hop and funk. They are still working today and continue to produce records.

[edit] History

[edit] 1977-1983: The Beginning

Although considered part of the "Gang from Brasília", because they lived there and befriended the local bands, the band's proper birthplace was Rio de Janeiro. Herbert Vianna and Felipe "Bi" Ribeiro were childhood friends and neighbors (Herbert's father was in the military, while Bi's was a diplomat). In 1977, Herbert went to Rio to attend military school, and met Bi once again. They decided to start a band, Herbert with his Fender Stratocaster and Bi (who had no musical training) a bass guitar bought during a trip to England. To the duo, Vital Dias, the drummer, would be added. The group parted ways in 1979 around the time they were busy with university admittance tests, but reunited in 1981.

The trio rehearsed in Bi's grandmother's house (which provided inspiration the song "Vovó Ondina é Gente Fina"; meaning "Grandma Ondina's Really Cool") and in a small farm in Mendes, and performed in small venues. The setlist was not serious (with songs like "Pingüins Já Não Os Vejo Porque Não Está na Estação", meaning "I No Longer See Penguins, Because They're Out of Season"), and tried to create a name in the same spirit, the first suggestion being "As Cadeirinhas da Vovó", or "Grandma's Little Chairs". The name "Paralamas do Sucesso" (meaning "Mudflaps of Success") was coined by Bi, and adopted because everyone thinks it funny. In the beginning, Herbert only played guitar and the group had two lead singers, Ronel e Naldo, who left in 1982.

In 1982, Vital was a no-show at a gig and was replaced permanently by João Barone. Vital would later lend his name to the song "Vital e sua Moto", and sent a cassette containing that song and another three to Rádio Fluminense FM Station, a station that was the first to broadcast many bands that would eventually achieve national recognition in Brazil. "Vital" received substantial airplay in the sumer of 83, And the Paralamas made their first major appearance opening for Lulu Santos, another popular singer of their generation in the Circo Voador. They also signed a contract with the Brazilian EMI, recording their first album Cinema Mudo (defined by Herbert as "manipulated by the record company people"), and a moderate success.

[edit] 1984-1990: Breakthrough

In 1984, the album O Passo do Lui, who had an enormous hits sequence (as "Óculos" [Glasses], "Me Liga" [Call Me], "Meu Erro [My Mistake], "Romance Ideal" [Ideal Romance] and "Ska"), was released, leading the band to perform at Rock in Rio. O Passo do Lui is their most critically acclaimed and generally considered their best album.

In 1986 they released Selvagem?. The album incorporated African rhythms and became their best selling album. The album generated the hits: "Alagados" (Flooded), featuring Gilberto Gil and "Melô do Marinheiro" (Rime of the Sailor). In 1987, they released D, which was recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

The Paralamas also played live in France and they toured South America, becoming popular in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela.

They followed Selvagem? up with Bora-Bora (1988), which introduced the use of piano, horns and samplers . The album has social-political songs as "O Beco" (The Alley) and more introspective ones as "Quase Um Segundo" (Almost One Second). Bora-Bora is their second most critically acclaimed album.

Big Bang (1989) continued in the same vein, with 'happy' songs as "Perplexo" (Perplexed) and lyric ones as "Lanterna dos Afogados" (Lighthouse of the Drowned). Next they released their first compilation Arquivo in 1990, which feature a new version of "Vital e Sua Moto" (Vital and His Motorcycle) and the new song "Caleidoscópio" (Kalesdoscope).

[edit] 1991-1994: Success, only in Argentina

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[edit] 1995-2000: Back to the hit parades

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[edit] 2001-2006: An accident, not the end

Herbert had a passion for flying and he had accident

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

[edit] Live albums

[edit] Compilations

[edit] Singles

Year Single Album Chart
positions
Hot100Brasil[4] Brazilian Year-End Chart[5][6]
1984 "Óculos" O Passo do Lui 4
"Meu Erro" O Passo do Lui 22
"Ska" O Passo do Lui 100
1985 "Me Liga" O Passo do Lui 28
1986 "Alagados" Selvagem? 7
"Você" Selvagem? 56
"Melô do Marinheiro" Selvagem? 90
1988 "Quase Um Segundo" Bora-Bora 32
"O Beco" Bora-Bora 50
1990 "Lanterna dos Afogados" Big Bang 46
1991 "Tendo a Lua" Os Grãos 72
1992 "Sábado" Os Grãos 31
1996 "La Bella Luna" Nove Luas 32
"Lourinha Bombril" Nove Luas 91
2002 "O Calibre" Longo Caminho 6 88
"Cuide Bem do Seu Amor" Longo Caminho 16
2004 "Uns Dias" (featuring Frejat) 8 73

[edit] Line-up

Since 1983 the line-up of the band consists of:

  • Herbert Vianna - guitar and vocals
  • Bi Ribeiro - bass guitar
  • João Barone - drums

[edit] References

  1. ^ Behague, Gerard. "Rap, Reggae, Rock, or Samba: The Local and the Global in Brazilian Popular Music (1985-95)." Latin American Music Review 27, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2006): 79-90.
  2. ^ Behague, Gerard. "Rap, Reggae, Rock, or Samba: The Local and the Global in Brazilian Popular Music (1985-95)." Latin American Music Review 27, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2006): 79-90.
  3. ^ “Paralamas do Sucesso.” All Brazilian Music. 2000. http://cliquemusic.uol.com.br/en/Artists/Artists.asp?Status=ARTISTA&Nu_Artista=451. Access date February 14, 2008.
  4. ^ Os Paralamas Do Sucesso Cuide Bem Do Seu Amor @ Top40-Charts.com - 40 Top 20 & Top 40 Music Charts from 25 Countries
  5. ^ timemachine1983
  6. ^ yearendpage

[edit] External links

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