Music / Os Paralamas do Sucesso

Their peak years and today (left to right for both photos: João Barone, Herbert Vianna and Bi Ribeiro)

"Os Paralamas do Sucesso vão tocar na capital"^note "The Paralamas do Sucesso will play in the capital"

— Vital e Sua Moto

Os Paralamas do Sucesso is a Brazilian Rock Trio hailing from Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro, formed in 1977 and it consists of vocalist and guitarist Herbert Vianna, bassist Bi Ribeiro and drummer João Barone.

Herbert and Bi were childhood friends born in Brasília who reunited years after moving to the city of Rio de Janeiro. They decided to start a band and invited a friend called Vital Dias to play the drums. After the latter missed a gig they were supposed to play, an acquaintance recommended João Barone to them and Vital slowly was phased out from the band afterwards.

With the frequent local airplay of the single "Vital e Sua Moto"^note An early demo of the song that was sent on tape to the local station, Radio Fluminense. and their energetic live shows, the band was signed to EMI to record Cinema Mudo...which actually received little fanfare. It was with their sophomore record, O Passo do Lui in the following year, that the band was able achieve national breakthrough, with the singles "Óculos", "Meu Erro", "Romance Ideal" and "Ska" and their acclaimed performance in the first edition of Rock In Rio in 1985.

The band released three albums throughout the remainder of The '80s with albums Selvagem? (1986), Bora Bora (1988) and Big Bang (1989), all of which saw a huge change in their repertoire. Despite that, the band still was able to remain favorably popular with the public, not only able to score hits such as "Alagados", "Quase Um Segundo" and "Lanterna dos Afogados",^note They had other hits, these are selected notable cuts from each respective album mentioned above. but also being invited to play in the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland during this time period. All of this helped cement the band’s place in the Brazilian rock scene.

The first half of The '90s, however, wasn’t really as kind to them. Although they scored a hit with "Caleidoscópio" from their first compilation, their both of albums Os Graõs (1991) and Severino (1994) didn't do well in sales, receiving less than favorable reviews and alienating longtime fans. Though the band was able to recover by the second half with the success of their live album Vamo Bate Lata in 1995, as well the two studio albums Nove Luas and Hey Na Na in 1996 and 1998 respectively.

In February 2001, Herbert had an accident while piloting his ultralight airplane by crashing into the sea. The accident involved him and his wife, the latter who couldn't make it. He spent 44 days in a coma, lost part of his memory and is only able to walk on the wheelchair. After the recovering process, he reunited with the rest of the group and recorded the album Longo Caminho in 2002, the first album after his accident. They released three albums since then, albeit more sporadically; Hoje, Brasil Afora and Sinais do Sim.

With their fusion of ska-reggae-rock sound and collaboration with a lot of Brazilian names in music, they have become one of the most important bands in the country’s rock scene. They’re still active playing live shows in Brazil and the rest of South America.

Discography:

Albums:

• 1983 - Cinema Mudo ^note Silent Film
• 1984 - O Passo do Lui ^note Lui's Step
• 1986 - Selvagem? ^note Savage? or Wild?
• 1988 - Bora Bora
• 1989 - Big Bang
• 1991 - Os Grãos ^note The Grains
• 1994 - Severino
• 1996 - Nove Luas ^note Nine Moons
• 1998 - Hey Na Na
• 2002 - Longo Caminho ^note Long Way
• 2005 - Hoje ^note Today
• 2009 - Brasil Afora ^note Brazil Abroad
• 2017 - Sinais do Sim ^note Signs of Yes

Live albums:

• 1987 - D
• 1995 - Vamo Bate Lata^note Roughly translates to Let’s Beat Tin Cans
• 1999 - Acústico MTV^note MTV Unplugged
• 2004 - Uns Dias Ao Vivo^note Some Days Live
• 2004 - Hoje Ao Vivo^note Today Live
• 2007- Rock In Rio 1985
• 2011 - Multishow Ao Vivo: Brasil Afora^note Multishow Live: Brazil Abroad
• 2014 - Multishow Ao Vivo: Os Paralamas do Sucesso - 30 Anos^note Multishow Live: 30 Years of Os Paralamas do Sucesso

Compilations and miscellaneous:

• 1990 - Arquivo^note Archive
• 1991 - Paralamas en Español - Compilation of songs re-recorded in Spanish due to their popularity in Latin American countries
• 1994 - Dos Margaritas - Severino re-recorded in Spanish
• 2000 - Arquivo II: 1991-2000^note Archive II: 1991-2000
• 2010 - Arquivo 3: 2001-2010^note Archive 3: 2001-2010

Vital and his tropes

• Album Title Drop: The scatting chorus of "Hey Na Na" is basically this.
• Alliterative Title: Albums Bora Bora, Big Bang and Sinais do Sim, as well the songs "Menino e Menina", "Melô do Marinheiro", "Bang-Bang", "Trac-Trac", "O Rouxinol e a Rosa", "Sinais do Sim" and "Medo do Medo".
• Audience Participation Song: "Óculos", with the background chant singing in the first verse and the woahs in the chorus. Expect the audience to loudly sing along to them in their concerts.
• Band Name Drop: "Os Paralamas do Sucesso vão tocar na capital"^note "The Paralamas do Sucesso will play in the capital"
• Call-Back: Vital gets his second mention in the song "Dos Margaritas".
• Character Title: Vital from "Vital e Sua Moto".
• Cool Bike: The titular bike of "Vital e Sua Moto"^note the title translates to "Vital and his Bike".
• Cover Version: They have a few. Examples include "Você" by Tim Maia, "Track-Track" by Fito Páez^note The band recorded both a Spanish and a Portuguese version, the latter which would enter in Os Grãos by the name "Trac-Trac" and "Running on the Spot" by The Jam. They also made the first studio recording of "Quimica" by Aborto Elétrico.^note Renato Russo, composer of the song and one of the members of that band would later properly record that song for Legião Urbana's third album.
• Deliberately Monochrome: The cover art of the albums Cinema Mudo, O Passo do Lui and Os Grãos, as well their live album D.
• Drowning My Sorrows: "Lanterna dos Afogados" is this from the point of view of a bartender who's willing to help the people in their lowest point drinking.
• Drugs Are Bad: Basically what "Don’t Give Me That" boils down to, courtesy of Jamaican reggae DJ Peter Metro.
• Foreshadowing: Bora Bora's title track is located on the more animated first half of the tracklist, thought it tackles the break up subject, which would be greatly expanded on in the more introspective second half of the album.
• Genre-Busting: The band's sound could be generally described as a fusion of ska, reggae and new wave but they also dipped in samba, MPB, traditional Northeastern and Afro-Brazilian sounds, as well Latin and Caribbean styles and even alternative rock.
• Gratuitous English: Used in "Depois da Queda o Coice", with the verse "And all there is to say is" before the scatting chorus. The band itself also has some songs titled and sung in English.
• Gratuitous Spanish:
  • "Trac-Trac", where the chorus still retains the Spanish lyrics from the Spanish version originally composed by Fito Paéz.
  • Done in "Dos Margaritas", with all the first half of the chorus being in Portuguese and the second half going "Pero nada me hará tan feliz / Como dos margaritas".
  • Also ditto about having songs in Spanish.
• Greatest Hits Album: The Arquivo^note Archive trilogy, released by the end of each decade, encompassing what they have done in the end of said decade. Plus, for the first two at least, a new track and a re-recording of a song from the era.
• Instrumentals: A common thing on the 80s albums, with examples being "Shopstake" from Cinema Mudo ; O Passo do Lui's title track; "Marujo Dub" and "Teerã Dub" from Selvagem? , "Bunda Le Lê" from Bora Bora ; and "Vulcão Dub" from Big Bang .
• Kid Amid the Chaos: The children mentioned in the lyrics of Teerã".
• Lighter and Softer: Os Grãos with its lighter pop rock leaning sound, especially since it sits in their discography right between the colourful Big Bang and the experimental Severino.
• Location Song:
  • "Alagados", which references the "favela" slums of Alagados and Maré in Rio de Janeiro, as well Trenchtown in Jamaica.
  • "Lanterna dos Afogados" which is the name of the bar referred in the song.
  • Other examples include "Teerã", "Bora-Bora", "O Rio Severino",^note The Severino River "Brasilia 5:31", "Um Dia em Provença",^note A Day in Provence "Hinchley Pond", "Taubaté ou Santos" and "Itaquaquecetuba"
• Long-Runner Line-up: They had the same line-up for more than four decades at this point, with the only line-up change being João Barone replacing Vital Dias on the drums prior to the recording of their debut album.
• Lyrical Dissonance: This tends to happen due to their upbeat tone:
  • "Óculos", a catchy new wave tune about feeling the social stigma of using glasses.
  • The upbeat "Meu Erro" is about a romantic disillusionment. Though, the title, translating to "My Mistake", might give that away.
  • Their most egregious example might be the happy sounding, Caribbean-inspired "Alagados", which tackles the situation with the poor people in the slums and low-class neighborhoods in Brazil.
• Miniscule Rocking: "Vulcão Dub" (1:10), "Rabicho do Cachorro Rabugento" (1:21) and "Cachorro na Feira" (1:18). "Vovó Ondina É Gente Fina" is also this by a narrow margin, clocking in at 1:59.
• Mood Whiplash:
  • After a second half full of introspective songs, the album closes with...a reggae song with a Jamaican deejay on the vocals. This is averted in the vinyl pressings of the album, since they don’t have the song in the tracklist.
  • Played with "O Rio Severino", which introduces itself as a traditional Northeastern country song...only to turn into a grungy Funk Metal track.
• Nerd Glasses: Discussed in "Óculos":
  Era mais justo se eu tentasse fazer charme de intelectual^note Would be fairer if I tried to make an intellectual charm
• Never Mess with Granny: The titular grandma in "Vovó Ondina É Gente Fina"^note "Grandma Ondina Is A Good Person" where she battles thirty cops so she could let her grandkids play their music.
• New Sound Album: Oh, pretty much:
  • Their initial style was a blend of the reggae-fusion and post-punk style of The Police with ska. In Selvagem?, the band decided to put more emphasis on the reggae elements.
  • Then there is Bora Bora, which can be considered a Distinct Single Album, with Side A spicing up their sound with tropical and Calypso rhythms, as well an extended use of horns, making the songs feel like an upbeat party, and Side B being more mellow and introspective, with lyrics tackling the break up Herbert had at the time.
  • Big Bang continues from the lively sound of Bora Bora, but also dips in samba, bossanova and salsa.
  • Os Grãos deviates for the most part from the direction of previous albums, having a more streamlined pop-rock sound, all due to them focusing more on the use of synth-driven elements like sampling and machine drums.
  • With Severino, the band becomes more ambitious than before, embracing Brazilian Northeastern influences throughout the album, and creating songs that would be very unusual, even for their diverse discography. It also has more prominent influences of popular alternative rock from the time.
  • Nove Luas and Hey Na Na return to the more ska-reggae-rock sound they were known for, while strongly retaining the alternative rock and Latin influences seen previously.
  • And finally, the albums from Longo Caminho onwards, which are more straightforward rock albums that encompass everything that they have ever done.
• Out-of-Genre Experience: They can dip into this, especially in context of the sound of each album:
  • Bora Bora has "Don’t Give Me That" and "The Can" which are entirely sung in English...by Jamaican reggae musician Peter Metro instead of Herbert.
  • "Lanterna dos Afogados", from Big Bang, at least compared to the rest of the album, as it is a straight up soft rock ballad with both a trumpet and a guitar solo.
  • "O Rio Severino". Even for the more experimental Severino, the song sticks out by being heavier than anything not only in the album but in their discography.
• Police Are Useless: The lyrics of the upbeat "Patrulha Noturna" are basically about a cop trying to arrest a kid with a motorbike that was just hooning and implies it's due to the police prejudice...
• Police Brutality: ...although, the band has made songs that call it out more explicitly like "Selvagem" and "O Calibre"...
• Protest Song: While not as frequent as their other peers, the band have a few sprinkled throughout their discography, with Selvagem? being notable for having a more political lyrical approach for most of the album, which tackles poverty, class inequality, racism, police brutality, doctrines and war.
• Rock Trio: Consistently one since their formation, though the band has added touring members to play with them live since 1987.
• Rearrange the Song: Besides the Acústico MTV^note MTV Unplugged concert they did in 1999, the band also released two Spanish albums^note one which was basically a "Greatest Hits Album but in Spanish" and the other was a Spanish version of Severino due to their success in Spanish speaking Latin American countries like Argentina. The band also re-recorded versions of their songs for their compilations, such as "Vital e Sua Moto (Versão 90)" for Arquivo and "Mensagem de Amor (Versão 2000)" for Arquivo II.
• Reggae: It's one of the band's core traits. It was initially present as a more of reggae-fusion clash in Cinema Mudo and O Passo do Lui, but Selvagem? made it prominent in the forefront stylistically, and became a recurring element in their sound in subsequent releases.
• Ska: In addition to it being one of their primary influences early on, they also have a song named "Ska", which is, you guessed, literally a full-on ska song. O Passo do Lui, the song "Ska" is featured in, has its name and cover art referencing a friend of the band named Lui, who was a ska dancer.
• Shout-Out:
  • The lines in "Selvagem" "E a liberdade cai por terra / Aos pés de um filme de Godard"^note And freedom falls to the ground / At the foot of a Godard film references the filmmaker movie Jean-Luc Godard and his movie Je Vous Salue, Marie,^note Hail Mary which was censored in Brazil by the president at the time José Sarney.
  • "A Dama e o Vagabundo" references Lady and the Tramp.
  • Some of the lines of the song "Bora-Bora" referencing the Italian movie of the same name.
  • "Don’t Give Me That" mentions comedian Richard Pryor and his drug problem.
  • "Perplexo" mentions the Brazilian heavyweight boxer Maguila, as well Mike Tyson.
  • "O Rouxinol e a Rosa" references Oscar Wilde's short story, The Nightingale and the Rose.
  • "Vamo Bate Lata" shouts out Brazilian musician Carlinhos Brown.
  • "Cagaço" shouts out Brazilian poet Waly Salomão.
  • This line from "O Calibre"; "Não há estado, não há mais nação,"^note "There's no more state, there's no more nation" which is a nod to Legião Urbana's "Perfeição".
• Soprano and Gravel:
  • In the chorus "Trac Trac" where he shares the Vocal Tag Team with pop musician Fernanda Abreu. Herbert sings the high vocals and Fernanda the lower vocals.
  • Downplayed with "O Amor Não Sabe Esperar" with guest musician Marisa Monte. Although Marisa shares higher vocals in the song, she's pretty lowkey in her delivery for the most part.
• Spoken Word: Used by Herbert in the title track of Os Grãos and "Cagaço".There’s also the reciting by Tom Zé and Linton Kwesi Johnson in "Navegar Impreciso".
• Step Up to the Microphone: Bi Ribeiro and João Barone do vocals in a few songs:
  • "Melô de Marinheiro", which they also wrote, starts off as a conversation between the two before the sailor-like singalong chorus with Herbert.
  • João has the lead in the two joke songs from Big Bang, "Rabicho do Cachorro Rabugento" and "Cachorro na Feira".
• Title Track: Most of their albums have one, with Selvagem? having its title track not have a question mark, and Big Bang and Severino subverting them by having slightly different names.^note "Bang-Bang" and "O Rio Severino", respectively Nove Luas and Hey Na Na are the only albums that straight up avert this.
• Unwanted Glasses Plot: "Óculos" is basically pretty much about Herbert’s stigma of using glasses.