Os Paralamas do Sucesso

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Os Paralamas do Sucesso
Background information
Origin	Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Genre(s)	rock, ska
Years active	1977–present
Label(s)	EMI
Website	Official site
Members
Herbert Vianna Bi Ribeiro João Barone

Os Paralamas do Sucesso is a Brazilian rock band, formed in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1970s and still active as of 2006. 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.

1 History
2 Discography
3 Line-up

[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 e 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, 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 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, For 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 found 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: The Ascent for the Fame

In 1984, the album O Passo do Lui, who had an enormous hits sequence (as "Óculos" [Glasses], "Meu Erro [My Mistake], "Mensagem de Amor" [Love Message] and "Romance Ideal" [Ideal Romance]), was released, leading the band to perform at Rock in Rio.

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

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

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

[edit] Discography

Studio Albums
Cinema Mudo (1983)
O Passo do Lui (1984)
Selvagem? (1986)
Bora-Bora (1988)
Big Bang (1989)
Os Grãos (1991)
Severino (1994)
Nove Luas (1996)
Hey Na Na (1998)
Longo Caminho (2002)
Hoje (2005)