A Bolha

Formed in 1965 under the name the Bubbles, the musicians cut their debut single two years later, delivering covers of songs originally popularized by the Rolling Stones and the Shakers, the latter a band from Uruguay. After witnessing the Isle of Wight Festival during a stay in England, the musicians returned to Brazil and chose to reinvent their sound along more local lines, adopting the name A Bolha. Their prior identity as the Bubbles, however, continued to define them in the public eye as a dance-oriented act. When they played their first show following the London trip, five thousand people filled the ballroom at the outset, yet only five hundred remained by the finale; the marquee outside still advertised “The Bubbles back from Isle of Wight!” Despite the setback they pressed ahead with their revised direction. In 1971 they issued the single “Sem Nada,” written in collaboration with playwright Geraldo Carneiro, whose songwriting partnerships have included Egberto Gismonti, Tom Jobim, Astor Piazzola, Wagner Tiso, and the conductor-producer Eduardo Souto Neto. Active since the 1970s with Ivan Lins, Simone, and additional artists, Souto Neto finished as runner-up at the VI Festival Internacional da Canção—the Brazilian counterpart to the Eurovision Song Contest—while A Bolha itself received the Best Group Award. The band’s first album, Um Passo à Frente, appeared in 1973, followed by É Proibido Fumar in 1977. Guitarist Renato Fronzi Ladeira, son of the well-known Brazilian actress Renata Fronzi, remained the sole member present throughout the group’s history. Players from A Bolha also performed alongside Gal Costa and Erasmo Carlos and later dispersed into projects that included A Cor do Som and Herva Doce.