Dalto

Dalto authored the chart successes “Bem Te Vi,” “Leão Ferido,” and “Muito Estranho,” numbers that Biafra, Roupa Nova, Ray Conniff, Zizi Possi, and Marina Lima all committed to disc. Multiple additional pieces by the same writer found placement in Brazilian soap-opera soundtracks.

He first appeared on record in the opening years of the 1970s, fronting the experimental rock ensemble Os Lobos; that band enjoyed regional airplay with the singles “Fanny” (Dalto/Cláudio Rabello) and “Santa Teresa” (Luís Carlos Sá) and with the long-player Miragem.

A solo step followed in 1974 when Dalto released a 45 pairing “Leila Ly” with “Flash Back,” both songs again written with Cláudio Rabello. Despite respectable notice for the latter title, he withdrew from performing to finish his medical degree.

Commercial recognition as a composer arrived in 1981 with “Bem-Te-Vi,” another collaboration with Cláudio Rabello that Renato Terra recorded and that moved 250,000 copies. The following year Dalto scored simultaneous success as writer and singer on “Muito Estranho (Cuida Bem de Mim),” a single whose sales reached 1,500,000 units and whose chart trajectory placed it among the year’s highest entries. Further credits accumulated rapidly: Biafra cut “Leão Ferido,” co-authored with its performer, in 1982, while Roupa Nova delivered “Anjo,” fashioned with Renato Correia and Cláudio Rabello, the next season. In 1994 Dalto issued the album Guru, whose track “Quase Dá Pra Ser Feliz” restored modest visibility.