The Demônios da Garoa amassed 26 pressings on 78 rpm along with 67 singles, LPs, and CDs overall, achieving widespread popularity throughout Brazil during the 1950s and 1960s before experiencing renewed interest in 1994. Listed in the 1994 Guinness Book of Records as the longest-running popular-music ensemble still performing, the collective marked 58 years of continuous activity in 2001. Their distinctly São Paulo-inflected samba portrays everyday existence in the nation’s largest city through the eyes of ordinary street-level observers, with the modified Portuguese spoken by rural migrants from the interior and by residents of Italian lineage playing a central part in the storytelling.
They first assembled in São Paulo during 1943 under the name Grupo do Luar and performed informally at private gatherings and serenades. That March the ensemble made its radio debut in a newcomers’ showcase on Rádio Bandeirantes; after winning a station competition they secured a contract with Emissoras Unidas. The original lineup consisted of Francisco Paulo Gallo on tam-tam, Artur Bernardo on violão, brothers Cláudio Rosa on pandeiro and Arnaldo Rosa (then the eldest member at fifteen) on percussion and vocals, plus Antônio Gomes Neto on violão tenor. Gallo and Cláudio eventually left the group, and Artur passed away in 1955.
In 1949 their version of the traditional “Mulher Rendeira” appeared in Lima Barreto’s motion picture O Cangaceiro. Their inaugural 78 rpm release, coupling the balanceio “Siri Malvado” by Jair Gonçalves with the maracatu “Rio Verde” by Antônio Diogo and Juraci Rago, came out in June 1950. The ensemble captured the São Paulo Carnival competition in both 1951 and 1952 performing Adoniran Barbosa sambas, first “Malvina” and then “Joga a Chave” alongside Osvaldo Molles. Barbosa’s career and that of the Demônios remained closely linked, since the group drew the core of its repertoire from his songs; the first recordings of his later signature pieces “Saudosa Maloca,” “Samba do Arnesto,” and “Trem Das Onze” were all made by the Demônios. “Saudosa Maloca” and “Samba do Arnesto” received their initial airings in 1954 on Rádio Nacional in São Paulo and were committed to disc the following year.
The group appeared in the 1958 film Vou Te Contá directed by Alfredo Palácios and, the next year, in Geraldo Vietri’s Dorinha No Society. Also in 1958 they issued their first 8-inch LP, Saudosa Maloca on Odeon, which featured the successful tracks “Iracema” and “As Mariposas.” In 1964 they performed “Trem Da Onze” by Adoniran Barbosa at the Rio de Janeiro Carnival contest and took first place. Extensive recording activity continued through the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. In 1993 the Demônios were cited in the Guinness Book of Records as Brazil’s oldest active popular-music group; the 1994 edition extended the recognition worldwide.
The present membership comprises Arnaldo Rosa on afoxê, his son Sérgio Rosa on pandeiro, Antônio Gomes Neto (known as Toninho) on violão tenor, Ventura Ramirez on seven-string violão, Osvaldinho da Cuíca on cuíca, and Sidney Cláudio Thomazzi (Simbad) on cavaquinho. The 1994 Warner album Demônios da Garoa – 50 anos, marking five decades of work, received the Prêmio Sharp and contained the hit “Seu Querer” by Sílvio Mury and Bembeco; São Paulo’s municipal government further honored the group by establishing an annual Demônios da Garoa Week. In 2000 the ensemble released the CD Mais Demônios do Que Nunca.
