Os Paralamas do Sucesso emerged as the preeminent act within Brazilian rock by drawing on the groundwork established by earlier ensembles, thereby fortifying the genre’s commercial viability and charting a course for subsequent outfits. Across a dozen Brazilian releases and a pair of Argentine pressings, several of which surpassed the one-million mark, the group simultaneously cultivated a robust presence beyond national borders.
The trio came together in 1982 when bassist Bi Ribeiro (born 1961, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), guitarist and vocalist Herbert Vianna (born 1961, João Pessoa, PB), and drummer Vital Dias joined forces; Dias departed the following year, yielding his stool to João Barone (born 1962, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Their sound centered on reggae and ska refracted through a rock prism.
Ribeiro and Vianna, both Brasília natives, had known each other since childhood. Although Vianna already played electric guitar, Ribeiro had yet to pick up an instrument. In 1978, when Vianna turned sixteen, his family relocated to Rio, with Ribeiro following the next year. Vianna persuaded his friend to purchase an electric bass and recruited high-school classmate Vital Dias on drums. College enrollment in 1980 thinned their rehearsal schedule, yet by year’s end dissatisfaction with their studies prompted a full commitment to music. They registered the name Os Paralamas do Sucesso for the Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro festival in mid-1981, where Ribeiro was then studying, and submitted “Vital e Sua Moto” among other numbers; none were selected for the main program. Still granted performance slots between acts, the group lost Dias after he stepped away, prompting João Barone—then studying zootechnics at the same institution—to join. On September 17, 1982, the band returned to the university campus; Dias and Barone were slated to alternate, but after two songs Dias withdrew, leaving Barone as permanent drummer.
By late November the group had secured an opening residency at Rio’s Western bar, where they performed original material alongside songs by Brasília acquaintance Renato Russo, including “Química.” Positive reception led to a first demo tape. After auditioning several singers, Vianna assumed lead vocals himself. Heavy rotation on Fluminense FM’s rock program Maldita translated into sold-out follow-up dates at the Western and an invitation to support Lulu Santos at Circo Voador the subsequent month.
Three labels—Warner, PolyGram, and EMI-Odeon—extended offers; the band chose EMI-Odeon in April, issuing the single “Vital e Sua Moto” in June. Eleven thousand copies sold before year’s end, when debut LP Cinema Mudo appeared. The musicians later lamented the finished product, having been overruled by a producer who layered additional keyboards and guitars. Nevertheless, they performed that same year at New York’s Danceteria. The August 1984 release O Passo do Lui crystallized their affinity with the new-wave reggae idiom pioneered by the Police and English counterparts Madness and the Beat. Tracks “Óculos,” “Assaltaram a Gramática,” and “Romance Ideal” became radio staples, enabling larger crowds, among them a 5,000-strong audience at Barrashopping’s Sextas Musicais and dual sets at Rock in Rio in January 1985, each night drawing roughly 250,000 spectators. On January 13 and 15 they appeared at that festival; on June 15 they played two sold-out shows of 17,000 each at Porto Alegre’s Gigantinho, receiving gold certification for 100,000 units of O Passo do Lui. March 1986 inaugurated their extensive Argentine touring schedule with appearances at Cordoba’s Chateau Rock Festival and Buenos Aires’ Paradis nightclub. Selvagem arrived July 30, 1986; forty-five days earlier it had already moved 300,000 copies.
The band’s international profile—then unmatched among Brazilian rock acts—intensified with another Buenos Aires engagement followed by dates in Spain, Paraguay, Uruguay, Portugal, Chile, France, and Switzerland. At the Montreux Festival on July 4, 1987, they captured their first live album, D, which also featured keyboardist João “Fera” Gonsalves and saxophonist George Israel of Kid Abelha, foreshadowing the brass-and-keys expansions that would later characterize their arrangements. SBT, Brazil’s second-largest television network, closed the year with a prime-time special devoted to the group.
January 3, 1988, found them opening for Tina Turner in Buenos Aires; four days later they supported UB40 and Simple Minds at Rio’s Hollywood Rock festival. February sessions with Fera, a brass section, and guest Charly Garcia produced Bora-Bora, released May 27. Subsequent Brazilian releases followed at regular intervals: Big Bang (1989), Arquivo (1990), Os Grãos (1991), Severino (1993), Vamo Batê Lata (1995), Nove Luas (1996), and Hey Na Na (1998). In Argentina the band issued Paralamas and Dos Margaritas during the 1990s, both commercially robust; Vamo Batê Lata, a live recording, moved 800,000 copies domestically. A 1997 box set titled A Pólvora compiled the first eight studio albums alongside a remastered Abbey Road. Hey Na Na achieved platinum status of one million units prior to street date.
