Raimundos

Raimundos emerged in 1987 when a circle of friends in Brasília’s Federal District assembled the group. Their earliest show took place at a New Year’s Eve celebration the following year. By 1993 the quartet had completed a demo tape that circulated favorably among alternative listeners, prompting appearances on MTV Brasil as well as at the Junta Tribo festival in Campinas, São Paulo, where national recognition arrived, and at the M2000 Summer Concerts in Santos, São Paulo, before an audience of 80,000 that named them the event’s Revelation Band. The self-titled debut arrived in 1994, earned gold status, and placed “Selim” in heavy rotation. Their sophomore effort, Lavô Tá Novo, issued by WEA in 1995, yielded further singles in “Eu Quero Ver o Oco,” “O Pão da Minha Prima,” and “I Saw You Saying,” after which the band began performing abroad. Disaster struck during the tour supporting the third album, Lapadas do Povo, when eight fans lost their lives; dates were postponed and the musicians resumed the road two months later. Seeking a lighter tone, they issued Só no Forevis in 1999. Shortly before street date, thieves made off with the first 100,000 units, postponing availability by one week. “Mulher de Fases” dominated airplay and MTV Brasil, securing the Escolha da Audiência award at the 1999 VMB and platinum certification for more than 500,000 copies. The group was subsequently asked to craft a Fábio Jr. cover that served as the theme for the MTV Brasil series 20 e Poucos Anos and to record “Give My Bullet Back” for the Brazilian edition of the Mission Impossible II soundtrack. In 2000 Raimundos were chosen to inaugurate MTV Brasil’s live series MTV Ao Vivo; the resulting album, released that October, contained “Deixa Eu Falar,” “20 e Poucos Anos,” and “Reggae do Manêro” and surpassed 500,000 units.