Salário Mínimo

In São Paulo, Brazil, Salário Mínimo—whose name translates as "Minimum Wage" in Portuguese—ranked among the earliest trailblazers of hard rock within the country, even though the moniker drew puzzled looks from virtually everyone abroad. The quartet came together in 1979, an era when a long-standing military dictatorship still clamped down on Brazilian youth expression and when any prospect of a national rock movement, let alone a heavy-metal one, felt remote. Guitarist Júnior Muzilli, bassist Magoo, drummer Bea Junior, and vocalist China Lee became regulars on the modest club circuit that existed around São Paulo, yet opportunities for local acts remained so limited that the band did not enter a studio until 1984, when they supplied the tracks "Cabeça Metal" and "Delírio Estelar" to the pivotal S.P. Metal compilation.

Issued mere months before the historic Rock in Rio festival introduced Brazilian audiences to major international rock acts in January 1985, the album raised Salário Mínimo’s profile and earned them a contract with RCA. By the time their debut full-length Beijo Fatal appeared in 1987, however, the group’s smoother hard-rock approach and glammed-up presentation sat uneasily beside the harsher, English-language metal emerging from Sepultura, Sarcofago, Vulcano, and similar outfits, while also missing the mark with mainstream listeners. Disappointing sales led to shrinking bookings, loss of label support, and an eventual split by 1990. Despite the breakup, the band retained a cult following that later generated unexpected foreign interest in Beijo Fatal and, combined with domestic nostalgia, prompted an informal reunion for occasional concerts beginning in 2002.