Arnaud Rodrigues — Sete De Setenta E Oito

from Som do Paulinho (1976)

Yeah, I know.. I have a soft spot for the sounds of Brazil in the 70s. This is a great track from Arnaud Rodrigues, comedian, actor, and as it happens, quite an accomplished songwriter too. He’s also part of the tropicalia jesters Baiano & Os Novos Caetanos, whom I posted about recently.

Anyway this track starts with fireworks, a celebration, and then those backing vocals come in. The sounds of disco trying to crawl from the primordial soup. Lovely, really.

Can’t say the same for his outfit on the cover…that’s where the comedy comes in, I guess.

Baiano e Os Novos Caetanos — Vô batê pa tu

from Baiano e Os Novos Caetanos (1974)

The Brazilian comedians Chico Anysio and Arnaud Rodrigues formed the group Baiano e Os Novos Caetanos in the 1970s to poke fun at the tropicalia movement — their name satirizes Novos Baianos (one of my favorite Brazilian groups) and Caetano Veloso.

Musically, they weren’t joking around. This album was recorded before a live audience and it’s damn good. I can’t understand any of the jokes anyway…so I come back for the music. I highly recommend picking it up.

Read more here (in Portuguese) and here (in English)