Os Paralamas do Sucesso: Selvagem?

When Selvagem? was conceived, Os Paralamas de Sucesso had to meet the expectations of their listeners and of their label, both impacted by the success of O passo do Lui (1984) — which had a series of radio hits — and by their performance at Rock in Rio, in 1985, one of the festival’s most acclaimed concerts, transmitted throughout the country. Selvagem? was a watershed moment in the band's trajectory: the previous album’s romantic songs gave way to the political lyrics of “Alagados” and “Selvagem”, reflecting the country's political turbulence. In their innovative mix of rock, Brazilian sounds and Caribbean and African rhythms, they consolidated their reggae influence as one of the band’s trademarks. The album featured hits such as the irreverent “Melô do marinheiro” and established the intergenerational exchange with “A novidade”, in partnership with Gilberto Gil, and “Você”, a Tim Maia cover.

In this volume of O Livro do Disco, author Mario Luis Grangeia brings the backstage
story of Selvagem?, and draws parallels with the press repercussion, the Brazilian
redemocratization political context, and testimonies from the band, showing how this
album, which sold over 700 thousand copies, became an iconic release in Brazilian
records history.

About the band
Os Paralamas do Sucesso are one of the most longstanding bands in Brazilian rock. Herbert Vianna (guitar and vocals), Bi Ribeiro (bass) and João Barone (drums) got together in 1982, and, soon, released record-selling albums such as O passo do Lui, Selvagem?, Bora-Bora, among many others, featuring unique rhythm fusions of Brazilian and Jamaican sound. Os Paralamas were also one of the first Brazilian rock bands to find explosive success abroad, in countries such as Argentina, Chile and Mexico. On the road for over 40 years, they still perform sold-out shows for an all-ages audience, featuring their evergreen hits such as “Vital e sua moto”, “Óculos”, “Romance ideal”, “Me liga”, “Alagados”, “A novidade”, “Uns dias”, “Lanterna dos afogados”, “Meu erro”, “Caleidoscópio”, and “Ela disse adeus”.

About the author
Mario Luis Grangeia is a researcher, journalist and sociologist, the author of Brasil: Cazuza, Renato Russo e a transição democrática (essay) and Miopia (fiction, under a pseudonym) and co-author of Conectando as ciências humanas: novos olhares sobre a transdisciplinaridade. A Doctor of Sociology (UFRJ), he began his career as a journalist at Exame and O Globo and is currently an associate researcher at the UFRJ Interdisciplinary Center on Inequality Studies and at the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy (Geneva Graduate Institute). Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1980, he's a musician's apprentice and father.

About the collection
The O Livro do Disco collection was released in 2014 by Cobogó in order to present
readers with distinct musical reflections about albums that were, and still are, essential
to our cultural and, of course, emotional education. With each title, the reader is invited
to dive deep in the history of albums that broke barriers, opened paths and defied
convention. O Livro do Disco is for music fans, but also for those who desire a deeper,
yet accessible, contact with the context and central figures of works that made music history. In times of fragmented listening and music access through streaming platforms, (re)encountering these albums in their totality is a way of listening to what they have to say about our times.

Specifications
Title Os Paralamas do Sucesso: Selvagem?
Collection O Livro do Disco
Author Mario Luis Grangeia
Page count 168
Publisher Cobogó
ISBN 978-65-5691-105-2
Cover Radiográfico
Format Softcover
Size 13 x 19 cm
Year 2023