That Roberto song
MPB artists from different generations pick their favorite King songs on his 60th birthday
allbrazilianmusic
19/04/2001
"Você precisa tomar um sorvete na lanchonete
Andar com a gente, me ver de perto
Ouvir aquela canção do Roberto..."
("You must have an ice-cream with us
Take a walk with us, see me close
Listen to the Roberto song...")
(Baby, Caetano Veloso, 1968)
How many Roberto Carlos songs have inspired the lives of innumerable Brazilians ever since he began his rise to fame 38 years ago with Splish Splash and O Calhambeque? Counting them isn’t an task. One of the very few musicians that can be proud of being part of the collective mind of the Brazilian people, Roberto Carlos is turning 60 years old on April 19th. Always keeping a low profile, the King should spend the day with his mother, offspring and close relatives, besides attending a mass – as usual. Many of his fans are going to celebrate his birthday all through the day by listening to the singer’s extensive repertoire – either Roberto & Erasmo songs (the greatest pair of hit makers the country’s ever known) or someone else’s.
Still, just like simple mortals, the big names in Brazilian music also have "that Roberto song" that has had an impression in their lives as well – not surprisingly, he is one of the most covered artists around here, and on every single MPB sub-genre. Below is a small and exclusive overview that AllBrazilianMusic offers to its readers. Artists from the radio days, bossa nova, jovem guarda, festivals, romantic singers, rockers, electronica DJs. They have all picked their favorites. Detalhes and Quero Que Vá Tudo Pro Inferno got the most votes.
Rita Lee
"My favorite rock is Quero Que Vá Tudo Pro Inferno and my romantic pick is Detalhes. The first one is a good representative of the rock phase of the old-timer who’s inspired me so much, and on the second, he puts in our mouths the words that any person in love would like to say to their beloved one."
DJ Patife
"Oh! It was Emoções... because the lyrics are beautiful and I have eventually lived through that, so it moves me a lot..."
Nana Caymmi
"It’s Quero Vá Tudo Pro Inferno. I was not living in Brazil when I got to hear that song. I was in Venezuela and was so pleased. It was more or less by the same time when Jorge Ben was appearing, both very successfully. I used to sing that song a lot to my daughters Stelinha and Denise. I love those lyrics, as I am quite irreverent. But not Emoções... what I sing is emotional enough, already!"
Adriana Calcanhotto
"So many of them. I always pick one song from his repertoire when I’m sketching a new concert – his point of view has to be there, somewhere. Really, I can’t pick one, there are too many good ones."
Agnaldo Rayol
"Detalhes really dazzles me, I always sing it on my concerts. And there’s one that was not written by him, but he turned it eternal, which is Isolda’s Outra Vez. Detalhes, though, is stronger; it reminds me of a certain time in my life, and a love affair that I had. I’m sure I’m not the only one, it probably happens to a million Brazilians. How many love affairs have been surrounded in Roberto’s melodies? His the greatest Brazilian music idol ever."
Maurício Pereira (ex-Os Mulheres Negras)
"When I hear his voice on the radio, it even feels like there is a God. It is a very special voice. I think that the best Roberto Carlos songs belong to the transition phase, from jovem guarda to the more romantic phase. To me, Quero Que Vá Tudo Pro Inferno , As Curvas da Estrada de Santos and Detalhes are champs. On my recent concerts, I have been doing Namoradinha de Um Amigo Meu, Debaixo dos Caracóis , Nossa Canção and É Preciso Saber Viver ."
Wanderléa
"Não Quero Ver Você Triste means a lot to me because we were barely starting when it came out. It was the first song he ever wrote with Erasmo Carlos, and the harmony is beautiful, and I fell for it. Up till then, he was writing those little romantic rock tunes. That one is beautiful and eternal, timeless."
Nora Ney
"It is Jesus Cristo. Cause I am Jesus’ daughter." (laughs).
Déo Rian
(mandolin expert, who recorded the instrumental album Déo Rian Toca para o Rei Roberto Carlos in 1976 with harp, clarinet, oboe, guitars and percussion)
"I recorded the album as suggested by the producer, because that’s not my thing, really. But my favorite is Detalhes, which is truly beautiful."
Frank Jorge (ex-Graforréia Xilarmônica)
"Although it is a beat overused – even Ira! covered it – I’ll pick Você Não Serve Pra Mim, written by Renato Barros, of Renato & Seus Blue Caps. That guitar riff with fuzz was a lesson, to me. The organ makes solos throughout the song and the chord sequence is swell - a foreign band could have made it. Besides, the lyrics are very powerful, a song of rebel and hope. And Roberto’s interpretation has so much feeling. This song might as well have been the soundtrack of many a relationship."
Fafá de Belém
"Do Fundo do Meu Coração. To me, that’s a huge one. It moves me, it even named one of my albums. My latest CD, Maria de Fátima Palha Figueiredo, is the correct follow-up to that one, actually. That song has a fine melodic construction, and the anguish on the lyrics matches the music perfectly."
Roberto Menescal
"Detalhes... I remember that I tried to steal a tape with that song to launch a new singer on Philips [where Menescal was artistic director]. I bribed a CBS clerk and recorded with a guy, but Roberto didn’t give me permission. I was so nuts about the song that, nine years later, when Erasmo made an album with guests, I asked Gal Costa to participate exactly in this track."
Zélia Duncan
"Robertão, my neighbor! Roberto has recorded a lot of stuff from other songwriters, isn’t it? Is Negro Gato his? [it’s written by Getúlio Côrtes] If it is, I’ll pick that one, I think it is sensual and sexy, which isn’t even his style, very much. But Roberto has always been a good-looking guy, I used to love the way he dressed. If it’s not his, I’ll pick Quero Que Vá Tudo Pro Inferno, which I used to sing when I was a little girl, according to my mom. I used to spend a lot of time playing by myself and singing low, and Roberto was always on my hit list."
Leny Andrade
"I’ll pick Olha, which I also recorded. It is the one that touched me the most. It was the song on heaviest rotation when he released it and it is also Roberto’s closest approach to bossa nova."
Cauby Peixoto
"Cavalgada. I think my recording of it is very good, too. We sing assorted genres, but there’s always one that is more like the performer, and I think that that song is like me."
DJ Marky
"I haven’t got a favorite, but I like the soundtrack of the movie de Roberto Carlos em Ritmo de Aventura, which I have watched maaaaany time on the TV. I would watch it whenever there was a rerun."
Dona Ivone Lara
"I love the music and the lyrics of Momentos Tão Bonitos (de Nós Dois). Roberto cried while performing that song, recently."
Ná Ozzetti
"The only Roberto Carlos song that I have recorded is Sua Estupidez, but I also love Detalhes, I think it’s beautiful. Sua Estupidez is important to me because of Gal Costa’s reading of it on Gal a Todo Vapor. That recording was a reference for my more romantic phase. I enjoyed jovem guarda tremendously. Roberto Carlos is an icon. He has a large amount of wonderful songs."
Ademilde Fonseca
"Detalhes is so great. All that you want to say, that you feel like saying to your lover, is in that song."
Jerry Adriani
"I like many of them, but Eu Te Darei o Céu is the best. Back then, it bore some resemblance to the Be5tales, it had a nice groove."
Joyce
"To me, As Curvas da Estrada de Santos is the most beautiful Roberto & Erasmo song."
Angela Maria
"Detalhes is a proof of love. It very much like me, because I am romantic and his romantic lyrics move me a lot."
Vânia Bastos
"I started to get into Roberto Carlos a long time ago, when I was a child, on the Calhambeque days. I used to love to hear him sing Coimbra, a song that I hope to record some day. Another reference, to me, is Detalhes, a very beautiful song. I have never recorded any of his songs, but I used to sing Do Outro Lado da Cidade [Helena dos Santos] on my first concerts."
Perla
"I like À Distância, because the lyrics sum up my whole story with Roberto, whom I’ve been a fan of ever since childhood, while reading Argentinean magazines in Paraguay. The first award I ever won in Brazil came with the song Como Vai Você. One day, when I was going to São Paulo to participate on a TV show, I saw Roberto at the airport. My husband said: ‘He’s not gonna give you attention’ To which I answered: "I doubt it!" So I waited for him outside of the plane. When he spotted me, he said: ‘I saw you yesterday on the TV’, and he asked where I was staying, if there was anyone one to pick me up. I told him my husband was waiting for me and he was so kind, walked me to our car. He is incredibly humble, and that’s why he’s called King."
Andar com a gente, me ver de perto
Ouvir aquela canção do Roberto..."
("You must have an ice-cream with us
Take a walk with us, see me close
Listen to the Roberto song...")
(Baby, Caetano Veloso, 1968)
How many Roberto Carlos songs have inspired the lives of innumerable Brazilians ever since he began his rise to fame 38 years ago with Splish Splash and O Calhambeque? Counting them isn’t an task. One of the very few musicians that can be proud of being part of the collective mind of the Brazilian people, Roberto Carlos is turning 60 years old on April 19th. Always keeping a low profile, the King should spend the day with his mother, offspring and close relatives, besides attending a mass – as usual. Many of his fans are going to celebrate his birthday all through the day by listening to the singer’s extensive repertoire – either Roberto & Erasmo songs (the greatest pair of hit makers the country’s ever known) or someone else’s.
Still, just like simple mortals, the big names in Brazilian music also have "that Roberto song" that has had an impression in their lives as well – not surprisingly, he is one of the most covered artists around here, and on every single MPB sub-genre. Below is a small and exclusive overview that AllBrazilianMusic offers to its readers. Artists from the radio days, bossa nova, jovem guarda, festivals, romantic singers, rockers, electronica DJs. They have all picked their favorites. Detalhes and Quero Que Vá Tudo Pro Inferno got the most votes.
Rita Lee
"My favorite rock is Quero Que Vá Tudo Pro Inferno and my romantic pick is Detalhes. The first one is a good representative of the rock phase of the old-timer who’s inspired me so much, and on the second, he puts in our mouths the words that any person in love would like to say to their beloved one."
DJ Patife
"Oh! It was Emoções... because the lyrics are beautiful and I have eventually lived through that, so it moves me a lot..."
Nana Caymmi
"It’s Quero Vá Tudo Pro Inferno. I was not living in Brazil when I got to hear that song. I was in Venezuela and was so pleased. It was more or less by the same time when Jorge Ben was appearing, both very successfully. I used to sing that song a lot to my daughters Stelinha and Denise. I love those lyrics, as I am quite irreverent. But not Emoções... what I sing is emotional enough, already!"
Adriana Calcanhotto
"So many of them. I always pick one song from his repertoire when I’m sketching a new concert – his point of view has to be there, somewhere. Really, I can’t pick one, there are too many good ones."
Agnaldo Rayol
"Detalhes really dazzles me, I always sing it on my concerts. And there’s one that was not written by him, but he turned it eternal, which is Isolda’s Outra Vez. Detalhes, though, is stronger; it reminds me of a certain time in my life, and a love affair that I had. I’m sure I’m not the only one, it probably happens to a million Brazilians. How many love affairs have been surrounded in Roberto’s melodies? His the greatest Brazilian music idol ever."
Maurício Pereira (ex-Os Mulheres Negras)
"When I hear his voice on the radio, it even feels like there is a God. It is a very special voice. I think that the best Roberto Carlos songs belong to the transition phase, from jovem guarda to the more romantic phase. To me, Quero Que Vá Tudo Pro Inferno , As Curvas da Estrada de Santos and Detalhes are champs. On my recent concerts, I have been doing Namoradinha de Um Amigo Meu, Debaixo dos Caracóis , Nossa Canção and É Preciso Saber Viver ."
Wanderléa
"Não Quero Ver Você Triste means a lot to me because we were barely starting when it came out. It was the first song he ever wrote with Erasmo Carlos, and the harmony is beautiful, and I fell for it. Up till then, he was writing those little romantic rock tunes. That one is beautiful and eternal, timeless."
Nora Ney
"It is Jesus Cristo. Cause I am Jesus’ daughter." (laughs).
Déo Rian
(mandolin expert, who recorded the instrumental album Déo Rian Toca para o Rei Roberto Carlos in 1976 with harp, clarinet, oboe, guitars and percussion)
"I recorded the album as suggested by the producer, because that’s not my thing, really. But my favorite is Detalhes, which is truly beautiful."
Frank Jorge (ex-Graforréia Xilarmônica)
"Although it is a beat overused – even Ira! covered it – I’ll pick Você Não Serve Pra Mim, written by Renato Barros, of Renato & Seus Blue Caps. That guitar riff with fuzz was a lesson, to me. The organ makes solos throughout the song and the chord sequence is swell - a foreign band could have made it. Besides, the lyrics are very powerful, a song of rebel and hope. And Roberto’s interpretation has so much feeling. This song might as well have been the soundtrack of many a relationship."
Fafá de Belém
"Do Fundo do Meu Coração. To me, that’s a huge one. It moves me, it even named one of my albums. My latest CD, Maria de Fátima Palha Figueiredo, is the correct follow-up to that one, actually. That song has a fine melodic construction, and the anguish on the lyrics matches the music perfectly."
Roberto Menescal
"Detalhes... I remember that I tried to steal a tape with that song to launch a new singer on Philips [where Menescal was artistic director]. I bribed a CBS clerk and recorded with a guy, but Roberto didn’t give me permission. I was so nuts about the song that, nine years later, when Erasmo made an album with guests, I asked Gal Costa to participate exactly in this track."
Zélia Duncan
"Robertão, my neighbor! Roberto has recorded a lot of stuff from other songwriters, isn’t it? Is Negro Gato his? [it’s written by Getúlio Côrtes] If it is, I’ll pick that one, I think it is sensual and sexy, which isn’t even his style, very much. But Roberto has always been a good-looking guy, I used to love the way he dressed. If it’s not his, I’ll pick Quero Que Vá Tudo Pro Inferno, which I used to sing when I was a little girl, according to my mom. I used to spend a lot of time playing by myself and singing low, and Roberto was always on my hit list."
Leny Andrade
"I’ll pick Olha, which I also recorded. It is the one that touched me the most. It was the song on heaviest rotation when he released it and it is also Roberto’s closest approach to bossa nova."
Cauby Peixoto
"Cavalgada. I think my recording of it is very good, too. We sing assorted genres, but there’s always one that is more like the performer, and I think that that song is like me."
DJ Marky
"I haven’t got a favorite, but I like the soundtrack of the movie de Roberto Carlos em Ritmo de Aventura, which I have watched maaaaany time on the TV. I would watch it whenever there was a rerun."
Dona Ivone Lara
"I love the music and the lyrics of Momentos Tão Bonitos (de Nós Dois). Roberto cried while performing that song, recently."
Ná Ozzetti
"The only Roberto Carlos song that I have recorded is Sua Estupidez, but I also love Detalhes, I think it’s beautiful. Sua Estupidez is important to me because of Gal Costa’s reading of it on Gal a Todo Vapor. That recording was a reference for my more romantic phase. I enjoyed jovem guarda tremendously. Roberto Carlos is an icon. He has a large amount of wonderful songs."
Ademilde Fonseca
"Detalhes is so great. All that you want to say, that you feel like saying to your lover, is in that song."
Jerry Adriani
"I like many of them, but Eu Te Darei o Céu is the best. Back then, it bore some resemblance to the Be5tales, it had a nice groove."
Joyce
"To me, As Curvas da Estrada de Santos is the most beautiful Roberto & Erasmo song."
Angela Maria
"Detalhes is a proof of love. It very much like me, because I am romantic and his romantic lyrics move me a lot."
Vânia Bastos
"I started to get into Roberto Carlos a long time ago, when I was a child, on the Calhambeque days. I used to love to hear him sing Coimbra, a song that I hope to record some day. Another reference, to me, is Detalhes, a very beautiful song. I have never recorded any of his songs, but I used to sing Do Outro Lado da Cidade [Helena dos Santos] on my first concerts."
Perla
"I like À Distância, because the lyrics sum up my whole story with Roberto, whom I’ve been a fan of ever since childhood, while reading Argentinean magazines in Paraguay. The first award I ever won in Brazil came with the song Como Vai Você. One day, when I was going to São Paulo to participate on a TV show, I saw Roberto at the airport. My husband said: ‘He’s not gonna give you attention’ To which I answered: "I doubt it!" So I waited for him outside of the plane. When he spotted me, he said: ‘I saw you yesterday on the TV’, and he asked where I was staying, if there was anyone one to pick me up. I told him my husband was waiting for me and he was so kind, walked me to our car. He is incredibly humble, and that’s why he’s called King."