Most members were born and raised in Vila dos Comerciários, a poor neighborhood of Recife. In 1968, bassist Almir de Oliveira met singer Marco Polo and together they became the band's songwriters. Oliveira would play covers in local parties but he was willing to write original material, and so was Polo.[3]
They changed their name following a suggestion from a gypsy woman that they met in the countryside of Paraíba.[4] Their initial line-up consisted of Marco Polo (lead vocals), Ivson Wanderley (lead and acoustic guitars), Paulo Raphael (rhythm and acoustic guitars, synthesizer, lead vocals), Almir de Oliveira (bass), Israel Semente (drums) and Agrício Noya (percussion). With this line-up they recorded their debut, self-titled album in Rio de Janeiro in May 1974; it was released in June of the same year.[3]
The album was only sold for 1,5 month until it was censored by the Brazilian military government[2] due to the lyrical content of the song "Seu Waldir".[5] The cover also underwent changes, its original concept being described by the members as a "drag queenparrot".[6]
The last performances by the band happened at Teatro de Santa Isabel in downtown Recife,[7] on 28 and 29 December 1974.[3]
The band, represented by Marco Polo, did a special performance in the 2011 Psicodália festival, accompanied by the group Anjo Gabriel.[8]
Reunion after 40 years
In 2014, the band reunited for a series of shows celebrating the 40th anniversary of its debut album.[9] The first one took place in 2 September at the Teatro de Santa Isabel. They also performed at the 2015 Psicodália, in Santa Catarina.[5] Also around this time, their debut album was re-released in CD and LP formats; they also released a recording of their Perfumes y baratchos, their last.[7]
On 26 April 2019,[5] 45 years after their debut, they released a second album titled Vendavais, featuring three original members: Almir de Oliveira, Marco Pólo and Paulo Rafael (who would die in 2021). The album consisted of 11 original songs, composed between 1972 e 1974 and unreleased since then.[9] It was released one of the 25 best Brazilian albums of the first semester of 2019 by the Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte.[10]
Members
Current
Marco Polo - vocals (1969–1974, 2014–present)
Almir de Oliveira - guitar, acoustic guitar, bass (1969–1974, 2014–present)
Júnior do Jarro - drums (2014–present)
Gilú Amaral - percussion (2014–present)
Juliano Holanda - bass (2014–present)
Former
Israel Semente - drums, percussion and backing vocals (1969–1974; died in 1990)
Agrício Noya - percussion (1969–1974; died in 2015)
Ivinho - guitar (1969–1974, 2014–2015, his death)
Paulo Rafael - guitar (1969–1974; 2014–2021, his death)[11]
