Mamonas Assassinas
Mamonas Assassinas was a satirical Brazilian rock band. Their lyrics, music and live performances were as famous as their tragic end: on March 2, 1996, the plane in which they were flying crashed into the Cantareira mountain range, near São Paulo, causing the death of all the band members. The short lived band enjoyed a "meteoric" success, being celebrated for decades after its end.[1][2]
Mamonas Assassinas | |
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Origin | Guarulhos, São Paulo, Brazil |
Genres | Comedy rock, Heavy Metal, Forró, Pagode |
Years active | 1989–1996 |
Labels | EMI |
Associated acts | Utopia |
Past members | Dinho Samuel Reoli Júlio Rasec Sérgio Reoli Bento Hinoto |
The band's name carries a double-entendre as, in Portuguese mamonas can be either the name of the Castor oil plant, which contains the highly toxic comount ricin (their logo incorporated a castor bean) or the augmentative for mamas, meaning breasts (which were prominently pictured on the album cover). The band mentioned model Mari Alexandre as an influence to the name, and even translated the name into English as "Killer Big Breasts".[3]
The musical style of Mamonas Assassinas members employed a humorous mixture between rock and a wide range of styles. They often borrowed elements from other music, among which were the main riff of the Portuguese Vira ("Vira-Vira"), Northeastern Brazilian rhythms like forró ("Jumento Celestino"), Mexican music ("Pelados em Santos"), heavy metal ("Débil Metal"), sertanejo ("Bois Don't Cry"), and even pagode ("Lá Vem o Alemão"). This combination can be easily checked at their videos, where various references to many cultures were found.
History
Early years and major era
The band started its activities in 1989 without Dinho, in a band called Utopia, performing covers of Legião Urbana and Rush. Soon Dinho was incorporated, and Utopia performed in the suburbs of São Paulo. They even did release an album, but it sold less than 100 copies. Just as the band noticed the comedical intromissions and songs on their concerts were better accepted than the serious performances, the band decided to fully embrace the comedy on their music, including a change to a double entendre name.[4] Their first demo reached Rafael, son of the artistic director of EMI-Odeon, João Augusto Soares. João Augusto hired the band afterwards
The plane crash
The band's successful 8-month career came to an end along with all band members' lives on March 2, 1996, due to a plane crash. After a show in Brasília, the band was flying to São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport, in Guarulhos where they were to embark on a journey to Portugal. Twelve hours before the band met their untimely end, band member Julio Rasec told reporters he'd had a nightmare the previous evening about the plane crashing - but laughed it off.[5]
The aircraft was a Learjet 25[6] that was having multiple radar problems even prior to takeoff. On final approach to land on runway 09R,[6] the pilot decided to abort the attempt and went-around. As it flew around the runway for a second attempt to land, it crashed into the side of a heavily forested mountain in the Cantareira range, at 23:16 (Brazil Standard Time, UTC-3:00).
Members
All of them were born in Guarulhos, except Dinho, who was born in Irecê, a town from Bahia state.
- Alecsander Alves (known as Dinho) - vocals
- Alberto Hinoto (Bento Hinoto) - guitar
- Samuel Reis de Oliveira (Samuel Reoli; "Reoli" is a contraction of the last names Reis and Oliveira) - bass guitar
- Júlio César Barbosa (Júlio Rasec; Rasec is "César" spelled backwards) - keyboards, backing vocals
- Sérgio Reis de Oliveira (Sérgio Reoli; Samuel's older brother) - drums
Discography
Studio albums
Year | Album |
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1992 | A Fórmula do Fenômeno, as Utopia
|
1995 | Mamonas Assassinas
|
Compilation albums
Year | Album |
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1998 | Atenção, Creuzebek: A Baixaria Continua (1998, posthumous album)
|
Live albums
Year | Album |
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2006 | Mamonas Ao Vivo (2006, posthumous album)
|
Singles
Year | Single | Album |
---|---|---|
1995 | "Pelados em Santos" | Mamonas Assassinas |
"Robocop Gay" | Mamonas Assassinas | |
"Vira-Vira" | Mamonas Assassinas | |
"1406" | Mamonas Assassinas |
References
- "Com orçamento de R$3 mi, musical sobre Mamonas quer conquistar nova geração" [With a R$3 mi budged, musical about Mamonas targets new generation] (in Portuguese). UOL. 2 February 2016.
a banda, que fez sucesso meteórico entre 1995 e 1996
- "Internautas homenageiam Mamonas Assassinas 21 anos após acidente" [Mamonas Assassinas is celebrated by users on the internet 21 years after accident]. O Globo. 2 March 2017.
- "Mamonas Assassinas". Por Toda a Minha Vida. 2008-07-10. Rede Globo.
- Mamonas Assassinas profile at CliqueMusic
- globotv.globo.com/rede-globo/memoria-globo/v/mamonas-assassinas-morte-1996/4850859/
- "Acidentes Aéreos - Mamonas Assassinas" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2008-06-07. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
- pt:MTV na Estrada (Mamonas Assassinas)
- pt:Por Toda a Minha Vida#Mamonas Assassinas
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2154685/