Biography
In 1983, Samuel Rosa (guitars, vocals) and Henrique Portugal (keyboards) started to play in a reggae band called "Pouso Alto", along with Dinho Mourão (drums) and his brother Alexandre (bass). In 1991, Pouso Alto arranged for a performance in São Paulo, but due to the Mourão brothers not being in Belo Horizonte, bassist Lelo Zaneti and drummer Haroldo Ferretti were called for the gig. [3] The band premiered on June 5, 1991, and due to the performance competing with the Campeonato Paulista final match, the audience was 37 people. [4] After the show, the group changed its name to Skank, inspired by Bob Marley's song "Easy skanking", and began to perform regularly at "Mister Beef" churrascaria in Belo Horizonte. [5]
After playing for some time in steakhouses, bars and clubhouses, the band spent US$10,000 in their first album, Skank , released as an independent CD in late 1992 with 3,000 copies, fully paid by the band members themselves. In 45 days, 1,200 were sold, [6] and Sony Music signed the band as the first Brazilian act in its Chaos label. Skank was re-released in April 1993. The singles "O Homem Que Sabia Demais", "Tanto" (version of Bob Dylan's "I Want You") and "In(Dig)Nação" took the group on a 120 concerts tour around Brazil, and the album sold 250 thousand copies. [7]
Calango (1994) was the first record produced by Dudu Marote. "É Proibido Fumar", "Te Ver", "Pacato Cidadão", "Esmola" and "Jackie Tequila" were hits, and Calango sold around 1,200,000 copies. [8]
O Samba Poconé was released in 1996. The album had three big hits, "Tão Seu", "É Uma Partida de Futebol", included by FIFA in the official soundtrack for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and "Garota Nacional", which topped the Spanish charts for three months [9] [10] (under the Spanish title "Chica Nacional"), was the only Portuguese language song in the Sony Music compilation Soundtrack for a Century, released in 1997 to celebrate the company's centennial, and took the group on tour in Argentina, Chile, United States, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Portugal. [11] Although "Garota Nacional" literally translates to "national girl", the song is not about the women of Brazil: it celebrates the "girls of Bar Nacional", a bar and nightclub in Belo Horizonte famous in the early 1990s for the beauty of its female patrons. [12] Manu Chao featured in "Sem Terra", "Los Pretos" e "Zé Trindade". "O Samba Poconé" sold 1,800,000 cópias - 800,000 of those in two months. [5]
Siderado , produced by John Shaw (UB40) and Paul Ralphes, begins the band's movement towards a more rock and roll sound. The Clube da Esquina-influenced "Resposta" (re-recorded in 1999 by Milton Nascimento and Lô Borges, the latter the song's co-author with Samuel Rosa and Nando Reis), "Mandrake e Os Cubanos" and "Saideira" were hits. Released in 1998, Siderado sold 750 thousand copies. [13] Daúde and Uakti participated as guest artists.
In 1999 Skank recorded a Spanish language version for "Wrapped Around Your Finger" in a tribute album for The Police entitled Outlandos d'America.
With Maquinarama , the band begins in earnest its move away from the ska and reggae sound towards a more rock oriented one influence by The Beatles, Clube da Esquina, Britpop and contemporary alternative rock. [14] Maquinarama, produced by Chico Neves and Tom Capone and released in July 2000, sold 275 thousand copies. [13] Some of the hit singles were "Três Lados", "Balada do Amor Inabalável" and "Canção Noturna". The original cover shows a Cadillac with graffiti by Californian artist Kenny Scharf. The international version has a different cover.
In 2001, Skank recorded the first live album in Ouro Preto as part of the MTV Brasil's series "MTV Ao Vivo". MTV ao Vivo: Skank sold 600 thousand copies. [13] Besides a list of hits chosen by fans through Skank's website, the album had the new song "Acima do Sol", a national hit. In 2002 Samuel Rosa played acoustic guitar in "É Proibido Fumar", from the Acústico MTV (MTV Unplugged) by Roberto Carlos.
Cosmotron, produced by Skank and Tom Capone, was released in July 2003 and sold 250 thousand copies - a disappointment next to their vigorous previous sales figures. Nevertheless, the album had many radio and ringtone hits. "Supernova", "Dois Rios", "Vou Deixar" and "Amores Imperfeitos" were the main tracks. Cosmotron won the Latin Grammy - best Brazilian rock album award in 2004. [15] [16]
Released in October 2004, Radiola was the first compilation album by Skank. It included four new songs, including the Gilberto Gil cover "Vamos Fugir". The cover reproduces a painting by the hyped Los Angeles artists the Clayton Brothers. Radiola sold 200 thousand copies.
In March 2006 Skank began recording the new album Carrossel in their studio in Belo Horizonte, with producers Chico Neves, who also worked in Maquinarama, and Carlos Eduardo Miranda, producer of O Rappa's Unplugged album. Released in August, the album had the semi-hits "Uma Canção É Pra Isso" and "Mil Acasos". Arnaldo Antunes ("Trancoso"), César Mauricio ("Lugar") and Humberto Effe ("Cara Nua" and "Notícia") were the songwriting partners.
In 2008, the band reunited with Dudu Marote, who produced Calango and O Samba Poconé, to record the album Estandarte in their studio in Belo Horizonte. Released in September, the album had low sales, but produced the hits "Ainda Gosto Dela" (featuring Negra Li), "Sutilmente" (a massive number 1 hit in Brazil) and "Noites de um Verão Qualquer."
On June 19, 2010, Skank performed a free concert on the Mineirão stadium in Belo Horizonte. It was the last event before the venue was closed to reform in order to accommodate the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The show was recorded for the live album and DVD Multishow ao Vivo: Skank no Mineirão , which featured two new songs, "De Repente" and "Fotos na Estante". [17]
