RPM (Brazilian band)
Encyclopedia
RPM is a Brazilian
Pop Rock band. It was formed by singer/bassist
Paulo Ricardo, keyboardist
Luiz Schiavon, guitarist
Fernando Deluqui and drummer
Paulo Antônio "P.A." Pagni.
They played soft Techno-pop with strong, paradoxical, influences of Progressive rock
and European Synthpop
. Their lyrics were pessimistic, ironic and full of literary (Arthur Rimbaud
, Surrealism
and books like Christiane F.
) and political references, with a strong leftist tone.
The band was very successful in the mid 1980s; the live album Rádio Pirata ao vivo was the best-selling ever record in Brazil
at the time, with more than 2.2 million copies sold. Their later output however, didn't come close to achieving the same level of success, causing the band to disintegrate in the late 1980s.
Paulo Ricardo, however tried to revive the band a few times in the following decades. In the early 90's, he and Deluqui put together a new band under the moniker "Paulo Ricardo & RPM", this time trying a harder rock style to fit the current trends of the time. With no significant commercial success, the project went under. However, in 2002, the original lineup reunited for a very successful tour and live album, but also split soon after for internal differences.
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
Pop Rock band. It was formed by singer/bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Paulo Ricardo, keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
Luiz Schiavon, guitarist
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
Fernando Deluqui and drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Paulo Antônio "P.A." Pagni.
They played soft Techno-pop with strong, paradoxical, influences of Progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
and European Synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
. Their lyrics were pessimistic, ironic and full of literary (Arthur Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
, Surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
and books like Christiane F.
Christiane F.
Christiane F. is a former heroin addict famous for her contribution to the autobiographical book , and the film based on the book, which describes her struggle with various forms of drug addiction during her teens.-Early life:Christiane was born in Hamburg, but her family moved to West Berlin when...
) and political references, with a strong leftist tone.
The band was very successful in the mid 1980s; the live album Rádio Pirata ao vivo was the best-selling ever record in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
at the time, with more than 2.2 million copies sold. Their later output however, didn't come close to achieving the same level of success, causing the band to disintegrate in the late 1980s.
Paulo Ricardo, however tried to revive the band a few times in the following decades. In the early 90's, he and Deluqui put together a new band under the moniker "Paulo Ricardo & RPM", this time trying a harder rock style to fit the current trends of the time. With no significant commercial success, the project went under. However, in 2002, the original lineup reunited for a very successful tour and live album, but also split soon after for internal differences.
Discography
- Revoluções por Minuto (1985) 350.000 - Platinum
- Rádio Pirata ao Vivo (1986) 2.700.000 - 2x Diamond
- Quatro Coiotes (1988) 250.000 - Platinum
- Paulo Ricardo & RPM (1993)
- MTV RPM 2002 (2002) 250.000 - Platinum
- Elektra (2011)
External links
- Paulo Ricardo's website (in Portuguese)
- Fernando Deluqui's website (in Portuguese)