In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of their first album, the complete biography of Secos & Molhados has been given an expanded and updated edition, which shows how the group became a landmark of MPB and one of the symbols of rebellion against the dictatorship.
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With João Ricardo, Gérson Conrad, and Ney Matogrosso, an unlikely new group with a curious name was formed. In Primavera nos Dentos , we follow the lives of each of the members of Secos & Molhados from before their fame, the journey that brought them together, the success of their music, the unique performance they delivered during a period of repression, and the conflicts that led to the group's demise. In telling this story, Miguel de Almeida also traces the history of the Brazilian cultural movement during the harsh years of the military dictatorship.
Ney had run away from home at 17, having a falling out with his father—an Air Force soldier who couldn't stand having an artist in the family. He often went hungry, but he didn't mind. He lived with friends and led a simple life, pursuing his acting career, until he met João Ricardo, a Portuguese journalist, and Gérson, a young architecture student, who were looking for a singer for their rock band. Neither of them could have imagined the success that would come.
Secos & Molhados' first album was released in 1973. Within a year, nearly 1 million LPs were sold. In February 1974, the band broke another record: a performance for 20,000 people at Maracanãzinho in Rio de Janeiro. Never before had a concert by a single Brazilian act attracted such a large crowd—with another 20,000 people left outside, unable to buy tickets. The most impressive thing about this unpredictable stratospheric rise was how a period of so few freedoms, under a bloody military dictatorship, produced a cultural artifact of the utmost rebelliousness.
The group's creative rebelliousness circumvented censorship, making use primarily of poetry and theater, and, with their unusual performances, opened up discussions of gender and freedom, even during a period of historical repression. Drawing on research and interviews, Miguel de Almeida recreates some iconic episodes in "Primavera nos Dentes ," including reconstructed lines and narratives, in a rhythm as exciting as the group's songs.
In 2023, the year in which we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of Secos & Molhados' first album, this biography will be published in an expanded edition, with new chapters and updated information that help to better understand the cultural context of the period, the fundamental relationship between theater and music, and the exchange of ideas, aesthetics, and characters of this group that made history in Brazilian music.
