Singer-pianist Angela Ro Ro (nee Angela Maria Diniz Gonsalves, 1949-2025) was a Rio native whose solo career came after nearly a decade on the edges of the MPB scene... Along with many other artists, she fled Brazil during the height of the military dictatorship and was living in Europe in the early 'Seventies, where she hung out with luminaries such as Caetano Veloso and Glauber Rocha. She returned to Rio towards the end of the decade, and released her first album in 1979, establishing herself both as a performer and as a popular songwriter. Her compositions have been recorded or covered by numerous stars, including the likes of Maria Bethania, Ney Matogrosso, and the rock band Barao Vermelho. Angela Ro Ro was also a queer icon in Brazil, one of the country's few publicly "out" lesbian artists. Here's a quick look at her work.
Angela Ro Ro "Angela Ro Ro" (Polydor, 1979) (LP)
Angela Ro Ro "So Nos Resta Viver" (Polydor, 1980)
Angela Ro Ro "Escanadlo" (Polydor, 1981) (LP)
Angela Ro Ro "Simples Carinho" (Polydor, 1983)
Nice voice, horrible music. The tackiest pop arrangements imaginable; on a tune or two at the end she gets a teeny bit blues and rock-ish, and there is one nice tango tune ("Cambalache," which would have been more fun if she sang in Portuguese, instead of Spanish...) In essence, however, this is a dreadfully tacky pop record. Totally skippable, even though she is an appealing, charismatic singer.
Angela Ro Ro "A Vida E Mesmo Assim" (Polydor, 1984)
Angela Ro Ro "Eu Desatino" (Polydor, 1985)
Angela Ro Ro "Prova De Amor" (Eldorado Records, 1988)
Angela Ro Ro "Ao Vivo" (Som Livre, 1993)
Angela Ro Ro "Acertei No Milenio" (EMI, 2005)
Angela Ro Ro "Compasso" (Indie Records, 2006)
Angela Ro Ro "Colecao Obras-Primas" (Polygram, 1997)
Fairly standard MPB recorded between 1979-85... Ro Ro, with her husky voice and lavish arrangements is obviously taking her cues from Maysa and Maria Bethania, although she is somewhat more playful (as heard in her nostalgic rock'n'roll cover of Lieber and Stoller's "Hound Dog") than those divas tended to be... This best-of covers her first solo albums; it isn't dazzlingly original, but Ro Ro had her charms and holds her own next to similarly throaty singers such as Bethania and Virginia Rodrigues. (She was, incidentally, one of the first Brazilian pop stars to come out of the closet, writing about the public reaction in songs such as "Escandalo.")
Angela Ro Ro "Serie Millennium" (Universal, 1999)
Angela Ro Ro "A Arte De Angela Ro Ro" (Universal, 2005)
Angela Ro Ro "Serie Millennium" (Universal, 1999)
