"A Banda (Ah Bahn-da)" () is a composition by
Chico Buarque
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque (), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, econom ...
that was first performed live in 1966 by Buarque and
Nara Leão
Nara Lofego Leão (; January 19, 1942 – June 7, 1989) was a Brazilian bossa nova and MPB (popular Brazilian music) singer and occasional actress. Leão was married twice, to Ruy Guerra and subsequently Carlos Diegues, both film directors.
...
, during the II
Música Popular Brasileira
(, ''Brazilian Popular Music'') or MPB is a trend in post-bossa nova urban popular music in Brazil that revisits typical Brazilian styles such as samba, samba-canção and Baião (music), baião and other Brazilian regional music, combining them ...
(MPB) Festival in
TV Record's theater, São Paulo, winning the "Viola de Ouro" award for best composition. "A Banda" brought Buarque immediately into the limelight in Brazil. The song was also released in 1966, on the Brazilian RGE label, as the first track of side 1 in ''
Chico Buarque de Hollanda (Vol. 1)'' LP.
Mina version
In 1967, singer
Mina released an Italian version of the song called "La banda". The song was a success in Italy, where it became number two on the chart,
and sales exceeded 400 thousand copies. The Italian lyrics were written by
Antonio Amurri
Antonio Amurri (28 June 1925 – 18 December 1992) was an Italian author, radio and television writer and lyricist.
Born in Ancona, Amurri was author of some of the most popular RAI variety shows, such as '' Canzonissima'', ''Gran Varietà'', '' ...
.
In 1970, Mina also recorded an original Portuguese version for the album ''
Mina canta o Brasil''.
Buarque, who was living in Italy at the time, later performed this version.
Charts
Herb Alpert version
As an instrumental, the song was performed by
Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter, pianist, singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, conductor, painter, sculptor and theatre producer, who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (sometimes called "Herb Alpe ...
& the Tijuana Brass, who had their third and final number one on the
Easy Listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
chart in October 1967. It peaked at number 35 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100.
The instrumental version by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass was used in the Soviet cartoon ''
Well, Just You Wait!
''Well, Just You Wait!'' (, ), also known as I'll get you! in official translations, is a Soviet and Russian series of animated short films produced by Soyuzmultfilm. In the 2014 all-Russian poll, ''Well, Just You Wait!'' won by a wide margin ...
'' in the 8th episode (at 06:27-07:30).
Charts
Other cover versions
* In 1967,
Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto (; born Astrud Evangelina Weinert; March 29, 1940 – June 5, 2023) was a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer and songwriter. She gained international attention in the mid-1960s following her recording of the song " The Girl f ...
brought the song to the US, recording it with English lyrics on the Verve/Copacabana label, crediting Bob Russell for the English lyrics.
* The French singer
France Gall
Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall (9 October 1947 – 7 January 2018), known professionally as France Gall, was a French ''yé-yé'' singer. In 1965, at the age of 17, she won the Eurovision Song Contest 1965, tenth edition of the Eurov ...
popularized this song, titled "Zwei Apfelsinen im Haar" in German ("Two oranges in the hair" in English).
* A Czech version named "La banda" was performed by Vladěna Krumlová in 1969.
* Also in 1999 the German band
Captain Jack used a riff from "A Banda" in the song "Get Up".
See also
*
List of ''Billboard'' Easy Listening number ones of 1967
References
Chico Buarque songs
1967 singles
Herb Alpert songs
1960s instrumentals
1966 songs
A&M Records singles
Songs about musicians
Mina (Italian singer) songs
Ri-Fi singles
{{1960s-single-stub