MOG

The general opinion around Elis Regina is that she's Brazil's greatest singer.Ever. I won't really get into that because:

1) it doesn't matter 2) as author Nelson Rodrigues once put it: every unanimity is stupid.

Anyway, one can't deny the woman is a hell of a singer. Her interpretation was sometimes very extreme and some people don't dig that. I like it. I love her interviews because she always spoke her mind about the industry around her, something I can't really imagine many brazilian artists doing right now. Only her popularity kept her from being jailed by the military government in Brazil in the 60's and 70's.

It's sad to think that today she would probably be ignored by the local music industry. I work for a major music company in Rio de Janeiro and I know how it works. As it turns out, most people I work with don't even like music, they don't really care about it and all they can say all day long is: "piracy, piracy, piracy...". The best excuse for their own incompetence I guess.

Anyway, let's get back to the music:

"Velha Roupa Colorida" (Antonio Carlos Belchior) is one of my favourite tracks from one of her classic albums "Falso Brilhante".

Unfortunately she died at the age of 37 from some death mix, of alcohol and drugs.