Book rock history for “fantasy parents and punk kids”

O rita Nabais’ book, with illustrations by Tiago Albuquerque, “The History of Portuguese Rock (for fanatical parents and children with punkada)”, by Escapandro Editions, appeared following another, by the same author and publisher, “The History of Rock (for fanatical parents and children with punkada)”, with illustrations by Joana Raimundo, edited in 2017 and had a revised edition and increased in 2019.

“ When I started performing international rock history, there was always someone who wondered why there were no Portuguese bands. And this idea grew,” said Rita Nabais, in statements to Lusa.

Considering that it would not be fair to add a few Portuguese bands to the initial book, he decided to make a book about Portuguese rock.

About four, five years ago, the author came to a first “protolist” of bands and artists, “a very incipient thing”, which served as a starting point.

“ Then I really sat down, bought all the books that there was to buy about Portuguese rock, which are not so many, and started doing research ", he told.

In the work are represented hundreds of artists and bands, from the 1950s to the present, from rock, but not only, since the book was “contaminated” by the way Rita Nabais sees the music: “Rock is a lot, it has many subgenres, but there are other genres, which are somehow linked to rock.”.

“ And there are artists who are so important that I couldn't help but mention them. For example, today [the day Rita Nabais spoke to Lusa] is a sad day for our country, because Jorge Palma, one of the largest, Portuguese singers and composers and pianists and all. Jorge Palma didn't exactly rock, although he was in rock bands, but it's in the book. Like Sérgio Godinho, Fausto, José Mário Branco and Zeca Afonso. I mean, it's not rock, but I always find a way to connect them in a way that is fair to be in the book. Because they influenced so many bands,” he said.

The book is divided into several chapters, such as “The First Rockers”, “Yeah!!”, “Song Writers”, “Modernity”, “Rendez-Vous Generation”, “Alternative Nation”, “Well Measured Years 90”, “Rime and Beats”, “Coimbra has more...punk rock!”, “Musculated Rock”, “North Guitars”, “Popronics” and “Super Bands”, among others.

“There are genres that run away from rock, but they’re still there,” he said.

Throughout the chapters are 164 artists and bands entitled to small texts and an illustrated portrait. In addition to these, there are hundreds of other names of artists and bands, with suggestions of songs each.

“I always leave a suggestion from other bands of the same genre with themes that readers can know. You can't put all the bands in one chapter, but you can leave suggestions and it gets a little rich and it also takes away that feeling of 'balls, I can't put all the bands that maybe deserved to be in the book',” he said.

With the first book, Rita Nabais thought it was “to catch the adults more, but she also caught the children”.

Initially the reactions came from parents, “especially melomaniac parents, people who love music or like rock, who found the book interesting and funny.”.

“ Then we received completely unexpected reactions: ‘Thank you Rita, my son only listened to kizomba and finally I have a book to explore with him other types of music’. I also had parents who told me that they read an artist per night [the children] and then they would listen to the songs I suggested. There were dozens and dozens of parents giving very positive feedback. It is a book intergenerations”, shared.

When the first book was edited in 2017, Rita told Lusa that that rock encyclopedia (also with contamination in pop, punk or hip-hop) intended to fill a void in the field of informative books for the younger ones.

Almost ten years later, “there is still a void, even because there is still not, at least until now, a book, for example, on Portuguese music for children”.

“There are several books, there is a children’s biography about António Variations, there is one about Zé Pedro. Now a book that has, in an encyclopedia format, for children, that explains the origins, sounds, contexts, in a fun way, I think there really was nothing ", said.

The previous book was eventually edited in other countries, such as Sweden, the United States, Mexico and Canada, but this will be more difficult: “Maybe Brazil and Spain could be interested in Portuguese rock artists. Nothing's impossible. I would love to, but it is in fact a more internal consumer book and to try to fill a gap too”.

“There are a lot of people who think that [Portuguese] rock just started with Rui Veloso and that’s not true. That was the most wonderful thing to research in this book. Moreover, there is very little literature compared with other countries, of course, about Portuguese rock. There are biographies of bands, there are some books, but there is still much to do in Portugal, especially for the world of children ", said.

“The History of Portuguese Rock (for fanatical parents and children with punkada)” had the support of the Portuguese Society of Authors (SPA), through the Cultural Fund of that institution, which “allowed printing the book”.

“ We've been able to bear all the costs, but they've been increasing enormously. For example, the price of paper, people sometimes have no idea, almost doubled. Making a book now, or doing it nine years ago, is very different”, lamented.

Without the support of SPA, “it would be very difficult” for a small publisher such as Escapandro, of which Rita Nabais is part, to have succeeded in accomplishing the work.

The book is presented today in Alcobaça, in the Warehouse of Arts, by Rita Nabais, with editor Nuno Marques Valente, musician Fernando Ribeiro, dos Moonspell, and Tiago Albuquerque.

After the presentation there will be DJ sessions set, by António Manzarra, who was part of the band Us Forretas Occultos, “who will be just putting Portuguese music on vinyl”, and Fernando Ribeiro.

Then, there will be presentations in stores of the FNAC chain by the country, “always with luxurious guests linked to music”, the first being scheduled for October 2nd at the shop of Avenida de Roma, in a session that will feature musical researcher João Carlos Callixto, the founder of the Claves, band of the 1960s, Luís Freitas Branco and singers Carlos Mendes, which was of the Sheiks, and Benjamin.

The book is available from today on the site of Escapander Editions, in independent bookstores and in FNAC stores.