Ronnie Cord, born Ronald Cordovil, (Manhuaçu, January 22, 1943 - São Paulo, January 6, 1986) was a Brazilian singer who was very active in the 60s, also responsible for the popularity of the Brazilian musical movement known as Jovem Guarda, which launched Roberto Carlos and others.
Son of conductor and composer Hervé Cordovil, he already played guitar at age six. In 1959 he auditioned for Copacabana Records, in Rio de Janeiro. In 1960, the following year, he made his first recording, released as part of compilations on long-playing records that brought together several other singers. Then, Ronnie’s father Herve, chose 16 year-old Brian Hyland's 'Itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka-dot bikini' that had been #1 at the singles chart in the USA in August 1960 for Ronnie to cover. Ronnie's cover turned out better than the original due to Herve's careful production. He even went out of his way to include a munchkin's choir sing the chorus.
In early 1964 Herve Cordovil thought he might sit down and write a rock tune himself. Why not? Instead of translating a foreign hit he would write a song with an appeal to young people's tastes. 'Rua Augusta' (August Street) is considered by many a-rock historians as being the very first Brazilian rock recording. It turned out to be a
big hit all over the country ushering in a lot of other songs dealing with cars, traffic, speed and play-boys. Roberto Carlos, who would soon become the biggest rock act in the country released 'Parei na contra-mão' (I stopped at a one-way street) soon after.
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| Ronnie & Herve |
As a follow-up to 'Rua Augusta', Herve Cordovil adapted the words of Ronnie's 1960 hit 'Itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka-dot bikini' into Portuguese as 'Biquini de bolinha amarelinha tão pequenininho' and it went to the top again 4 years later. The girl with the tiny bikini in the Brazilian version is called Anna Maria, who was the name of Ronnie's real-life sweet-heart. Anna Maria was an Italian girl who came to Brazil and decided to stay.
Ronnie & Anna Maria kept a low profile with their 3 children, Adriana being born on 2 January 1966. Unfortunately, Ronnie died of lung cancer at the young age of 42 on 6 January 1986, at Beneficencia Portuguesa Hospital.
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In 2009, "Rua Augusta" was voted one of the 100 Greatest Brazilian Music by Rolling Stone Brasil, ranking 99th.
(Edited mainly from an article by Carlus Maximus @ brazilian-rock.blogspot)