Mamonas Assassinas

Mamonas Assassinas
OriginGuarulhos, São Paulo, Brazil
GenresRock
Years active1989–1996
LabelsEMI
Past members

Mamonas Assassinas was a Brazilian pop rock band. Their musical style employed a humorous mixture between rock and a wide range of styles, often borrowing elements from other music, among which were the main riff of the Portuguese Vira ("Vira-Vira"), Northeastern Brazilian rhythms like forró ("Jumento Celestino"), Mexican music ("Pelados em Santos"), heavy metal ("Débil Metal"), sertanejo ("Bois Don't Cry"), and even pagode ("Lá Vem o Alemão").

The band's name carries a double-entendre as, in Portuguese, mamonas can be either the name of the Castor oil plant, which contains the highly toxic compound ricin (their logo incorporated a castor bean) or the augmentative for mamas, meaning breasts (which were prominently pictured on the album cover). The band mentioned model Mari Alexandre as an influence to the name, and even translated the name into English as "Killer Big Breasts".[1]

On March 2, 1996, the plane in which the band was traveling crashed into the Cantareira mountain range, near São Paulo, killing all five band members. Their short lived and "meteoric" success were celebrated for decades and the members are remembered and celebrated even to the present day in Brazil.[2][3]

  1. ^ "Mamonas Assassinas". Por Toda a Minha Vida. 2008-07-10. Rede Globo.
  2. ^ "Com orçamento de R$3 mi, musical sobre Mamonas quer conquistar nova geração" [With a R$3 mi budged, musical about Mamonas targets new generation] (in Portuguese). UOL. 2 February 2016. a banda, que fez sucesso meteórico entre 1995 e 1996
  3. ^ "Internautas homenageiam Mamonas Assassinas 21 anos após acidente" [Mamonas Assassinas is celebrated by users on the internet 21 years after accident]. O Globo. 2 March 2017.