British-born Richard David Court (aka Ritchie) came to Brazil in the early 1970s, after meeting the folks from Os Mutantes when they were on tour in the UK, and they invited him to come visit. He did, and wound up playing in various prog-rock, art-rock and jazz bands for the rest of the decade. In the early '80s Ritchie emerged as a pop star, one of the leading artists in Brazil's nascent "new wave" synthpop scene. Here's a quick look at his work...
Everyone Involved "Either/Or" (Arcturus Music, 1972)
Ritchie Court played flute on this fanciful hippie-folk album... One thousand copies were printed up, and were all distributed for free. You can still hear it for free, via one of the band members' website...
Vimana "Zebra" (Som Livre, 1977) (single)
A prog-rock band with a very interesting story (although I doubt I'd really like the record...) Vimana was a short-lived band that had as its members a very high concentration of influential rock stars... The original core of the band came from a collaboration between guitarist Lulu Santos and keyboardist Luiz Paulo Simas and drummer Candinho, both from the wild psych-prog band Modulo 1000. In 1975, Candinho left and two new members joined: rocker Lobao, who would go on to form the band Blitz and then become a huge success as a solo artist, and the British-born Richard David Court (aka Ritchie) who became one of Brazil's best-known new wave artists of the early '80s. They recorded two albums; one was released and the other was shelved, and everything was fine until they hooked up with Euro-progster Patrick Moraz, who had played keyboards with Yes for a couple of years, and who decided to take over Vimana and make it his own band. He kicked Santos out and that was the beginning of the end. Like I say, I dunno if I'd really give two hoots about this particular record, but man, what what a story.
Jim Capaldi "Let The Thunder Cry" (EMI, 1981)
In the early '80s, Ritchie briefly returned to the UK, and was recruited to play on this Brazilian-themed solo album by Jim Capaldi, of Traffic., along with a crew of British studio musicians...
Ritchie "Voo De Coracao" (Epic, 1983)
Ritchie "...E A Vida Continua" (1984)
Ritchie "Circular" (CBS, 1985)
Relentlessly perky, blandly produced, disco-y "new wave," very much in keeping with the pop side of early MTV programming (A-Ha, Wham, et al.) of the time. It isn't until the last two songs on Side Two of this album that there's any break in the monotony. But even then, this disc hasn't much to recommend itself. Ritchie apparently worked with many members of the Brazilian rock elite in the 1970s and '80s -- Cazuza, Lulu Santos, Caetano Veloso -- before going solo in 1983. This was, I believe, his third album. If you liked Vinicius Cantuaria's early solo work, then this might appeal to you as well...
Ritchie "Loucura E Magica" (Philips, 1987) (LP)
Ritchie "Pra Ficar Contigo" (1988)
Ritchie "Sexto Sentido" (1990)
Tigres De Bengala "Tigres De Bengala" (CBS-Epic, 1993)
(Produced by Mayrton Bahia)
Sort of an MPB art-rock/new wave/jazz all-star set, with synth-popper Ritchie joined by Dadi and Mu (from the band A Cor Do Som), Vincius Canturia, and Claudio Zoli, from the band Brylho.
Ritchie "Auto-Fidelidade" (Deckdisc, 2000)
Ritchie "Anos 80" (2005)
A live album...
Ritchie "Outra Vez" (PopSongs, 2009)
Ritchie "Outra Vez" (PopSongs, 2009) (DVD)
Ritchie "60" (2012)
