Rossini Pinto was born on 24 January 1937, in Ponte de Itabapoana-ES, having grown up in Rio de Janeiro-DF. Still very young, Rossini worked at Jornal dos Sports. In 1960, wrote a song on top of a poem written by recently elected President Janio Quadros which attracted a lot of attention from the media. At this time he wrote a gardening column for prestigious 'Correio da Manhã'.
By late 1960, Correio da Manhã's music column 'Esquina Sonora' lost its titular Nicodemus, so Rossini was invited to write the column even though he didn't sign his name at the bottom. By early 1961, his name started appearing at the top of the column; he had bumped into a gold mine. As he was signed as a singer by Columbia (later known as CBS), he plugged their records and performers. He developed a writing partnership with Fernando Costa, another singer song-writer at Columbia.
Rossini Pinto's greatest hit ever was 'Amor e desprezo', in 1963. Having a nasal and plaintive voice he probably thought he hadn't much of a future as a singer so he stopped recording and concentrated on writing songs or translating foreign hits into Portuguese for other acts. He landed a job as a A&R man at CBS and made a lot of money.
Rossini wrote many songs for Roberto Carlos. In 1964, 'Um leão está solto nas ruas' for the album 'É proibido fumar'; in 1965, 'Parei, olhei' for 'Roberto Carlos canta para a juventude' and 'Eu te adoro meu amor' for 'Jovem Guarda'; in 1967 he finally wrote 'Só vou gostar de quem gosta de mim' for 'Roberto Carlos em rítmo de aventura'.
Rossini Pinto died on 25 June 1985.
19 May 1963 - Rio de Janeiro daily 'Correio da Manhã' had a musical column called 'Esquina sonora' written by journalist Rossini Pinto who was also a song writer & an aspiring singer having recorded at CBS. Rossini would eventually become an A&R (Artist & Repertoire) man at CBS.
Rossini was an active man who was always on the go. On the left he offers photos of teen-idols to those readers who wrote to 'Clube do Rock' c/o Radio Tupi do Rio de Janeiro - where he had a daily radio show. Foreign stars such as Elvis Presley, Neil Sedaka, Paul Anka, Chubby Checker, Nico Fidenco, Peppino di Capri, Ricky Nelson or their Brazilian counter-parts as Roberto Carlos, Sergio Murilo, Demétrius, Rossini Pinto (himself), Wanderlea, Célia Vilela, Selmita, Tony Campello, Cleide Alves and Clério Morais.
On the right, Rossini started a competition among his readers who would write care of 'Correio da Manhã' / 'Esquina sonora' and vote for her/his favourite disc jockey:
1. José Duba (Radio Metropolitana)
2. Luiz Fernando (Radio Tupi)
3. Jair de Taumaturgo (Mayrink Veiga)
4. Luiz de Carvalho (Globo)
5. José Messias (Guanabara)
6. Roberto Muniz (Globo)
7. Jair Amorim (Guanabara)
8. Waldyr Machado (Mauá)
9. Moacyr Bastos (Radio Rio de Janeiro)
10. José Soares - Metropolitana
11. Oliveira Filho (Guanabara)
12. Euclides Duarte (Mauá)
13. Othon Bastos (Mauá)
14. Sergio Porto (Mayrink Veiga)
15. Teonir Buteri (Vera Cruz)
'Melodias', June 1963 - With a hit under his belt, 'Amor e desprezo', Rossini Pinto became news in São Paulo too - up to that point he was a Rio de Janeiro persona. That's the 1st time I ever heard his name. I used to like 'Amor e desprezo' although it's such a self-pity statement.
1962 e 1963 foram anos de transição e consolidação do rock'n'roll como maneira de expressão da juventude brasileira, principalmente com o surgimento de novíssimos conjuntos instrumentais a começar por The Jet Blacks, The Jordans e The Clevers.
Ao mesmo tempo, o bolero, as versões de músicas estrangeiras e até o tango ainda imperavam na Parada de Sucesso.
TV Excelsior, inaugurada em 1960, se consolidava como a mais popular do país... uma verdadeira revolução nos meios de comunicação. Vivíamos tempos de mudança no vídeo.
List of Rio radio stations that played rock'n'roll published by Rossini Pinto at his column at 'Correio da Manhã' on 2nd August 1961 and 13 October 1961.
3rd August 1961 - Rossini shows where to listen to rock hits in Rio de Janeiro; Rossini prints the list of most popular tunes at Jair de Taumaturgo's 'Peça bis pelo telefone' on 29 November 1961.
'Revista do Rock' no. 7, February 1961 gives 2 pages to DJ-song-writer-singer Rossini Pinto. Rossini Pinto tells his story regarding his meetin with future President Janio Quadros.
'Revista do Rock' no. 7, February 1961, with a long article about Rossini Pinto. The story goes Rossini worked as a journalist first for 'Jornal dos Sports' and later for 'Correio da Manhã' where wrote a daily column about new released records. Rossini knew there was money in the music business and wanted to become a song-writer when a friend of his approached him with an offer he couldn't refuse. It was April 1960, and this chap had come across a poem written by Janio Quadros, a populist politician who was no. 1 in the polls to become the next Brazilian president in general elections that would take place in 6 months. Mr Quadros had written 'Convite ao amor' in 1939, while he was still in college. This friend of Rossini's urged him to put music to those words, record it himself and release it before the elections. And that's what Rossini did. He was lucky enough to have met Janio Quadros personally on a plane going to São Paulo who agreed with the funny idea.
Rossini went to Copacabana Discos who enlisted the services of Betinho & His Combo plus the vocal backing of The Golden Boys and the record was soon released. Rossini who up to that moment had only sang in the shower became a vocalist overnight. Come October 1960, and Mr Quadros win the election and becomes the President of Brazil.
That's when 'Revista do Radio' approaches Rossini for an interview about his immediate future. Rossini was on top of the world and had his eyes on a position he might 'earn' from the President: a 'job' as 'something' at Brazil's commercial office in New York City, U.S.A. Rossini said he would take his mother (Iracema) and his older brother (Norberto) along for the ride.
Six months later, 25 August 1961, Rossini's dreams of living in the USA came to nothing when Mr Janio Quadros resigned to the Presidency, barely 8 months in office.
