Afonsinhos do Condado was a Portuguese band founded in Lisbon in 1984, although it operated since 1978 under other names.
Signed by PolyGram, through the intervention of Ricardo Camacho, they released their first record in 1987, a maxi-single with three songs from which the single A Salsa das Amoreiras is extracted. Another theme from this album entitled “O Ship” featured Rui Veloso. But it would be the success of A Salsa das Amoreiras that would lead the band to fame, immediately becoming a huge radio hit. This song perfectly exemplifies the band’s style: good humor and the influence of Latin American music such as Salsa and merengue.
In 1988, their first album entitled Açúcar was released, produced by Ramon Galarza (who would later collaborate on other projects of the band), in which musicians such as Mário Laginha or Edgar Caramelo, among others, recorded. In fact, the band would always have a plethora of guest musicians of recognized caliber, both in recordings and in shows.
In 1989, they released the EP No Parque Mayer, featuring Kalú, drummer of the band Xutos & Pontapés, guest on the theme “Rapariguinha”. The song “Jújú e a sua Banda” was taken to the Festival RTP da Canção in 1990. That same year, the compilation Afonsinhos do Condado was edited (which will have two editions: in LP and EP), with two new songs.
The band was active until 1991, performing in Portugal and abroad (France, Canada), in festivals, television programs, etc. Since then there have been some re-editions and inclusion in compilations, notably the re-edition of Açúcar (PolyGram, 1998), 10 years after the first edition, and the compilation Leva-me Contigo (Universal, 2001) which brought to light two themes unpublished.
