One of the most unknown groups of the phase nicknamed “Portuguese Rock Boom” was Brigada do Reumático. Formed by João Azevedo (bass), João Braga (guitar), Paulo Braga (guitar), Carlos Costa (drums), Nuno Ludovice (keys, vocals) and Paulo Ferreira (guitar), Brigada do Reumático was a group with a new wave sound.
The band’s added value was the fact that it had three guitars, achieving a strong harmonic corpus, highlighted by João Azevedo’s competent bass. The most painful side was found in the voice of Nuno Ludovice, who had very little interpretative agility. Although the group’s known themes did not fit in very well with what was being done at the time, when it appeared on the famous program “Febre de Sábado de Manhã”, hosted by Júlio Isidro, it can be said that it had a reasonable acceptance.
In addition to a seven-inch released in 1982, a music video was also made, as was the name used at the time, which may be in some hidden place in the RTP archives. The group participated in the Só Rock competition held at Jardim da Sereia in Coimbra in 1981 and, despite not reaching the final, they managed to get some exposure that caught the attention of the publisher Promusix who published them.
However, the relationship between the band and the record company was not the best, especially after the album pressing process resulted in poor results, with variations in speed as the songs unfolded. The Rheumatic Brigade demanded a second pressing, which will happen but will not solve all the problems.
The expectations of the group’s continuity in the face of this disastrous experience ended up being dashed and due to the fact that most of the group’s members were already carrying out their respective professional activities, little by little, the enthusiasm began to wane, ending up in the band’s dissolution the following year.
