Biography

Carlos Paião was one of Portugal's favorite songwriters/performers of the 1980's. Although the artist did not live to see what could have been his prime years, he penned better than five hundred songs during his life as an artist, many of which became national hits. Carlos Manuel de Marques Paião was born in Coimbra in November of 1957. Though he loved and was drawn to music, his gifts were second guessed by his elders. Even after winning two awards at the Festival da Canção de Ílhavo (1978), his parents pursued the advice of experts Valentim de Carvalho and Mário Martins to find out whether or not their son had talent. As it turned out, Martins liked Paião's material so much that he brought some of the recordings to Portuguese music legend Amália Rodrigues. Thanks to these introductions Paião began to enjoy success as a songwriter. His composition "Cação do Beijinho" was recorded by Herman Jose, earning the artist a Gold Record in 1981. That same year Paião found himself competing in the Festival RTP da Cançao. His song "Play-Back" not only took first place, but brought him all the way to the famed Eurovision Song Contest, which he won. A string of successful singles solidified Paião's place as Portugal's hottest up and coming author. Songs written for other artists such as "Trocas e Baldrocas" (recorded by Cândida Branca Flôr) and "O Senhor Extra-Terrestre" (recorded by Amália Rodrigues) achieved great success. Similarly Carlos' own singles "Marcha do Pião-das-Nicas" and "Telefonia" earned him prestige not only amongst other recording artists, but with the Portuguese public. His debut solo record Algarismos was released that year by EMI. In 1983 Paião completed his studies to become a medical doctor, still not losing focus on his trajectory as a musician. Paião's catalog continued to grow, composing hit after hit for himself and others. A compilation of his best songs was released in 1985, entitled O Melhor de Carlos Paião. In august of 1988, a short month before the release of his third album Intervalo, Carlos Paião was killed in a car accident following a concert in Leiria. The nation mourned the lost of his talent, lifting up album single "Quando as Nuvens Chorarem" (when the clouds cry) as an anthem of their grief. Numerous post-mortem compilations were released, many of which enjoyed were well received by the Portuguese public. A 2007 release Perfil rose to #11 on sales charts, nearly a decade after the artist's death. ~ Evan C. Gutierrez, Rovi