Pete Dunaway – Pete Dunaway

The singer, keyboardist, guitarist and producer, Otavio Augusto Fernandes Cardoso, known by the stage name Pete Dunaway, is one of the many Brazilian musicians who, in the 1970s, sang in English to attend a market that demanded songs in English. He used, for example, other pseudonyms such as August and Duncan, and also was part of bands like Memphis and Uncle Jack. During the 1970s, he wrote several songs and created several instrumental themes for telenovelas Rede Globo and Tv Tupi. His personal signature was the melodious ballads, permeated by beautiful arrangements, very well elaborated.

Conceived in the studios of Som Livre in 1974, the great Pete Dunaway did a work with strong influences from Soul and Funk - perhaps with a strong influence from the Philly Soul - but with a verve of pop music. Highlight for the tracks "Just A Man", "and Its Ok", that bring this musical aesthetic. Of course, the biggest highlight is the "Super Market" track, the last one on the B side, which perhaps represents one of the greatest examples of Brazilian songs made in the 70's with an English vocals and with notable references to what happens in Soul / Funk of the US at that time. This track, by the way, is one of the reasons that this album is so sought after these days. It was not by accident,, this same track won a reissue in 45 ", through the British label, Mr. Bongo.

Still in the 1970s, Pete Dunaway had a notable participation in parties that stirred the night of São Paulo at that moment, at the Pinheiros Club. At that time, he was not known as Pete Dunaway; was known as "Otavinho". However, he did not pursue singer career, despite his vocation. Today he works in advertising. Still on the record of 1974, based on my diggins by Brazil, I can say that, without a doubt, that good copies of the copies are in São Paulo, perhaps by a distribution methodology. I hardly see a copy of this record in other cities in Brazil.

The musician Guilherme Arantes, a notable figure in Brazilian pop and AOR, remembers the musician Pete Dunaway with a lot of affection and gratitude, because in 1976, in the same studios of Som Livre, Pete Dunaway made the basic arrangements and the production of the first record of Guilherme Arantes. He also produced the first record of Rita Lee, "Fruto Proibido". According to Guilherme Arantes, Pete Dunaway was the person who saw his talent. So besides being a great musician, Pete Dunaway was also a great producer, an element of a generation of people who loved what they were doing, a generation that worked for the recording industry, not for show business as it is nowadays. . So any attempt to rescue this period, that specific phase in Brazilian music, has to be done in a way that people try to reevaluate this generation, who did what, who were the people who produced the records, who were the authors , the musicians, the artists. It is these doubts that move the world, are not they? And it is through such doubts that we discover great musicians like Pete Dunaway.