A Banda is a 1966 Brazilian song written and performed by Chico Buarque. It was first performed with Nara Leão at the II MPB Festival in TV Record’s theatre, São Paulo, where it won the Viola de Ouro for best composition. The tune was released that year on the LP Chico Buarque de Hollanda (Vol. 1) on the RGE label, and it blends MPB with marchinha. The lyrics describe a cheerful band passing through a town, making people pause to listen to love songs before everyday life returns to normal. The song helped launch Buarque’s fame in Brazil, with about 55,000 copies sold in four days. It has been covered widely: Mina recorded an Italian version titled La banda in 1967; France Gall issued a German version Zwei Apfelsinen im Haar in 1968; Astrud Gilberto released an English version; Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass issued an instrumental version in 1967 that charted in the US.
