7 Figures in the Renewal of Popular Music

Even though their first records would only be published in the first half of the following decade, a 'New Portuguese Song' was born from the hope ignited by Humberto Delgado's campaign in 1958. New directions, revealed by the courage and invention of José Afonso (1929–1987), were explored in diverse and highly personalized ways by a generation of younger singer-songwriters, born between 1942 and 1948. From the new Coimbra Ballad to the inevitable impact of Anglo-Saxon novelties, there was a rediscovery of traditional music from here and from the former Portuguese colonies, in songs where the word and the desire for change were central.