Marcelo Fromer (December 3, 1961 – June 13, 2001) was the guitarist of

Brazilian rock Brazilian rock refers to rock music produced in Brazil and usually sung in Portuguese language, Portuguese. In the 1960s it was known as , from the Portuguese transcription of the line "Yeah, yeah, yeah" from the Beatles song "She Loves You". Ov ...

band

Titãs Titãs () are a Brazilian rock band from São Paulo. Though they basically play pop/alternative rock, their music has touched a number of other styles throughout their 30-year career, such as new wave, punk rock, grunge, MPB and electronic mu ...

. One of the founding members and also the band's manager, he died in 2001, after being hit by a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

while jogging.

Early life and youth

Marcelo Fromer grew up in São Paulo in a house frequently visited by friends like

Branco Mello Branco Mello (; born Claudio Corrêa de Mello Júnior on March 16, 1962) is a Brazilian musician and actor, best known as the vocalist and bassist of Brazilian rock band Titãs. He has also played small but significant roles for the movies. C ...

, whom he met in 1974, in the Hugo Sarmento school. When he was 15 years old, he discovered

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Chico Buarque Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic, ...

and the

Tropicália Tropicália (), also known as Tropicalismo (), was a Brazilian artistic movement that arose in the late 1960s. It was characterized by the amalgamation of Brazilian genres—notably the union of the pop culture, popular and the avant-garde, as ...

, and started having guitar lessons with

Luiz Tati Luiz is a Portuguese given name that is an alternative form of Luís. It's archaic in Portugal, but common in Brazil. Notable people referred to by this name include the following: People *Luiz Bonfá (1922-2001), Brazilian guitarist and composer ...

, of the group Rumo. While studying at Equipe school, he met

Tony Bellotto Antonio Carlos Liberalli Bellotto (; born June 30, 1960) is a Brazilian musician and writer, best known as the lead guitarist of Brazilian rock band Titãs. He has also written and released several books. Childhood Bellotto spent his childhood ...

and formed the Trio Mamão with him and Mello. As he hated singing, he was the only one dedicated exclusively to the acoustic guitar. Also at Equipe school, he, Mello and other classmates created the "Papagaio" magazine, featuring comics, poetry and texts about the internal decisions of the school. But he would never stop composing and playing.

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

would also play an important role on his life. Trusty supporter of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, he managed to train for the young team of the club. Once he finished school, he entered Linguistics at USP together with Mello, but both quit it two years later.

Works with Titãs

In 1981, Titãs made their first performance (under the name Titãs do Iê-Iê) at the event “A Idade da Pedra Jovem”. Fromer became a little excited and decided to play the electric guitar like an acoustic one, without a pick. At the end of the night, his fingers were seriously injured and there was blood all over his white

Giannini Giannini is a Brazilian musical instruments manufacturing company, based in Salto, São Paulo. Products currently manufactured by Giannini include electric, steel-string acoustic, nylon-string acoustic and bass guitars. Other string instrum ...

. In 1984, with the releasing of Titãs first album, Fromer showed that he could work as a businessman, and he was chosen to be the manager the band. Another passion of Fromer, which appeared mostly during the first tours of the band, was the

gastronomy Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastr ...

. He would always choose the restaurants were the group should eat throughout the country. This passion would be the subject of the song "As Aventuras do Guitarrista Gourmet Atrás da Refeição Ideal", featured at ''

Como Estão Vocês? ''Como Estão Vocês?'' (Portuguese for "How Are You?") is the twelfth studio album released by Brazilian rock band Titãs. It was the first album by the band without vocalist/bassist Nando Reis and also the first without any contribution by guita ...

''. His "business-gourmet" lives would join each other at Rock Dog (word play with

Hot Dog A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced Hot dog bun, bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener (Vienna sausag ...

), a snack bar specialized in hot dogs that he opened in 1989, in São Paulo, in a partnership of his brothers Thiago and Cuca, and the band members Mello and Bellotto. In 2000, he became a partner of the Campana, a Pizza shop also located in São Paulo. A year before, he released the book ''Você Tem Fome de Quê?'', in which he listed cookery recipes from many restaurants of Brazil, along with tablatures and curiosities of Titãs main hits.

Other works

Fromer left unfinished a biography of former football player and TV commentator

Walter Casagrande Wálter Casagrande Júnior (born 15 April 1963), sometimes known as just Casagrande, is a Brazilian football pundit and retired footballer, who played as a forward. Club career During his career, which spanned from 1980 to 1996, Casagrande pl ...

, his personal friend. The project was resumed in 2008 by Gilvan Ribeiro and released in 2013.

Death

On June 11, 2001, a day before the start of the recording of the band's 13th album,'' A Melhor Banda de Todos os Tempos da Última Semana'', Fromer was crossing Europa Avenue in southern São Paulo when a red

Honda CG125 The Honda CG125 or Honda CG is a commuter motorcycle made by Honda of Japan. It was in production from 1976 to 2008 in Japan and has been in production since 1992 in Pakistan. The CG was originally manufactured in Japan, but the source for the E ...

motorcycle, driven by Erasmo Castro da Costa Jr., struck him. Erasmo called an ambulance, but fled the scene when the police arrived, as his driving license was no longer valid. Two days later, Fromer died in hospital. Presumably, his head struck Erasmo's helmet. In July 2002, Erasmo was found by the police. He stated he did not know the man he struck was Fromer until his death. He also alleged that Fromer was to blame for the accident, as there was a crosswalk 15 meters away; Fromer decided to cross the avenue between the cars, making it impossible for Erasmo to see Fromer. Fromer's family authorized the donation of his organs. His

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

liver The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for ...

pancreas The pancreas is an organ of the digestive system and endocrine system of vertebrates. In humans, it is located in the abdomen behind the stomach and functions as a gland. The pancreas is a mixed or heterocrine gland, i.e. it has both an end ...

kidneys The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

, and his

cornea The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and lens, the cornea refracts light, accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power ...

s were all donated. On September 7, 2001, a

skyway A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of enclos ...

named after him was inaugurated over Avenida Juscelino Kubitschek, in São Paulo.

Personal life

Fromer lived in São Paulo. By the end of the 1980s, he was in a relationship with actress

Betty Gofman Betty Gofman (Rio de Janeiro, June 3, 1965) is a Brazilian stage, film, and television actress. Descended from Russian-Austrian Jews, she is married to philosopher Hugo Barreto, with whom she has two daughters, the twins Alice and Helena, and she ...

. His first marriage with Martha Locatelli Fromer brought along his first child, Susy. His second marriage to Ana Cristina Martinelli, also known as "Tina", resulted in the birth of children Alice and Max.

References

Fromer’s page at Titãs official web site

Folha’s news about Fromer’s death

External links

Titãs official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fromer, Marcelo 1961 births 2001 deaths Brazilian composers Brazilian guitarists Brazilian male guitarists Brazilian Jews Brazilian rock musicians Brazilian songwriters Pedestrian road incident deaths Musicians from São Paulo Road incident deaths in Brazil Titãs members Acoustic guitarists University of São Paulo alumni Rhythm guitarists 20th-century guitarists 20th-century male musicians