Toyota Corolla was once a bossa nova album in the voice of a Brazilian

The passion that the Japanese have for Brazil goes beyond Ayrton Senna; They also enjoy our music. Bossa nova was a global success in the 60s and captivated the Japanese, to the point that they called a Brazilian singer to record a song for the Toyota Corolla.

This happened 25 years before the Corolla arrived in Brazil through imports and 29 years before it started to be made in Indaiatuba (SP). The young singer from Rio de Janeiro, Claudya, stage name of Maria das Graças Rallo, recorded in 1969 the album O Meu Corolla exclusively for the Japanese market.

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She started her career early, being a crooner from the age of 13; he participated in the program O Fino da Bossa in the late 60s and won the I Fluminense Song Festival. Claudya represented Brazil in international festivals, in countries such as Japan, Greece, Spain, Mexico and Venezuela, but it took her a while to gain projection here.

In 1969, Claudya was invited to do a season in Japan, where she spent six months singing in various houses. That’s when the recording of the album O Meu Corolla took place, which was financed by Toyota.

The album featured an interesting compilation of songs: bossa nova classics such as “Água de Beber”, “Corcovado” and “Mas Que Nada”, the international “No Star In The Sky” sung in Japanese and others. In the midst of this was the bilingual jingle “O Meu Corolla”, promoting the car.

This album was released only in Japan, although some of the songs in Portuguese came out in Brazil on other albums by the singer. In 2020, the label Discobertas released the album in Brazil, bringing us 11 hitherto unreleased songs by Claudya here and giving us access to this excerpt from the beginning of her career.

The singer from Rio de Janeiro gained greater national projection in the following decade. Owner of a powerful voice, she recorded iconic samba and MPB songs such as “Deixa Eu Dizer”, “Com Mais de 30”, “Pois É, Seu Zé” and “Agora Quem Ri”.

Claudya appeared again in the media in 2008 when “Deixa Eu Dizer” was sampled by Marcelo D2 in “Desabafo”. The singer is still active and on tour, with a voice that doesn’t seem to age and a career as long as the Toyota Corolla.