In 1985, Paraguay issued a souvenir sheet commemorating Luis Alberto del Paraná (1926 – 1974) and the “Galopera”. Luis Alberto del Paraná was a popular Paraguayan singer and guitarist. During the fifties, sixties and early seventies, he traveled extensively around the globe with his group Los Paraguayos, popularizing Paraguayan music. He is the best-selling Paraguayan musician ever sharing the stage with The Beatles and recorded with The Rolling Stones.
Luis Alberto del Paraná and “Los Paraguayos” sold more than 30,000,000 records, more than 650,000 tape cassettes, and traveled more than 1,000,000 kilometers during their tours. Tragically, in 1974, at the age of 48, he died of a stroke while in a hotel in London. He was buried in Asunción in Paraguay.
The Galopera is a lively Paraguayan folk dance where a woman alone or in a group may balance a pitcher or a jug on their head while they dance to demonstrate grace and balance.
The stamp to the right of the picture of the band bears a portrait of Luis Alberto del Paraná and has a denomination of 100 Guarani. What is unusual about this souvenir sheet is that superimposed over the picture of the band is a clear plastic record with Paraguayan music that is playable on a phonograph. If you look closely at the scan, you can see the faint whitish outlines of a circle that is the record. The hole that centers the record on the phonograph player is strategically placed on the guitar held by the band member to the right of the harpist. There were only 5,000 souvenir sheets issued.
Image of the souvenir sheet courtesy of an Ebay listing by Starikfishing (http://www.ebay.de/itm/Paraguay-1985-GALOPERA-Stamp-block-with-RECORD-BLOCK-mit-SCHALLPLATTE-RAR-MNH-/201734734671)
Biography of Luis Alberto del Paraná courtesy of Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Alberto_del_Paran%C3%A1)
Description of the Galopera courtesy of Google Answers (http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=310688)
