This study intends to highlight the works of songwriter Marino Pinto, in the scenery of Brazilian popular music, focusing on some aspects of cultural life in Rio de Janeiro between the 1930s and the 1960s. With his lyrics being constantly recorded by different singers, the topicality of his songs was discussed. The Radio Era, the relationship musical partners that met constantly in places like Café Nice, the professionalization of the phonographic market, the fight for authors rights, musical production for Carnival and the middle of the year, Copacabana s nightclubs and the rise of bossa nova are some of the topics examined. Without being able to play any instrument but a matchbox, sometimes writing the lyrics and sometimes the melody, Marino Pinto created songs with diverse collaborators. This work gathers rare recordings, little known images and unpublished interviews with musical artists, researchers and others linked to the songwriter.