Hey Malhao. The newspaper even wondered whether it was actually Leal's recording which was issued in the Netherlands with Rodrigues simply miming to that song. According to his manager Theo Cuppens, Johnny's version was very faithful to Leal's original recording, but it was definitely Johnny's voice on the record. "Those Portuguese all use a falsetto, that's why both voices sound alike," he stated in Het Vrije Volk. Years later, Dutch journalist Jimmy Tigges used this story in his newspaper column Delftse Toeren where he quoted Hans van Vuuren, archivist of Tee-Set. He stated that Tee Set had re-recorded Roberto Leal's original recording. "You can clearly hear that it's the Tee Set playing those instruments," Mr Van Vuuren said. "Literally copying the original recording from vinyl would have been impossible, given the technical limitations of the day and never reach the quality of the original master". According to Mr Van Vuuren, the backing vocalists were easily recognisable as two major Dutch artists, Patricia Paay and Anita Meyer. You do not hear the Johnny Rodrigues choir on Roberto Leal his recording. Dutch music journalist Leo Blokhuis brought back the story in 2019 in the TV show Top 2000 A Gogo, by stating as fact that it was Roberto Leal's original recording that had been used for Johnny Rodrigues's single. Music publisher Willem van Kooten, who had published Johnny's version (illegally), apparently admitted that he had used Leal's version. Leal himself had already mentioned the case in his 2012 biography As Minhas Montanas. He got hold of a copy of Johnny's single and he was certain it was his voice he was listening to. So who the real singer on Hey mal yo was, remains shrouded in mystery. Discography Singles Radio 2 Top 2000 annual charts References 1951 births 20th-century Cape Verdean male singers Cape Verdean emigrants to the Netherlands 2019 deaths