90s brought groups such as Rivermaya, Parokya ni Edgar, After Image, Alamid, Yano, True Faith, Slapshock, South Border, and Eraserheads. In the early to mid-2000s there’s new band trend which pave way to groups such as Hale, Kamikazee, Sugarfree, Spongecola, Session Road, Calla Lily, Cueshe, Itchy Worms, and many more. And then the wave fades out
again after another music trend came.
Forgive me if I can’t go back beyond 90s because the core of
this post is my memories and knowledge, not an intensive research. Ayoko rin i-touch ang hindi ko gaano alam at naabutan baka mapahiya ako. Although I can say I do have favorite songs from 70s bands like Juan dela Cruz band, VST and Co, and Asin. As well songs
from music group from 80s such as Introboys,
The Dawn, and Side A. I think the good thing about having 9 older siblings
gives me wide and diverse music influence J
90s Pinoy Music Bands are
· It’s rare that they have cover songs – I am not saying that doing covers is bad. It just that it’s refreshing to have your own trademark songs and additional contribution to music industry. Yes there are advantages in reviving like bringing back classic hits for the new generation of listeners. On the other side, it’s easy rin for the listeners to recognize a band because of their own brand of music if they do originals. For example is MYMP – I commend Juris Fernandez’s voice and they gave nice versions of classic songs. But I think people admire them because of their “acoustic” feel and image. |
| (L-R) Raimund Marasigan (Eraserheads/Sandwich/Pedicab) , Ebe Dancel ( SugarFree), Gabby Alipe (Urbandub) with Mr. Ryan Cayabyab |
What are the advantages of hit original songs?
a. continuous income stream
because of royalty - making cover
songs can make someone platinum artist and give him/ her revenues for certain period
of time. On the other side, when you are
the one making original songs as long as someone uses it for commercial purposes like
revival, for TV/ movie theme songs, and even for videos on Youtube – you get
royalty (kita). That’s a lifetime income, and artists who can attest to this are Freddie Aguilar, Odette Quesada, Rey Valera,
and Jose Mari Chan. Jose Mari Chan, by the way, is the only Filipino
artist who have Double Diamond Record for one album (Yes for Christmas in Our Hearts) alone ( his Constant Change album is also received Diamond Record or 10 Platinum records) and that happened even before
the adjustment in counting of sold albums.
b. continuous credit: legacy lives on – if we go in the comics side, Mars Ravelo and Carlo
J. Caparas are the kings. Patay na ang comics
industry in the Philippines, but their classic characters live on as there always new adaptions coming out be on TV and movie (i.e. Darna, Captain Barbell, Pedro Penduko, Dyesebel,
Zuma, and Panday). This is also applicable to music artists, whether they go
hiatus or say bye-bye in the world for good ay nandyan pa rin sila. Example- “Your
Love”, which Juris sang for Dolce Amore,
is an original of Alamid. Alamid vocalist Gary Ignacio passed away in 2015. And kahit alam natin na superb singers sina Gary V, Sarah Geronimo, at kung sino when they sing “Anak,” still the
credit for the song is belong to ka Freddie. Gets?
c. Recognition beyond
trend – As the showbiz history tells, new trends always change the game and filters
out those who came due to popularity only. In my
opinion, majority ng naiiwan sa showbiz and music scenes are those who have real talents,
willing to evolve (i.e. Madonna/ Sarah G.), and nailed their marks already. Look
how many times Bamboo Manalac and Eli Buendia join bands? Their groups may
come and go, but why they still here?
·
Their
originals songs focus on being catchy, relatable and easy to learn. I still can
remember when my kuyas (and their friends) played guitars while using song hits
(a magazine-type material that contains lyrics with guitar tabs). Ang maganda
they could even sing those even if they didn’t know yet talaga yung kanta because those had uncomplicated din ang beats,
words, rhyme, and it's doable to hit the notes. Magaling sa ganito ang Eraserheads, Parokya ni
Edgar, True Faith at Yano. Biruin nakagawa
ng kanta about pagtambay sa SM (Esem)
at Tsinelas?
o
90s bands
shows their individual prowess and style – I don’t know if they really made
it big during their heyday, but ever
since my kuya Lhon introduced Rockstar’s
songs Parting Time to me gusto ko na
talaga. Superb yung guitars just like the
keyboard in “214” ng Rivermaya at saxophone in Kahit kailan of South Border.
I can’t remember na someone named a
band na “The Philippine version of ___.“ I don’t think there were rivalries
among the bands or even sa kanilang fans. Oh well mabuti rin siguro bata pa ako
noon :P
My theory
of what pushed aside the band trend in 90s was the novelty songs and yes, the
entrance of massive piracy. That time naman people listen to radio or cassette
type when 2000 enters ayan na ang CDs.
Part 2 band wave in 2000s
Part 3 discovering The Juans
