The sounds of 2003, Part 1

2002 was not the best of times for the local music industry. The scourge of piracy continued unabated. How do you expect producers to make a profit when albums for which they spent a great sum in the form of artist royalties, studio time, musicians’ fees and other expenses are being sold for a mere P30 by pirates? Then too there is the large number of foreign releases of excellent quality which are so well promoted by MTV, Channel V and even CNN. Concerts seemed like a good way to kill the competition but then the threat of terrorism reeled its ugly head and it now takes the biggest star power to get audiences out of their homes.

But Filipinos are an ingenious lot and the worse of times bring out the best of them along with surprising ways that keep them afloat. So we got saviors. One came in the form of Salbakutah. The little-known rap group discovered by Andrew E., gave the local charts a real number one seller that put one over the foreigners with the controversial S2PID LUV. True, it made use of Barbra Streisand’s Evergreen and came under fire for committing a sacrilege or bastardizing a classic but the masses love it, it sounded good and it sold hundreds of thousands of albums.

Then there are the Sex Bomb Dancers, mainstays of the noontime variety show Eat Bulaga who got their name from the Tom Jones hit Sex Bomb. The group of pretty girls went from suggestive dance steps to singing sensations with the album Unang Putok. The lead single Laban, Laban o Bawi, Bawi? became a national by-word and the Sexbomb Girls were off to singing stardom. To top it all, the first hit turned out to be no fluke as the girls followed up with Bakit Papa? and Pretty Little Baby. The Sexbomb Girls have recently ventured into acting and I will not be surprised if we soon hear that one of these lookers will decide to turn solo and be a movie star.

So 2002 was for us the year of the Sexbomb Dancers and Salbakutah. That does not say much about the future of the Filipino music industry. Hey, we have done better. But beggars cannot be choosers and that is what the music business has been reduced to these recent times. Beg music lovers not to buy pirated copies. Beg radio and TV stations for more exposure for Filipino artists. Why even the biggest of stars now have to resort to direct selling. How else would you call those mall shows, where they perform and then sign autographs for buyers of their albums? Refuse to do that and you won’t sell.

Given this situation, it is a marvel indeed that the music industry once more survived and not just because of Sexbomb and Salbakutah but also because of artists who kept on performing, recording, who kept up the good work against great odds. So 2002 was also the year of Regine Velasquez. She opened the year with Dadalhin Kita from the album Reigne and closed it with Sa Aking Pag-iisa in the video anthology Greatest Hits. It was also a great time for Ogie Alcasid, who juggled films, TV, concerts and songwriting to become the year’s most exciting stars.

Thanks too to those who continued to keep faith in Filipino music with songs and concerts that say there is still hope for us like Martin Nievera and Chasing Time, Sharon Cuneta with 25 Years, 25 Hits, Jose Mari Chan with A Heart’s Journey, Gary Valenciano One 2 One plus Freestyle, Jolina Magdangal, Dingdong Avanzado, Aiza Seguerra, Kyla and many others.

We fell in love with singer-actress Mandy Moore after watching her in A Walk to Remember and she probably sold more albums in the Philippines this year than in other places. We welcomed Brian McKnight who went one step further with a Tagalog recording. We remained a boy band country. How else would you explain the hits by Westlife and Blue? And we danced to Angelina, I Like and The Ketchup Song.

We mourned the passing of National Artists Levi Celerio and Lucio San Pedro who aside from individual masterpieces collaborated in the enduring Ugoy ng Duyan. And we acknowledged the loss of music idols like Rosemary Clooney, Peggy Lee, Joe Strummer of Clash, Ray Conniff, John Entwhistle of Who, Lionel Hampton and Lisa Left Eye Lopez of TLC.

Have a blessed and prosperous New Year and more about 2002 on Friday.