The power of four

Is there a chance for a Pinoy boy group to make the grade given all the furor over Meteor Garden and chinoy pop idols F4 these days? There is if local listeners will take the time to look and listen at what they have to offer. Making that bid is P4 or Power Four. It is made up of four guys, models and actors who can sing and dance. They have the required looks and have recently released an album made up of cute, danceable numbers that will hopefully appeal to the young female crowd.

P4 is made up of Jay Salas, Frank Garcia, Greg Martin and Jordan Herrera. Jay, 22, went to St. Benedict College for his BSBM in Entrepreneurship. He is into acting, hosting, DJ mixing and martial arts. Frank is 19, studies Internet Software Technology in Mapua and is also into acting and martial arts. Greg, 22, is an athlete who goes for boxing, gymnastics and the martial arts. He also happens to be a budding sculptor. Jordan, another 19-year-old, goes to St. Jude College for Hotel Restaurant Management, likes basketball and appears in movies. His most notable appearance was in the Maui Taylor starrer Gamitan.

The group was unofficially born when they did a deodorant commercial together. This is the one where, wrapped in towels around their middles, they apply Rexona on their armpits to the tune of Everybody. From there it seemed like a most natural thing for them to make the move towards becoming real pop idols with their share of hit songs. After all, they do look like members of a boy band and the success of the commercial showed they are appealing enough to have some amount of fan following. And Power Four was born.

Their first album is titled P4 Power Four. It is a fun production with lots of good times in mind. Everybody is of course included. There are also new takes on famous oldies like Rod Stewart’s Do Ya Think I’m Sexy and Bread’s Make It with You. The first single out is Oochie, Coochie, which also comes in a special tickle mix by DJ M.O.D. (a.k.a. Noel Macanaya). Oochie coochie is what you say when you tickle babies. Hence they decided to call the extra track, Tickle Mix. The rest are all new originals: I Believed in You, Rock Me All Nite, I’ll Find Your Heart and I Could Fly. The only cut in Filipino is Wala Ba Kayong Mga Kamay? by Jerico Rimas. This particular song was no doubt inspired by the line which I’m sure you will recall Jordan says at the end of that deodorant commercial.

I’m sure these guys can do better as singers so I will save judgement on that on the second album when they can be expected to be better. A standout because of his talent for rap is Greg and he shows this off in Rock Me All Night. As it is, P4, the album is adequate for its purpose; it is a nice mix of pop, dance, rock and rap sounds that fans of the boys will surely enjoy. It is also with this that they are taking on the inexplainable F4 phenomenon. It looks like quite a battle for our underdogs but Power Four is of course hoping to win.

Local hit list

Here now is a look at the local hit list dominated by F4’s Can’t Lose You, a song that comes from one of several albums by the group available in the local market. Still up there is Star for a Night winner Sarah Geronimo’s version of Celine Dion’s To Love You More. This girl sure has what it takes to be a star and is staying up there by her lonesome among the giants.

The other tunes Pinoys have been listening to a lot these days are the ubiquitous Spaghetti Song by the Sexbomb Dancers and Joey de Leon; If You’re Not the One by British pop idol David Bedingfield; In Da Club by new hip hop star 50 Cent; Pangarap Ko ang Ibigin Ka by Regine Velasquez from the movie soundtrack of the same title; Foolish Heart by Nina; Passenger Seat by Stephen Speaks; Heaven by DJ Sammy; and Wag Ka Lang Mawawala, the new single by hitmaker Ogie Alcasid.