Devotion imported from L.A.

Richmond Andal, Eric Cruz, Rodney Hidalgo, Ian Pesigan and Paul Riturban are known collectively as Devotion. They are Filipino guys who hail from Orange County, California who love to sing. It was as an R&B group exceling in hip-hop-flavored harmonies that they made waves in Asian-American circles across the US and Canada. Formed in 1997, Devotion has released an album titled Image of Devotion, in America. They have also been featured in five compilation albums released in the West Coast, including the soundtrack for the well-received Filipino film produced in the US, The Debut.

Devotion had made quite a reputation as the Asian group with soul, that can stand up against the African-Americans, Latin Americans, Anglo-Americans and the plain Americans all competing for slots in the hit charts in Southern California. Despite this and the bright prospect of bigger things, the boys were not able to resist the offer to come to the Philippines to record and do some shows. So Devotion is now in the country, constantly performing in various gigs and treating the locals to their kind of music. Best of all they have recorded their first album for Viva Records.

Simply titled Devotion, the album does not only feature their blended voices but also shows off their songwriting skills. And this, I believe is what makes the group an important addition to the current roster of Filipino talents. Included in the album are 12 originals, all well-written, all with the potential for assorted arrangements by a wide variety of artists and the possibility of later turning into classics.

The best of the collection are Another Day by Richmond and Someone Stole Heaven by J.P. Like the rest of the album, these are simple love songs but engaging turns in their melodies make these two the standouts. Now if you want to check out how Devotion fares with cover versions of hit materials with other artists, they also do More Than Words by Extreme and the Agot Isidro ballad Everyday. The latter is a duet by the group with Star for a Night talent show finalist Musica Cristobal.

The other originals in the album are So Wonderful, Brenda, Should I? 4:15, No Turning Back, I’ll Find a Way, 3 Words, Just Because, Girl, It’s You and My Prayer."

A Victory Over Piracy

The war against piracy took a major turn last week with a big hit against Hong Kong pirates. The Hong Kong Customs Police assisted by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the Philippine Association of Recording Industry (PARI) and various local producers, raided 18 stores and seized approximately 6000 units of pirated music CD’s at the Worldwide Plaza in Central last Sunday, Sept. 28. Arrested were 21 people. Operations continued the next day when the authorities raided a warehouse where approximately 500,000 pieces of CD’s were stored. Two more people were arrested and they are under investigation in connection with the pirated products.

This raid was the first of its kind outside the Philippines and is a significant victory in the fight against piracy. Hopefully, this will put fear in the hearts of those people who manufacture and I must say, also patronize pirated editions of Filipino recordings. It is a fact that pirated music products can now be found in places all over the world where there is a sizable Filipino population, but with the cooperation of the authorities in these places, we should be able to stop or at the very least minimize piracy.

Acoustic Night Live

Catch the stars of Tapika on Blue Ridge in a special promo tour for the album Acoustic Night Live. Performances are scheduled this afternoon, Oct. 3 at the second floor of the Podium, at Tower Records Makati at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11 and also at Tower Records Megamall at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25.

Acoustic Night Live is one of the big selling albums in the country today. The artists featured are & John with Strong Enough and Don’t Know Why; Dominic & Burton with Bump and Grind and Think of Laura; Invocan with Mad World and Ants Marching; Ryan & Paolo with Return to Pooh Corner and Knocks Me Off My Feet; Hourglass with The Last Days and Englishman in New York; and U Turn with Hurting Inside and Spend My Life.