The year that was on the music scene

It was not a good year for the music industry. Would you believe that all an artist needs to get a Gold Record award here these days is only 10,000 copies sold! That is not much because there was a time when selling 100,000 was easy. Why so? People preferred to get their music live and went to the concerts instead. A lot of fans bought one album and made copies for their friends. Others downloaded sounds from the Net. And more opted to buy the pirated copies with no marketing expenses and production cost of P20 per CD.

It was a sad situation but the Pinoy musician remained undaunted. In fact 2006 produced a record haul of very well-produced albums of Filipino music that could be the beginning of another golden era. It was true that they were not able to stop piracy but they certainly brought that old rival, the foreign artists down on their knees. Save for a few survivors like Josh Groban, The Black Eyed Peas, The Pussy Cat Dolls and Paris Hilton, the Pinoys lorded it over the charts.

The songs of the year were by the Apo Hiking Society. Now who would have thought that we would be singing Doo Bidoo in 2006? But we did as listeners became once more fascinated by music from nearly 30 years ago. It was thanks of course to that album KAMInAPO MUNA where new acts paid tribute to Jim Paredes, Danny Javier and Buboy Garovillo by singing their works. This was inspired by another hit album, Ultraelectromagneticjam, which featured assorted bands playing the music of the Eraserheads.

Tops among the Apo admirers was Kamikazee with the rousing Doo Bidoo. Once considered a heavy rock band, Kamikazee changed tack early this year with the lighter, very commercial and played to inanity, Narda. This I believe helped fuel the move from rock to pop among local groups. It made the music more accessible and also broadened the market.

As a result new band versions of Manila Sound favorites were all over the airlanes. These were not only by the Apo, think Panalangin by Moonstar 88, but also by the Juan de la Cruz Band, No Touch by Rocksteddy and VST&Co.’s Ipagpatawad Mo by Mayonnaise. Come to think of it, even Martin Nievera went Apo in his last album When Love is Gone with the single When I Met You.

Speaking of VST&Co., one of last year’s well-received releases was the bossa nova rendition of the music popularized by the band during the late ’70s. It was Sitti’s success with the music in Café Bossa late last 2005 that sparked the trend. Suddenly, the bands found themselves getting very stiff competition from pretty Pinoy proponents of Latin jazz like comeback babe Agot Isidro and newbies Sophia and Raffi Quijano, who sprouted like mushrooms and sold like the hot pan de sal of long ago.

Will the bossa nova remain roosting in the local charts throughout 2007? Nobody knows for sure. What I am hoping for though is that the success of The Filipino Classics by Basil Valdez will intensify interest in really old Tagalog songs. By old I mean not those from the Manila Sound period but music treasures from the ’60s or earlier. Think Madaling Araw, Bituing Marikit, Lagi Kitang Naaalala and Sapagka’t Kami ay Tao Lamang.

Basil is another big name from the ’70s who made a great comeback last year. He returned to the recording studio after over a decade to do The Filipino Classics with the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra and music arranged and conducted by Ryan Cayabyab. Just like what happened with Ngayon at Kailan Man, You and Hindi Kita Malilimutan earlier, he scored big with the new album.

Going back to Ryan Cayabyab. The maestro added Philippine Idol judge to his credentials last year alongside Pilita Corrales, Francis M and some guest judges. That’s right, Philippine Idol, the local version of the popular talent search from the US which actually started in the UK finally came to town in 2006. The first winner was Mau Marcelo who once lost to Sarah Geronimo in the Star for a Night contest four years ago. We do not know yet if Mau will indeed turn into a true Philippine Idol but Yeng Constantino the champ from Pinoy Dream Academy is already a bonafide hitmaker with her original Hawak Kamay.

As for the other singing champions, it was once again a good year for Sarah and company. She had another big hit with I Still Believe in Loving You from her first international album Becoming and another one in the offing with Carry My Love. Rachelle Ann Go’s Bakit carried I Care in the hit parade up to the end of the year. Erik Santos revived Alamid’s Your Love and Christian Bautista became an even bigger singing idol with other Asian countries like Malaysia and Indonesia added to his territories.

Unlike last year when they dominated the music scene, Pogi Rock had to contend with more competition in 2006. But the genre’s major exponents like Hale and Cueshé and the comebacking True Faith steadfastly held the fort with very good originals. Hale followed up its phenomenal self-titled debut with Twilight and the hit Waltz. True Faith had Sayang ang Lahat and Cross My Heart, while Cueshé’s new singles are Back to Me and Borrowed Time.

Aside from Martin’s, oldies remained excellent CD fodder for Sharon Cuneta with Isn’t It Romantic, Regine Velasquez’s Covers 2, Lani Misalucha’s Lani Misalucha, Freestyle’s Live, Rivermaya’s Isang Ugat Isang Dugo and Great Original Pilipino Music from the Movies by the San Miguel Master Chorale and the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra produced, arranged and conducted by Cayabyab.