How the Beatles affected their lives

MANILA, Philippines - I grew up in the decade the Beatles existed as a group. They were the formative years in my music career and I would say that their music had the biggest influence.

Back in the ‘70s I wrote songs and commercial jingles with Beatles-inspired hooks and melodies.

I have been a Beatles fanatic ever since. In my home, Beatles memorabilia fill up two rooms.

On Sept. 11, the first Philippines Beatlefest will be launched. It will be one show for Beatlemaniacs and Beatle admirers to remember. Because it’s next to impossible to bring back Paul or Ringo, I’m bringing the only live Beatle who hasn’t been here yet — Pete Best. He will be performing together with the country’s top Beatles loving artists and musicians like Ramon RJ Jacinto, Rene Garcia of Hotdog, Ely Buendia of Pupil (former Eraserheads), Mcoy Fundales (former Orange & Lemons), The Bloom Brothers (former Bloomfields), The Glass Onion Band, etc.

Pete will also do a question and answer with the audience before his performance and sign autographs and pose for pictures after the show. Here are the artists’ answers to the question – “How did the music of the Beatles affect my life?”:

Ely Buendia: “The Beatles made me seriously think about a career in music.”

Rene Garcia: “The music of the Beatles made me realize that music could be appreciated universally. They inspired me to write good music and taught me that one should not be afraid to explore the impossible when it came to writing songs... feeling free to experiment without any boundaries. The Beatles taught me the realities of life through their music… for that they’ll be forever my heroes in music… need I say more?”

Mcoy Fundales: “I spent a lot of weekend afternoons as a young boy lying on the floor beside my Dad with him playing his old Beatle LPs on our old phonograph. I remember picking up my mother’s walis tambo as my imaginary guitar and pretended to play along with Beatle songs. The Beatles have shown me an early indication of my future career as a songwriter and performer and has been a constant massive influence and inspiration to my artistic career today. They have provided me with the blueprint. The Beatles could have sung anything on the morning’s papers and made it sound good!”

Carlo Gaa of Area One and Glass Onion: “The first time I heard the Beatles was when I was eight years old. The next thing I knew I was asking my mom to take me to a piano teacher. They are my musical heroes and inspiration. I studied other forms of music like bebop, film scores, opera, etc. but the Beatles sound and music will always be at the center of what I do. This deep influence helped me to bring out the music convincingly with my band, Area 1 which is a Beatle-tribute band. I believe the LA Cast of Beatlemania felt where I was coming from when I played with them last year as well as Peter and Gordon.

“I have to mention the production chops of George Martin and his team of engineers, most notably Geoff Emerick and his protege Alan Parsons for the sound of the orchestra and the records. Until now, the Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, White albums sound so fresh to me.

“I am grateful to have been exposed to their songwriting, playing, singing, orchestrations, productions, etc. Long live, the Beatles!”

Jayjay Lozano of the Bloom Bros.: “As an arranger I’ve always focused on writers or composers more than pop groups. Lennon and McCartney are two of the most influential songwriters in the ‘60s. They became my musical inspiration to a lot of my original songs, too. For instance, according to Guinness World Records, Yesterday has the most cover versions of any song ever written. It speaks for itself really. We did not try to copy the Beatles as much as we put our own interpretation on of Lennon and McCartney’s music.”

Beatlefest is at Hard Rock Café; dinner show at 7 p.m. tomorrow, Sept. 10 (for reservations call 893-4661 to 64) and at the Aliw Theater at 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 11. Tickets are available at Ticketworld with tel. no. 891-9999 or at National Bookstores, Robinsons and Ayala Malls. Tickets are priced at P800, P1,500 and P2,500 plus surcharge. Presented by Steve O’ Neal Productions and Hard Rock Café in collaboration with Hyatt Hotel & Casino (the official residence), Zest Air (the official airline), PCSO, Business Mirror, Megamall, MS for Men, Mang Inasal, St. Francis Square, Videosonic, Perez Optical, Manila Concert Scene, 99.5RT, Magic 89.9, Jam 88.3, NU 107, Wave 89.1 and the official concert station RJ100.3 FM.