50 years of RJ and the Ventures

MANILA, Philippines - “Hi, oops, sorry, hello and excuse me” were some of the words that came out of my mouth as I entered the SRO main ballroom of Dusit Thani Hotel last Sept. 14. It was Ramon “RJ” Jacinto’s 50th anniversary in the music business and he had the legendary Ventures as a special guest. From afar, I could see RJ grinning from ear to ear with the turnout, a total contrast to his frustration over ticket sales a week ago.

So many familiar faces were in the audience: US Ambassador Harry Thomas, Sen. Dick Gordon, Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, Pastor “Boy” Saycon, etc. Lots of industry captains, luminaries, celebrities and musicians. The bling blings sparkled like stars and the Birkins, Pradas, Jimmy Choos went on parade.

It was almost a black tie event save for a few like me who came in Crocs. The king of love songs Jose Mari Chan, in his dapper cream jacket, opened the show with his ’80s hit Let’s Stop And Talk A While, followed by Tell Me Your Name and Refrain. He ended the set with his Asia-wide hit Beautiful Girl. In-between songs, Joe Mari entertained the audience with his witty jokes.

RJ opened his set with Weightless, his claim to fame in the ’60s. This was followed by instrumental numbers like Five Foot Two, Sukiyaki, Guitar Twist and others, which he normally doesn’t perform in his Friday night concerts. Katsuhisa Yoda, president of Honda Philippines, joined his finale with two Ventures hits familiar to Pinoys: Rawhide and Let’s Go. People were waiting for his other ’60s hit Mashi Mashi as an encore but there was none. I heard someone in the crowd shout Muli, but RJ just smiled.

Had Vic Sotto and Pia Guanio (who are fans of RJ) been in the crowd, they would have clamored for their favorite Bulacan.

At past 11 p.m., RJ went onstage and introduced the Ventures. Gerry McGee who is almost an original member, started by playing lead guitar on the over 30-song set with Surfin’ USA. Ventures fans were not disappointed as the group performed all the hits that endeared them to the Pinoys. Songs like Telstar, Blue Star, Slaughter on 10th Avenue, Apache and Hawaii Five-O earned loud applause. Bob Spalding, the most junior of the Ventures guitarists who joined in 1981 alternated with Gerry McGee on lead guitar. His performance on Walk Don’t Run was a standout.

Towards the end of the set, RJ reappeared onstage to jam with the Ventures for a couple of songs. The piece de resistance of the evening was the finale performance of the monster hits Wipe Out and Pipeline.

The Ventures drummer Leon Taylor, son of original drummer Mel Taylor did a fabulous drum exhibition for the encore.

RJ’s 50th anniversary festivities didn’t end with the encore. It crept into the small hours of Sept. 15 with an extended photo and autograph session. I wonder who RJ will get for his 100th anniversary in the music business.