The Ella I know

MANILA, Philippines - I met Ella Del Rosario back in the early ’70s -- during the formative period of Hotdog. Ella was fresh out of school and was Dennis Garcia’s latest protege and soon-to-be flame. The Garcia brothers Rene and Dennis have been close friends since the late ’60s and I had the privilege of spending endless nights watching the “Hotdog to be” band featuring Ella rehearse at Andrea Del Rosario’s (no relation to Ella) basement in Dasmarinas Village. The band had at least a dozen members including Andrea’s son Tito Del Rosario. Back in those days, Hotdog was more of a sosyal band that only played at “Tipars” (parties) predominantly of Assumptionistas (Ella was one).

In 1974, the Philippines became Miss Universe country and Rene and Dennis wrote and recorded a song tribute Ikaw Ang Miss Universe Ng Buhay Ko. When the song broke into the charts, there was no looking back and the “Manila Sound” was born.By then, Hotdog had trimmed down to six members - Ella Del Rosario (vocals), Rene Garcia (guitar/vocals), Dennis Garcia (bass), Lorrie Illustre (keyboard), Jess Garcia (drums) and Mon Torralba (guitar).

Being the only lady in the band, Ella became the most prominent and popular member. Hotdog’s next smash hit, Pers Lab, featured her as lead vocalist. There were lots of concerts, TV shows and even a movie titled Unang Kagat, which was bereft of a decent story line and crudely shot.

Despite Ella’s popularity, she remained level-headed, without airs. I remember joking that she was ashamed to reveal that her full name was “Arinella Del Rosario” which was a play on the Tagalog word “Orinola” or “Arinola”- a vessel for peepee and doodoo.

Ella’s reign as queen of Hotdog ended in 1976 together her relationship with Dennis. When she embarked on her solo career with Octo Arts Records, she also found a new love. I got pleasantly surprised to know it was my DZBM co DJ and close friend Alex Aison aka “Pete McNeil”. I became closer to Ella because she joined our socials and out-of-town adventure trips. She also became the voice of most of the commercial jingles I produced for clients like Alemars, Manila COD, etc. When I left radio in the early ’80s to pursue TV production, that was the last I heard of Ella. I didn’t know she migrated to Silicon Valley in Northern California in 1988.

A few months ago, I saw a song posted on Facebook about getting old. Ayokong Tumanda was funny and at the same time realistic. Of the millions of songs recorded, I could only remember a handful that touch on this subject. Grow Old With Me by John Lennon and Through The Years by Kenny Rogers are a couple of them.The song was composed by Dennis Garcia and sung by Ella. I thought, why not bring Ella back to sing it live? But before I could even suggest it, there was already an announcement of the forthcoming gigs on Facebook.