Swooning & sighing with Fra Lippo Lippi

As far as the music goes for us Pinoys, romantic also means nostalgic. And there is no annual celebration that is more romantic and therefore more nostalgic than Valentine’s Day. That is why we still love listening to the songs of The Lettermen and why we still get a kick out of the Cascades. There is always this longing to recapture the initial blush, the words said, the first kiss. And nothing helps bring the feeling back, or at least the memory of the feeling, better than the music. So brace yourselves now for the nostalgia flood with this list of Valentine shows.

Per Sorensen, who once led Fra Lippo Lippi is set to bring back lots of memories for those who first fell in love during the `80s. As the star of the Fra Lippo Lippi Greatest Hits Tour, Sorensen will once more delight Pinoys with the simple, folksy, inspiring songs of the Norwegian pop group. I say once more because, this is his fifth visit to the Philippines. We love his songs out here and do not mind his coming back again and again.

The Pinoy love affair with Fra Lippo Lippi started in the mid-`80s. The band was organized in the late `70s but it wasn’t until Sorensen joined as lead singer in 1982 that they had a taste of chart success. From a band, Fra Lippo Lippi became a duo composed of founder and bass player Rune Kristoffersen and Sorensen.

In 2000, Rune retired from Fra Lippo Lippi after a performance in Cebu. Per continued and carried the legacy of Fra Lippo Lippi.

So watch out for the swoons and sighs. Just think the show will include well-remembered songs like Beauty And Madness, Light And Shade, The Distance Between Us, Stitches And Burns, Thief In Paradise, Freedom, Coming Home, Later, Shouldn’t Have To Be Like That, Some People, Crazy, Wisdom, Angel, and the biggest hit of them all which you still hear everywhere, Everytime I See You.

Sorensen will kick off his Philippine tour with a show at the Ormoc Astrodome on Feb. 10. This will be followed by the Tacloban Coliseum on Feb. 11; the University of Baguio, Feb. 12; the Hyatt Hotel & Casino Ballroom, Feb. 13; and on the big day, Feb. 14, at the NBC Tent at the Fort.

The Fra Lippo Lippi Greatest Hits Tour is presented by Steve O’Neal Productions with the Hyatt Hotel & Casino, PCSO, Mossimo Music, Hard Rock Café, Business Mirror, Airspeed International, Coffee Republic, Albergus, IFM, JackTV, ETC, 2nd Avenue, Solar Sports and RJ 100 FM.

Tickets are available at Ticketworld Outlets, SM Tickets, SM Theaters, Robinsons Malls, Ayala malls and National Bookstores. Log on to Ticket World or SM tickets websites for details.

The Araneta Coliseum on Feb. 11 will have Love Rocks, a show that will feature together for the first time three of the Pinoy’s enduring favorites. These are the famous Stephen Bishop, Dan Hill and Yvonne Elliman. Like Fra Lippo Lippi, these artists all have recordings that captured the imagination of Filipinos and which have remained big favorites for many years. Of course, these hits are also romantic.

Bishop, acknowledged as one of the greatest pop music songwriters of all time is best known for It Might Be You. This is the Academy Award winning theme of the movie Tootsie. Bishop’s is the only recorded version I know of in the US of A. But out here, there must at least be several recorded covers of the song, not to mention the live shows which often feature It Might Be You or the karaoke joints where patrons like to get romantic with this song. Bishop also composed On and On, Separate Lives, Save It For A Rainy Day and others.

I do not know if Dan Hill has ever thrown up his hands and screamed, no more, on hearing the intro to his legendary hit recording of Sometimes When We Touch. It would have been just normal for him to do so because the song is one of the most performed ones in pop music history. It has also been recorded so many times that it is known as the mother of all covers. You may have already heard it in various versions before but you will now get the original live with Dan Hill himself at the Big Dome.

I also do not know if Elliman has gotten into songwriting like Bishop and Hill. But even if she hasn’t , her hit recording of I Don’t Know How To Love Him from the soundtrack of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar has already assured her a special place in the charts of all-time favorites. Elliman ably played the part of Mary Magdalene in the movie version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. She later came up with other hits like Love Me, I Can’t Get You Out Of My Mind, Moment By Moment and the Grammy winning If I Can’t Have You. But for most of us, she will always be at her best with I Don’t Know How To Love Him.

Tickets to Love Rocks are available at all Ticketnet outlets and at the Araneta Coliseum.