Nonoy sings his beginnings

Kids today may not know it but there was a time in the not-so-distant past when a good singer has no need for embellishments, vocal or technological. They get by very well on the strength of their voices alone and for the truly talented, with the soul that goes with it. Such a situation will surely put a lot of today’s pop stars out of their jobs. But given their big number, I do not think that situation is likely to happen soon. So those of you who like singing for the beautiful music it creates, just be grateful that there still remains true-blue singers around us.

Nonoy Zuñiga is one of them. The problem when an artist has been around for quite sometime is that we tend to take him for granted. We know that Nonoy has been around for over 30 years and that he sings well. But we often forget how well. That is why listening to his new album Beginnings gave me a jolt. The guy can really sing and he has chosen to spotlight the songs he used to do when he was just starting out. And he sounds good in all of them.

The aptly titled Beginnings by Nonoy Zuñiga has songs from his pre-Never Ever Say Goodbye period. That means before he got his big break with the original works of Willy Cruz in 1980. I do not know the association with Swerte Swerte Lang, which opens the album. This was a Joel Navarro original but Nonoy does it well and is a token Filipino song in the CD. Maybe he just happens to like the song.

Then there are the standards with which he learned how to sing, Night And Day and All The Way; from his folksinger days, Father And Son and You Can Close Your Eyes; the Lou Rawls cover, You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine because he has a similar booming voice; and the band period Stop Look Listen, a duet with Cecile Rojas of Opera, The Trouble With Hello Is Goodbye, The Look Of Love, a medley of I Don’t Wanna Lose You and Smile We Have Each Other and The Harder I Try. The latter is a live recording from 1998 that holds up very well. Listen and recall dancing nights at Rino’s, The Flame and Siete Pecados where Nonoy met the unfortunate bombing incident that cost him his left leg.

It now seems ironic but the loss of his leg led to his solo stardom and he remains in big demand to this day. In fact he is joining Kuh Ledesma, Rico Puno, Marco Sison and Rey Valera at the Plenary Hall of the PICC on Feb. 13 for the show The Greatest Love Songs Of All Time. Nonoy should be able to contribute a lot to the music of the evening.

Here are more gigs to choose from for your Valentine’s Day celebration. The 70s Superband will be at the Hard Rock in Makati tonight. The band is made up of members of popular bands from the `70s, the time considered the golden days of Filipino pop music. They are Nonoy Tan and Rey Magtoto of Wadab (Pag Tumatagal Lalong Tumitibay); Monet Gaskell of VST&Company (Awitin Mo At Isasayaw Ko); Snafu Rigor of Cinderella (Bato Sa Buhangin); Mon Espia of Labuyo (Tuloy Pa Rin); and brothers Jun and Nitoy Mallilin of Abrakadabra (Bote Diyaryo).

The ‘70s Superband knows how to give its audience a good time and it has a very special guest for tonight’s gig. Award-winning songwriter Nonong Pedero, also a blast from the past as a singer, he was with Boy Camara and Anthony Castelo in Gentle Rain, will perform with his new group The Rockin’ 60s.

For those of you who want their love songs, soft and soothing there is All For Love starring the matchless and world-famous Philippine Madrigal Singers at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo of the Cultural Center of the Philippines on Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 13, 5 p.m. The Madz will perform new arrangements of timeless love songs from around the world. Tickets are priced at P1,500, P1,000, P700, P600, P400 and P300.