Who says the disco days are gone?

MANILA, Philippines - The ’80s was all about “chic.” There weren’t wifi-friendly cafés to hook up devices with, and computers were boring, box-like monsters on your desktop. When there was nothing on your Betamax, it was a great time for partying. Beer was at P3 a bottle, and oh,  there was an upsurge of pot smokers. Call it cheesy but glam was in. You saw it in the way people dressed up or defined their music. And  disco was a huge thing.

John Robinson, then in his 20s, livened up Vilma Santos’ long-running TV variety show, Vilma! packed the dance floor in  mid-’80s Jealousy and Rumors discos with his energetic music.

He recalls, “I remember it all being frantically busy! My weekend started at 3 p.m. on a Friday when I headed off to rehearsals for Vilma! (at Manila Metropolitan Theater or MET).”

Then, he would jump into the car and head to the other side of the city to get to Jealousy in Quezon City.

Dr. John Michael Lao looks for the old school club music

In Makati, John is expected to perk up the main set at Rumors disco from 12:30 to 4:30 a.m. Sometimes, John adds, the action gets so frenetic he’d extend his time at Rumors for 30 minutes and stay there till 5 a.m. John would be home by 6 a.m., but not to rest. He’d freshen up and dash to his radio work, then return to Jealousy and Rumors.  “It was hectic, but I loved the adrenaline rush of dashing from one performance to another,” he shares. In those heady post-EDSA days, people were hooked to the hit songs West End Girls, Bizarre Love Triangle and, as expected, “an interesting mixture of what’s popular in the US and Europe.”

Today, the upbeat music that marked his life in the mid-’80s has been replaced by the soothing sounds of home, which John shares with his Filipina wife and their three children. But he still longs for the day when he can come back to the Philippines, “my second home.” Manila  has the warmth and the hyperactivity a fun-loving guy like John can’t resist.

 “I miss the energy of the clubs there and also the fact that the crowds are very good-natured.”

John loves his Manila audience. And they love him back, even after all these years. He still keeps in touch with a lot of them through Facebook. 

“Every day, I confirm friend requests on Facebook from people who used to go to my gigs in both the Philippines, the US and Japan,” reveals John.

Social networking revealed that retro music and shows still enjoy a growing market.

“There’s a lot of interest in the ’80s, and I’ll bet quite a few younger people would want to come along too to experience what things used to be like,” John observes.

He knows that teens who used to scream at the sight of him are now CEOs and businessmen in their 50s. And he tells them, “You’re never too old to have fun.”

Today, not all “retro” attendees are old businessmen and their wives. You’d be surprised that  a mob of yuppies and pop personalities are looking forward to an ’80s party.

Cooky Chua, Color it Red lead singer, says, “Nakaka-miss ‘yong days na mag-disco di ba? No’ng araw, we would hop into all those clubs most nights.”

Dr. John Michael Lao, an opthalmologist and lead singer of metal group-Project Mayhem, added, “With the hectic schedule of running businesses and doing my hospital rounds, we need to chill. I guess I’m not young enough for the club scene of today, so I still look for the old school club music.”

Cooky Chua is missing the disco music

Ronald Aniceto, 50, runs an online retail business, “I can’t dance though I think I tried. Back in the day, I would just hang out in the bar or watch over the ladies’ bags when they’re dancing,” he said while laughing. “But I sure love the ’80s dance music. There was something about the simplicity of life within the songs to stomp your feet on.”

Disco-ing in the ’80s was such a great experience, and John wants to bring back that experience through his comeback gig in Manila.

“I have spent countless hours assembling and collecting all the tracks from my bag of goodies, digging up old memories of how I put together my sets back then,” says John. 

Yes, the disco days are gone. But you can relive that ’80s club experience (check out www.advocacyconcert.com). If you’re in your 40s to 50s, it’s time to party again.  If you’re in your 20s or 30s, time travel into a wild experience of ’80s. 

“If the audience has a bit of déjà vu and feel transported back to the late ’80s, I’ll be happy,” says John.