Crooners mine the oldies

It is a common problem. An artist wants to do an album but is at a loss on what songs to record. He has to be very careful about his choices because thanks to modern technology, the contents of an album last forever. Current trends usually dictate the selections. These past few months have shown a tendency for new pop originals.

Martin Nievera released his 30th year album 3D Tatlong Dekada filled with new compositions. Marco Sison wrote his first song in over 30 years for his CD Isang Pagkakataon. Christian Bautista went totally original in First Class. So did Jed Madela who just, in case somebody will think otherwise, titled his new album All Original. All very good. Efforts like those should do Filipino music a lot of good.

Another alternative is to record oldies. The songs are already established hits and are readily available. The only problem with this concept is it requires singers who can make the songs sound new and fresh. This rarely happens, but in the hands of true artists, any tune that has been warmed over lots of times in the past can still create magic.

I came across two such collections of oldies recently. Gary Valenciano’s latest release is Gary V Sings: Just For You and from Mark Bautista comes The Sound Of Love. It will take lots of space for me to list down the earlier versions of their song choices. There have been so many. But because they made the effort to put their own spin on these oldies, they have made the songs their own.

Just For You is a rare effort for Gary. If I am not mistaken, this is his first time to come up with an album made up entirely of foreign hits. He has always left this concept to his friend and rival Martin. He made his mark with originals, many of them, his own compositions. He occasionally does covers but these are mostly by Filipino songwriters. So to hear him sing these songs is quite a treat.

Gary’s choices are hits from the ’70s and ’80s. These must have been the songs he heard and learned to sing with when he was starting out. These are songs by Michael Jackson, Barry Manilow, James Ingram, Stevie Wonder and others. They were also the personal favorites of his wife Angeli Pangilinan. In fact, he had already made a private recording of these same songs as a Christmas gift for her with just his voice and himself playing the piano.

With the release of Just For You though, Gary is sharing the album with everybody. So, for all of you sentimental souls, out there, get in the mood for memories with Somewhere Down The Road, As Sure As I’m Standing Here, It Might Be You, Just Once, Overjoyed, Someone In The Dark, What Matters Most, I Will Always Wait For You, Send In The Clowns and the carrier single, In Your Eyes, which was first recorded by George Benson. Gary does them well and I love how he has kept the arrangements simple and his heartfelt singing true to the message of the songs.

Though younger by several years than Gary, Mark Bautista went back further into the past for his songs in The Sound Of Love. The CD is made up of songs that Mark heard from his parents and grandparents when he was growing up in Mindanao. Those were mostly hits by Frank Sinatra, Nat “King” Cole, Andy Williams, Tom Jones and oth- ers. His family considered these oldies the best ever and believed that a good singer should be able to do them well.

Although considered a pop singer, Mark would from time to time sing one or two of these songs in his shows. Audience response was always positive. Fans would later look for those songs in his albums and end up disappointed be- cause they, of course, are never included. So he soon toyed with the idea of recording his own album of oldies. And recently, with the unveiling of his new image as a mature artist in the musical The Full Monty, Mark also released The Sound Of Love.

Included in the CD are When I Fall In Love, Strangers In The Night, All The Way, Love Without Time, Love Story, That’s All, Till and What A Wonderful World. Then in an unexpected twist, he included three classic songs by Filipino songwriters. These come from a later time but the romantic mood is totally in keeping with the other songs.

These are Kailangan Kita, composed by George Canseco and popularized by Leah Navarro, Love Without Time written by Willy Cruz and recorded by Nonoy Zuñiga, and Bato Sa Buhangin, composed by Ernani Cuenco and Snaffu Rigor, which was a big hit for the Manila Sound band, Cinderella.

Gary V Sings: Just For You is actually the first part of a series, where he will record what I would term, unexpected songs. Like he can do rock, dance, kundiman, etc. I wonder what songs he will put in the next album. Meanwhile, Mark’s The Sound Of Love has already spawned a concert. He will be at the Music Museum on June 29 singing songs from the album in a truly roman- tic evening.