Pilita readies duets album

Just last week, Lani Misalucha released her first album in five years and it is titled The Nightingale Returns: Lani Misalucha Sings The Greatest Filipino Songbook. It is, of course, mainly made up of songs from the glorious Manila Sound period of the ’70s and ’80s. A few weeks before, there was Gary Valenciano with his new album With You, which is made up of covers of oldies like Anak and Ikaw Lamang that were also in Lani’s album, plus Tayong Dalawa, Minsan Lang Kitang Iibigin and her own Sana’y Maulit Muli.

You would think that current heartthrob Daniel Padilla would prefer some new stuff for his fans but what do you know, his latest I Heart You has the Eraserheads’ With A Smile, the Apo Hiking Society’s Ewan, Hot Dog’s Langit Na Naman and Afterimage’s Next In Line, among others. Then coming up soon is Pilita Duets, where Asia’s Queen of Songs, the quintessential Filipino music artist, takes on a harvest of oldies but note that this one comes with a difference. Nine of the cuts are duets with some of the biggest stars ever assembled in one album.

Here they are, the songs and the talents who most eagerly and with not one bit of hesitation, agreed to sing the duets in the album. Singing together for the first time with the legendary Pilita are: Basil Valdez, Kapantay Ay Langit; Sharon Cuneta, Kahit Maputi Na Ang Buhok Ko; Sarah Geronimo, Forever’s Not Enough; Vic Sotto, Ipagpatawad Mo; The CompanY, Pagdating Ng Panahon; Joey Albert, Tell Me; Chad Borja, Usahay; Martin Nievera, Ikaw Lang Ang Mamahalin; and Regine Velasquez, You Are My Song.

The 10th cut is also an oldie — Pilita’s very own A Million Thanks To You, which she first recorded some 50 years ago. The composition by Alice Doria Gamilla was one of the first by a Filipino writer to become a big seller. It generated awareness about local singers and composers and got Pilita’s career off to a glorious start. Thanks to her extraordinary style, great looks and total dedication to her career, she remains on top.

In fact, just last week, Pilita received the singular honor of being the first Filipino entertainer invited to perform at the Centennial Concert Hall in Manitoba, Canada. She was accompanied by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra conducted by the acclaimed Julian Pelliciano, who holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory, the Royale College of Music in Stockholm and the Yale School of Music. Proceeds from the concert benefited the Rosalinda Natividad Cantiveros Foundation and HELPfund, a calamity fund of the Manitoba Council of Canadian Filipino Associations, Inc.

Pilita is set to begin promo work for Pilita Duets when she gets back next week. I’m sure, given that it has Pilita, an all-star line-up of guest artists and some of the most beautiful Filipino songs ever written, the album will be a big hit.

I know and it is sad. It sends you wondering. Doesn’t the local music industry have anything new to offer? At the same time, there’s the rationalization. The songs are truly beautiful and have proven themselves enduring. So, what’s to stop our artists from recording these contemporary classics over and over again?

A look at the local charts provides more proof of the trend. Of the big-selling albums from Odyssey and Astro Music and Video stores, only two albums feature entirely new music. These are the soundtrack to the movie Diary Ng Panget and the latest by rapper Abra.

The big sellers, culled from various sources and not in any order, are: I Heart You by Daniel Padilla; Ikaw Lamang, the soundtrack of the TV series by Various Artists; By Popular Demand 9 by Various Artists; Acoustic Noel by Noel Cabangon; Diary Ng Panget by Various Artists; The Nightingale Returns by Lani Misalucha; With You by Gary Valenciano; Abra by Abra; Best of Praise & Worship Music by Various Artists; and Hits After Hits by Various Artists.

Speaking of teleserye theme song Ikaw Lamang, I got this note from industry veteran Peewee Apostol on the piece I wrote about Lani’s latest album: “I thought I’d send you a note about Ikaw Lamang by Dodjie Simon. This was originally recorded by Zsa Zsa Padilla and was released in 1987 in the album of the same title. Jaya and Janno Gibb’s version came much later, I think in the 2000s. 

“I know this by heart because in the same album by Zsa Zsa was the song Minsan Pa, music by Jun Sta. Maria and lyrics by Peewee Apostol. Minsan Pa became a mega hit after it was released as second single after Ikaw Lamang. It was my first and only hit song and my claim to fame. The same album also contained George Canseco’s Hiram and RayAn Fuentes’ Mambobola. Jun and I had two songs in that album, Minsan Pa and Litong-lito’t Gulung-gulo.”

Thanks, Peewee.