When it rained, it poured

Close your eyes and imagine: Thunder-claps, followed by lightning, and then falling rain – "Tadan... tadan... tadan... tadan."

"Are we watching the Cascades?" my friend Evelyne Valencia-Santos asked. Their music dominated the airwaves in the early 1960s, right smack into the innocent, happy and tender years of high school. How could anybody forget that?

Being oldie-but-goodie junkies, we did not pass up the invitation to be at the Hard Rock Café. Lito Cruz, one of the promoters of the show, promised a night replete with "Do you remember when’s" for the 50-something age group. When I looked around, he was right. The place was packed with middle-aged fans eager to recapture vintage days, ready in fact to go farther back in time.

Mr. Rock ’n Roll man himself, Ramon "RJ" Jacinto, introduced the front act, the "Elderly Brothers." This band sang like the original Everly Brothers and got two thumbs up from an appreciative crowd. What a pleasurable way to warm up the evening.

Just then, two portly-looking men dressed like cowboys stopped by our table to exchange handshakes with our tablemates, Eric Escaño and his pretty wife, Desi. Eric motioned to me, "He’s John Claude Gummoe, the lead vocal, and Gabe Lapano, vocal and keyboard player of The Cascades."

Frankly, I wouldn’t have known. I hadn’t seen a picture of the group. Their first hit album, "Rhythm of the Rain," had a simple cover with no photos. Neither was there any background info on any of them, including how the name "Cascades" came about.

Eric showed me a souvenir program, which contained the history of the group. They were seafaring, navy men who loved to sing and jam whenever their ship came to dock at a port of call. From this early beginning, they got a lucky break to record their first song, There’s a Reason. The president of the recording studio had to think of a name for the group, and a light bulb lit at the first thing he saw: A box of laundry detergent. Thus, the name "Cascades." Luckily, There’s a Reason became one of their early hits.

Back at the concert, RJ finally put to rest the nasty rumor that the group perished in a plane crash. The group was intact, minus one member, a bit packed tight around the waist but raring to sing their kind of music. The crowd responded with up-front eagerness.

Our table made a wager on what would be their opening song and none of us guessed it. We had a good laugh. When they sang Why Won’t You Let Me Be, all of us sat up with delight. It was a familiar tune that brought us back to our early and carefree days. Evelyne gave me a wink at a long-forgotten, over-and-done-with episode. My goodness! That was ancient history.

This was followed by Dreamin’ with no less than our very own John Lesaca on the violin. John’s inspired playing added warmth and a touch of romance to the simple arrangement.

Out of the blue, a rooster crowed. The crowd laughed and immediately recognized the opening of another favorite song, It’s My First Day Alone.

We went to the concert aware that it would have been four decades since we last heard the songs of the Cascades, that is, except when we listen to RJ’s DZRJ whenever he paid tribute to music of the Sixties. Time would have ravaged those young and high-pitched voices. To our surprise, however, the group sang with a deeper, softer and gentler voice. What we heard was music that was easy and kind to our now faint and frail ears.

John Gummoe introduced a new song, Good Day for the Blues, from their new album entitled, "After the Rain." He sang it so clearly that we could follow the melody and understand the lyrics. It reminded me of lonely walks on the shore with the golden sunset fading on the horizon.

Then came an updated version of the group’s number one hit song, Rhythm of the Rain, sang by Gummoe and accompanied by Lesaca on his electric guitar. The two Johns fused soft, warm jazz with a bit of country.

When the group sang Angel on My Shoulder, the crowd turned upbeat. They knew the lyrics by heart and eagerly sang along. Next, making reference to the "Elderly Brothers," they opened with a few lines from an Everly Brothers standard: "I can take you mine, taste your lips of wine, anytime, night or day, only trouble is, gee whiz…," before switching and mixing the melody into another one of their signature songs, Was I Dreamin’.

Adding a bit of fun, they sang Joe Mari Chan’s celebrated commercial jingle on the flag carrier acknowledging at the same time another sponsor by using the melody of Shy Girl for Smart Gold. They also sang a tribute to Ricky Nelson by singing the late singing idol’s song, Travelin’ Man. When they finally sang There’s a Reason, heads were swaying from side to side and shoes were tapping like castanets keeping time.

Tony Grasso, on the guitar, then sang about Why the Bottle Let Me Down in a honky-tonk style. He explained that "when you’re sad and your girl leaves you, there was only one thing to turn to, the bottle." Hic. Obviously, even that substance didn’t deaden his pain.

For their producer, Steve O’Neal, they sang a song that was wistfully familiar but seemed like it was dug up from a long-lost buried treasure. The lyrics affirmed the naïve yen, First Love Never Ever Dies. We shrieked at the thought. Again, heads turn for a glimmer of that lost love. Was it really etched beyond oblivion?

The group picked another new song, Liza’s Eyes, before breaking into another hit, Shy Girl, from their original album. I saw two women in front of the stage swinging their shoulders and raising their forefingers up in the air. They were keeping pace with the tempo through an old ’60s slow and rhythmic dance called bye-bye.

When the group paused to introduce their backup band, John Gummoe declared, "Many thought we died in a plane crash but here we are, finally, to dispel that rumor." The table next to me commented with tongue-in-cheek, "Oh my, my, they looked like they did. Thank goodness, their voices survived."

Chuck Crews (vocal, guitar and musical director) combined two versions of Oh Carol, as sung and played by Chuck Berry and Neil Sedaka. This was strictly rock and roll. This was followed by an array of songs, like Lucky Guy, and Punch and Judy before switching the mood to another recently recorded song, I Just Came by to Get a Smile. Even in one’s autumn and winter years, the group still sang of pure and undying love.

The Cascades’ Rhythm of the Rain had over six million performances, with foreign versions recorded in Spanish, French, German and other languages. As a tribute, the group sang a medley of songs with "rain" as the main topic. There was Burt Bacharach’s Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, Neil Sedaka’s Laughter in the Rain, and the Carpenter’s Rainy Days and Mondays, as well as a host of others like I Can See Clearly Now, Looks like Raindrops, etc.

By the time the Cascades reached the end of their program, it was clear that The Last Leaf wasn’t going to be their encore. By the way, in the souvenir program, there was a spelling error in this particular song. To quote, "The last leaf clings to the bow (sic)–" The correct word is "bough" (but pronounced like "bow") meaning an arm or branch of a tree.

The Cascades sang of young love, sweet, simple and true. Just imagine a boy who lived next door, too shy to express his feelings, while the girl next door was just as shy, if not more tongue-tied than he. It was the first stirring of his heart that opened up a well of emotions. Life was cut down into two emotional levels and/or weather forecasts: Deep, mournful sighs made even more wretched by wet, rainy days or blushing, high-up-in-the-sky feeling coupled with bright, sun-shiny days.

Our generation survived those awkward, inexperienced sometimes, impatient years. Through their music, the Cascades captured the heartrending emotions and turned them either into moments of celebration or lamentation. Maybe, even both.

Look at how much stronger and beautiful we were for it.