It's the 2nd Friday of the month so off I went to St. Mary's Church to attend the bi-monthly Tagalog mass.
And since last year, nakaugalian ko na to walk all the way from my place in Al Musallah Road to St. Mary's (distance is probably from the Rizal Monument in Luneta to Buendia or from Mabuhay Rotunda to Araneta Avenue).
In my standards, walking distance lang yun. But when you try doing it under 38-40 degrees of desert summer heat, it really is one hell of a self-flagellation.
Anyway, I enjoy walking as many of my friends and family could attest to -- kaya nga ayaw nang sumama sakin nung ibang kbgan ko.
Mas marami kang nakikita pag naglalakad ka lang. And for someone who is on a tight budget, walking is the first option when travelling.
Grabe na talaga ang init. Well, ganun din ang sabi ng Mama ko kahapon. Nakakapaso na daw init sa Manila. Arnold Clavio was even trumpeting in his Saksi spiel that the temperature in Manila is hovering at 37-38 degrees. Kung medyo matagal ka na dito sa Middle East, that's nothing.
Anyway, di naman yan ang gusto kong i-discuss. Warm up lang muna. Pampainit baga hehehee...
I was watching 24 Oras the other day and found out that the legendary 80s rock band Duran Duran was in Manila for a one night gig.
"Puza! Duran Duran nasa Pinas! what the . . ." 'yan ang initial reaction ko.
Pero dun sa ipinalabas na footage, parang wala lang. Ayun dumating sila sa NAIA. Nakatanga lang ang mga tao. Nagtataka siguro kung bakit kinukunan ng video yung mga "turista". Walang kahirap-hirap ang mga airport policemen in clearing the way for Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Roger Taylor (kinopya ko lang sa Wiki ang names nila, di ko na maalala e) as they walked towards the driveway to board their car,
Parang gusto kong pagsisigawan ang mga tao sa NAIA nang: "Huwat?! Di nyo sila kilala? Di nyo kilala ang Duran Duran?!"
Where's the screaming mob? Where's the paparazzi?
If this were the 1980s, NAIA's General Atutubo would probably have the biggest security nightmare -- far worse than what he experienced when they "kidnapped" Jun Lozada.
Siguro the scenario at the arrival area would be comparable to the time when Thalia (the original Marimar) came in the mid-90s or when the Taiwanese band F4 planed in at the height of the popularity of Meteor Garden in 2001.
But hey man. Wake up! The 80s was 20 years ago. Tapos na ang panahon ng kabataan mo! The bagets generation is about to join the ranks of the forgets.
Di ko naman kasi naramdaman yung transition ng panahon. I mean, through the years, the 80s music was just there. It never faded away. Paulit-ulit pa rin siyang pinapatugtog.
Di ko maalala kung saan ko nabasa or narinig that the 80s was the decade of "bad hair and great music".
Pero ewan ko, parang may nang-aasar sa akin ngayong araw na 'to.
One of the top stories of CNN today was about another 80s icon, Rick Astley . CNN showed clips of a record producer's interview about the phenomenal record sales of his song "Never Gonna Give You Up" and the 18 millions hits generated by an Astley site .
Before that, wuz watching my new favourite channel in Orbit, channel 98 or GMA Life TV...kung sa Pinas pa, ito yung QTV... where the program Moms was on. (hayup, ganito na ko ka-domesticated dito sa Dubai)
At first di ko kilala yung mga guests nila -- four middle-aged men who were discussing the days when they were "sikat".
It turned out, the interviewees were former members of the 70s bands Hagibis and Boyfriends.
They were reminiscing on the period when they were the toast of the town. I was a kid when their songs ruled the airwaves and my world was revolving around Voltes V and Mazinger Z.
Hagibis was the Pinoy version of the Village People (Macho Man, YMCA, In The Navy, You Can't Stop The Music).
Hagibis was an all-male song and dance group that popularised (immortalised is more apt) classics such as Katawan (which became the theme song of the defunct sitcom "Palibhasa Lalake), Legs and other songs that were sung in a military cadence-like fashion. Sila kumbaga ang tatay ng mga Masculados.
Ang pinakasikat nilang member was Sonny Parsons, who became vice mayor of Marikina City and who once hogged the headlines for shooting it out with robbers who broke into his house.
(Just remembered, Sonny Parsons once threatened to sue us at Taliba for libel for publishing a comment made by MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando -- his political rival -- who said that he was just making a publicity stunt out of that incident.)
Boyfriends naman was the kilabot "boy band" of the 70s and the Pinoy's answer to the Bee Gees, yung kumakanta na parang may sipon or hinihika. But their songs -- Dahil Mahal Kita and Sumayaw, Sumunod -- also became classics. Kumbaga, their playlist is part of the definition of OPM (Original Pilipino Music) or Manila Sound.
The four interviewees were on a high narrating the times when they could easily fill up Folk Arts Theatre to the rafters or when they even had to don wigs, caps and dark glasses para lang di makilala ng tao dahil siguradong dudumugin sila paglabas nila ng bahay.
Nakakalungkot rin when the discussion turned to the time when the shrieking fans were no longer there. Kumbaga, lumipas na yung panahon nila. Laos na sila.
The Hagibis guy....di kasi fina-flash yung name....narrated that the painful truth sunk in when he was asked to judge a Battle of the Bands contest in Paranaque. He was introduced as a member of Hagibis and the emcee -- a high schooler -- could not even pronounce the group's name. And when the program ended, people mobbed former Eraserheads lead Ely Buendia, who was also one of the judges, to get his autograph or picture taken while our poor Hagibis macho man only got stares from the "nanays" who were too shy to run and swoon like 16-year-old girls.
Naalala ko tuloy yung movie na Music and Lyrics. Yung character ni Hugh Grant was an 80s icon who became a composer and occassionally performs in class reunions and country fairs (perya). In one gig, he was trying to do his pelvic moves that used to elicit shrieks from his fans, when his back creaked.
Haay..well, that's life. The sun will rise and set and the day will be remembered depending on what went on in the 12 hours that the sun was up.
As the line in the George Canseco's Handog (a song interpreted by 70s folk legend Florante and if I'm not mistaken also won in the Metro Pop Music Festival) goes . . . .
"tatanda at lilipas rin ako, ngunit mayrong awiting iiwanan sa inyong ala-ala".
Well to Duran Duran, Hagibis, Boyfriends and the numerous bands and singers who made my generation colourful and fun...... I raise my keyboard to you! Cheers!
Tumatanda na nga talaga ako.
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