A mellow Valentine’s Day

This year’s Valentine season has brought on a surfeit of concerts, some of them by foreign talents, The Lettermen, The Zombies and Jason Mraz. But surely the biggest of them all is Andy Williams Live! One Romantic Evening at the Araneta Coliseum on Feb. 14. Today’s generation may not instantly recognize the name. I say though that if they want to hear Moon River performed the way composer Henry Mancini decreed it should be when the song won the Academy Award in 1962, then they should watch this show.

Williams provided me with the mellow contrast to the restless Beatles during the ’60s. I still remember pleasant evenings spent watching him weekly in his Andy Williams Show on TV for several years. He also appeared in the movies and one which I truly enjoyed was I’d Rather be Rich where he and baritone Robert Goulet were rivals for Sandra Dee. That was where I heard Andy sing two of my favorites among his many hits Almost There and a wonderful version of It Had to be You that probably gave Harry Connick Jr. the jitters. Connick did his version for the movie When Harry Met Sally.

Andy is best known these days for his recording of the iconic Moon River, theme from the Audrey Hepburn starrer Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Although his version was never used in the movie, it became such a big hit and led to his recordings of other movie themes. These are Where Do I Begin from Love Story, Speak Softly Love from The Godfather, Loss of Love from Sunflower, A Time for Love from Romeo and Juliet, The Shadow of Your Smile from The Sandpiper, plus Days of Wine and Roses and Dear Heart from the films of the same title.

Outside of the movies, Williams scored big with the likes of Are You Sincere? Lonely Street, Canadian Sunset, Hawaiian Love Song, I Like Your Kind of Love, The Village of St. Bernadette, Hopeless, A Fool Never Learns, Can’t Get Used to Losing You, Music to Watch Girls By, Happy Heart, Love and although it was originally popularized by Frank Sinatra, Andy also had a hit with Call Me Irresponsible.

Can’t Take My Eyes Off You is another one of Williams’ big sellers. This recording is one of the featured songs in the album Hits of the ’50s and ’60s. The collection is made up of 19 cuts representative of what people were listening to 50 years ago. It is an interesting mix that shows how pop music has not really changed that much over the years.

There are ballads like Williams’ contribution and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by The Platters. Then there are rock and roll, Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis, bubble gum like Sugar, Sugar by The Archies, Brit pop with The Searchers’ Sweets for My Sweet, R&B like Stand by Me by Ben E. King, Motown soul like Baby Love by The Supremes and of course, the twist with Let’s Twist Again as performed by the original twistmaster himself Chubby Checker.

Come to think of it, how come no local promoter has thought of bringing Checker over for some shows? I am sure Pinoys expressing their longing for a better life by bringing back memories of a better past, will love an evening or two of twisting led by Chubby Checker himself.

But back to Andy Williams. Tickets to his One Romantic Evening show at the Big Dome are priced at P5,500, P4,500, P3,500, P2,250, P1,250 and P450. Check them out at Ticketnet outlets at all SM stores and the Araneta Coliseum box office.

More Valentine shows

Still on music happenings for the Valentine season. The Podium Mall, Candid Records Philippines with Crossover 105.1 and Astroplus get together for the musicale Teach Me Tonight. This will be held at The Lounge of The Podium on Feb. 10 and 24. If I am not mistaken this show is open to the public for free.

Feb. 10, Friday features the talented singer, songwriter and pianist Isha with her band The Look. She will release a four-track album that contains Sayaw sa Hangin, Salisi, Katakataka and At Sabi Mo. Guesting will be romantic balladeer Enrique Marcos.

Come Feb. 24, it will be Mon David’s turn to perform songs from his album Life & Times. Aside from Mon’s vocal artistry, this show is made more interesting by the presence of Candid new artist Skarlet who you will surely recognize as Myra Ruaro, the girl singer from Brownbeat All Stars. Wonder what she intends to do as Skarlet. Ska?