If loves, crushes, various exes, etc. who at one time or another served as inspirations, were to get a share in songwriting royalties, then Louie Ocampo would be in the same league as Taylor Swift. I do not know if there is any truth to the rumor. But Taylor is believed to have written songs dedicated to or about assorted ex-boyfriends. Well, it is the same case with Louie and some girlfriends and he is very grateful to those girls for the inspiration.
Louie is one of the most prominent composers and musical directors in the country today. He started out in the mid-’70s and has since then come up with a goodly number of memorable hit songs. Say That You Love Me by Basil Valdez; Don’t Say Goodbye by Pops Fernandez; You Are My Song by Regine Velasquez; So Many Questions by Side A; Ikaw by Sharon Cuneta; Kahit Isang Saglit by Vernie Varga and others.
Not bad for a kid who would feign illness in order to escape his piano lessons. “My father loves music,” says Louie. “We lived right across from the Cultural Center and I was constantly made to watch classical concerts. He was also the one who got me into learning the piano, which I hated.” Things changed though when he was told to switch to the organ. “I loved playing with all those buttons and the rhythm box on the organ. When I discovered that there was no stopping me anymore.”
Of course, he later got the usual admonitions against a career in music. “It was ‘Ano ang kakainin mo?’ I did try college but I lasted only one semester. I wanted to go to Berklee in the States but they wouldn’t let me. It took a lot of convincing and several hit songs before they said yes. I majored in film scoring. I worked very hard. I wanted to give them their money’s worth. But I was very happy.”
The training came in handy when he embarked on a music career but the foundation for his songwriting was laid out long before that by, what else, but a pretty girl. “I was 14 years old and already playing the organ,” relates Louie. “Our group in school was asked to play the music for a ballet recital. I instantly fell for a dancer named Tina. She inspired me to write my first composition. I called it Moods of Tina. I performed it in a contest which I won.”
Two of Louie’s later loves and inspirations are actually entitled to collect royalties for their songs because they wrote the lyrics for them. One was pianist Rowena Arrieta. The first song he composed for her was Maghihintay Ako Sa ‘yo for which l did the lyrics and which was sung by Anthony Castelo. “She was studying at UP in Makiling and I would only see her on weekends. That was why I titled it Maghihintay Ako Sa ‘yo.”
Rowena later wrote the lyrics for Ewan which went to the Apo Hiking Society. “You know how it is with girls. They do not want to come out and say ‘I love you.’ I would always ask Winnie and she would say ‘ewan.’” The song was her answer. It was also Rowena who did the words for Hagkan, recorded by Sharon Cuneta and Paalam, when she left to study in Russia, which went to Basil Valdez.
Louie’s other popular writing partner was singing star Joey Albert. Theirs was a celebrated relationship that still intrigues fans and which resulted in Ikaw Lang Ang Mamahalin, It’s Over Now and You Threw It All Away. Joey was also the girl who inspired Tell Me, with lyrics by Alan Aique, which she recorded to huge success.
There may have been other female inspirations for Louie’s songs but marriage and fatherhood eventually got him off needing to fall for a girl in order to compose his songs. That does not mean he stopped writing though. In fact, he became even more prolific by allowing his lyricists to take care of the emotional baggage. “I feel very fortunate that to have worked and to still be working with very good lyricists. I owe them a lot.”
Among them are the late George Canseco, Ikaw Kung Nasaan Ka Man; Martin Nievera, You Are My Song, Don’t Say Goodbye; Freddie Santos, Yakapin Mo Ako, Points Of View; Edith Gallardo, I Can, Ngayon Bukas At Kailanman; and others.
These songs, plus many more will take center stage at the Kia Theater in Araneta Center, Quezon City on Dec. 2, when Louie joins Rey Valera and Ogie Alcasid in the Viva Concerts presentation, Kanta Ko, Panahon Mo, a concert that celebrates the Filipino songwriters and their works. It will be quite an evening of beautiful songs and memories.