Why 1984 was a great year for OPM
1984 was a great year for Original Pilipino Music (OPM). In a way, it was somewhat regrettable that songwriters and singers of that time, all seem to want to do only compositions in the English language.
The Manila Sound demolished the use of English in local songs only a few years back after Hot Dog’s Pers Lab and Pilita Corrales’ Kapantay ay Langit made Tagalog and the mix of Tagalog and English acceptable and popular. But then Nonoy Zuñiga came soaring in with Never Ever Say Goodbye and Basil Valdez followed up with You. And English was back.
But, so what, the songs were still Filipino, written by Filipinos, recorded by Filipinos and produced for Filipino labels, which actually is the definition of OPM. If you will take the time to look back, you will notice that those songs have withstood the test of time and are what Filipinos still enjoy listening to these days.
Remember Bagets? The movie dropped in local theaters on Feb. 2, 1984. It made pop idols out of William Martinez, Aga Muhlach, Raymond Lauchengco, JC Bonnin, and Herbert Bautista. It also introduced an unforgettable soundtrack.
Odette Quesada composed the Bagets theme, Growing Up, for Gary Valenciano and what would be the favorite graduation song of all time, Farewell for Raymond. Cecil Azarcon’s contribution was So It’s You, also for Raymond. Then, there was the then ubiquitous Just Got Lucky by JoBoxers, a foreign release, but which until now is known as a Bagets song.
A few months later in August, Raymond, Aga and Herbert were back for the musical Hotshots with Gary V making his acting debut in tow. Of course, given the success of Bagets music, Hotshots also had a great pop soundtrack that remains a huge favorite until now.
Gary V got to record the Hotshots theme written by Ed Formoso. Azarcon came out with two of her best works for the movie, Reaching Out for Gary and Special Memory for Iwi Laurel. Raymond got to sing Standing in the Shadow of Time by Louie Ocampo.
Still around the land of OPM in 1984 were hot singing idol Martin Nievera singing Each Day with You and Ikaw ang Lahat Sa Akin; pretty newcomer Joey Albert scored big with her Tell Me and A Million Miles Away; the Apo Hiking Society was singing When I Met You.
Jam Morales had Even If, also by Azarcon; Kuh Ledesma had Quesada’s Till I Met You; and TV star Julie Vega of Ana Luna fame transitioned into singing with Somewhere in My Past. And holding aloft the Tagalog banner was Zsa Zsa Padilla with her debut single Kahit Na, a composition by Willy Cruz.
Now, to bring on more memories here are the sounds we remember from 1984, elsewhere around the world: Say Say Say by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson; Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) by Phil Collins; I Just Called to Say I Love You by Stevie Wonder; Careless Whisper and Wake Me Up Before You Go Go by Wham!; Smooth Operator by Sade; Purple Rain and When Doves Cry by Prince; Born in the U.S.A. and Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen; Like a Virgin and Borderline by Madonna; Jump by the Pointer Sisters; Jump by Van Halen; Stuck on You and Hello by Lionel Richie; Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and She Bop by Cyndi Lauper; Footloose by Kenny Rankin; What’s Love Got to Do with It by Tina Turner; Karma Chameleon by Culture Club;
Hard Habit to Break by Chicago; Here Comes the Rain Again by Eurythmics; If Ever You’re in My Arms Again by Peabo Bryson; Uptown Girl by Billy Joel; To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before by Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias; Islands in the Stream by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rankin and oh, so forth.
It was indeed a very good year for music.
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