Newsmakers

Of Hotdog & hot news

May 10, 2011 | 12:00am

I was too young to feel mushy when I first heard the song Pers Lab on the radio, but the lyrics gave me an idea of what Cinderella must have felt like when she first laid eyes on her Prince Charming.

Kung ika’y nakikita, ako’y natutunaw, parang ice cream nabilad, sa ilalim ng araw…

The line had all the similes and metaphors that described what first love was all about, in such a delightfully graphic manner.

That song came from a band called Hotdog, and it defined the generation that was in high school during martial law and was starting to earn a living during the Aquino assassination in 1983.

In the recording studio in 1974. Lorrie Ilustre (keyboards), Jess Garcia (drums), Ella del Rosario (vocals), Dennis Garcia (bass) and Mon Torralba (second lead guitar).

Today, that generation has a man in Malacañang, and in probably all the corridors of power in the country. The Hotdog generation now rules the land.

Play a few notes from the following light rock classics by Hotdog and chances are, you or your boss will hum or sing along… or dream along — Ikaw ang Miss Universe ng Buhay Ko, Bongga Ka ’Day, Annie Batungbakal, Beh Buti Nga, Bitin Sa Iyo, Langit Na Naman, O, Lumapit Ka and that ode to the capital city that has become an anthem for Filipinos everywhere pining for home, Manila.

Truly a Pinoy pop-rock legend, the Hotdog band will reunite for a one-night-only show at the Dusit Thani Manila’s Grand Ballroom on May 16.

The rare event, billed as Hotdog: The Reunion, will bring together the original members of the iconic band that pioneered the celebrated Manila Sound of the 1970s, aided by renowned session players of that era.

Prince William and Duchess Catherine of Cambridge. AP

Band leaders Rene Garcia (lead guitarist/vocals) and Dennis Garcia (bass) will be joined by Jess Garcia on drums, and Gina Montes, Maso Diez, Joy Reyes and Rita Saguin Trinidad, all former lead vocalists of Hotdog at various times.

They will be backed up by guest performer Joey Abando from The Boyfriends, and session musicians Benjie Santos, Carlo Gaa, Roy Marinduque and Roy Sadicon.

The Hotdog hit songs, all written by Dennis and Rene Garcia, topped the local charts in quick succession from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. They remain among the most recognized and revered tunes in popular Filipino music.

In all, Hotdog released over three dozen hit singles that went on to achieve gold and platinum status.

Their first album, Hotdog: Unang Kagat, released in 1974 by Villar Records, became such a monster hit that it spawned a movie of the same title the following year. It starred the band alongside some of the biggest names in local cinema — Fernando Poe, Jr., Joseph Estrada, Nora Aunor, Vilma Santos and Boots Anson Roa — in cameo roles.

Blessed John Paul II. AP

On July 21, 1974, Hotdog performed as the featured artist in the Miss Universe beauty pageant in Manila, serenading the contestants with their hit song Ikaw ang Miss Universe ng Buhay Ko on stage at the Folk Arts Theater and before a worldwide television audience.

Hotdog was formed by the Garcia brothers in 1974, when the contemporary music scene in the Philippines was lorded over by foreign acts spewing trite disco and funk tunes. Local bands, though bursting with talent, fell back on playing covers and mimicry of foreign hits to stay relevant.

Hotdog crashed the scene toting a unique sound — vibrant, catchy songs infused with Tagalog and Taglish lyrics that spoke directly to Filipinos’ everyday sentiments. The genre became known as the Manila Sound and, in one fell swoop, overhauled the stilted musical landscape in stunning fashion.

By establishing an identity for mainstream Filipino music, Hotdog revolutionized the industry and paved the way for Original Pilipino Music or OPM to take root and flourish in the late 1980s and beyond.

(Tickets are available at the Dusit Thani Manila concierge, and through telephone numbers 886-6186, 0915-3598228 and 0921-2931784. Tickets are on first-come, first-served basis, and include dinner, drinks and dancing all night.)

Osama bin Laden. AP

***

The last 10 days have been an instruction book of sorts about the shelf life we all have on earth — one moment we are on display on the top shelf in all our glory with our “best before” label for all the world to appreciate, the next moment we are downgraded to the bottom shelf, and the next, to the dustbin of expired glories. Though all of us have our 15 minutes, those 15 minutes are up all too soon. In 10 days, four major events stole the spotlight, and if air time and newsprint space were the measure of their worth, these four events certainly had their 15 minutes — till the next big thing.

I am talking about the Royal Wedding of the Century last April 29, when two photogenic lovers married tradition and fairy tale before two billion sets of eyes around the world. Two days later, the newly married Prince William and Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, shared the stage with the beatification of immensely popular Pope John Paul II on May 1. As tweets and shrieks were shared on the details of the royal wedding, the “Dress” (a classic lookalike of Princess Grace of Monaco’s), Her Royal Hotness (Kate’s sister Pippa Middleton), the killing of Osama bin Laden on May 2 stole the thunder from ‘em all. The siege of the bin Laden compound and his eventual killing was the “Nakaw Eksena” of the decade, upstaging even the Royal Wedding in airtime and coverage of its aftermath (perhaps to the relief of the newlyweds, who won for themselves some private time). And for the sports world and boxing aficionados, the Pacquiao-Mosley fight on May 8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas was the center of the universe. In the Philippines, it hogged all TV news programs, the front pages of all major newspapers and tabloids. (It merited ample coverage abroad as well, with Paris Hilton even dropping by Pacquiao’s victory press conference). For a while there, no one was interested in where the royal honeymoon would unfold, no one was debating on whether killing an unarmed bin Laden was justified, or whether Pope John Paul II was going to overtake Mother Teresa on the road to sainthood.

And just when the entire Philippines was rejoicing with the hot news that was the Pacquiao victory (a bit adulterated by the lack of excitement on the ring), heavy rains pounded Luzon, towns were submerged and the limelight shifted... again.

So for us on a roll at the moment, on center stage, on a noontime high — be sobered up by the thought that good things and bad things pass, and that the limelight is restless. One moment it’s on you and your achievements... until the next best thing comes along. Today’s hot news will eventually fade into history.