The Stylistics: They still make me feel brand new!

One of the most welcome entertainment treats this holiday season was the well-attended Stylistics’ concert at the Casino Filipino in Parañaque City. For one whose childhood ended and whose adolescence began in the l970s, the group’s latest concert in the Philippines–they last performed here in l995–became such a sweet trip down memory lane. Each note and song flung open long-shut windows in my mind, sending in a breeze of images that swept me up and transported me back to the days when life was carefree and innocent. Those were the days when adolescent thrills meant being tickled pink just being asked to dance by one’s crush at parties where Stylistics songs were among the favorites for "sweet" dancing.

I caught the second and last night of the Stylistics’ concert and one thing that delighted me was that the show was straightforward. There was no front act, for starters. If your goal was really to watch the Stylistics, I daresay any front act would have been quite a nuisance. As it were, the group went right down to business, so to speak, backed by a six-man Afro-American band whose members were later as loudly applauded as the group.

The concert also lasted for a little more than an hour but it was packed by solid gold Stylistics hits, among them the much-applauded Betcha By Golly Wow, Miracle, You Make Me Feel Brand New, I’m Stone in Love with You, Stop, Look and Listen; Only You; andYou’ll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart). In their mustard-colored suits and ’70s-style choreography, the Stylistics breezed through their songs in the same melodically laid-back style with which they had conquered the charts. And the audience enthusiastically hummed, sang and clapped along.

Listening to the Stylistics had a calming effect on me that was most welcome after years of listening to the relatively (by comparison) grating styles of the likes of Mariah Carey, Cristina Aguilera and a slew of hip-hop singers.

One reason, perhaps, that I pretty much cannot appreciate loud and shrill tunes to this day is that I grew up listening to groups like the Stylistics and their contemporaries like the Isley Brothers, Seals & Croft, America, and The Bee Gees whose songs had a soothing effect on me and whose lyrics by all means were understandable (these days you can’t make out what the "singers" are hollering about). Plus, their songs talked about things you could easily relate to–falling in love, feeling good about it, or trying one’s best to let go when it’s over.

Seated on the second row from the stage, I also noticed how, at one point during the concert, the stage-hands suddenly ran toward the left-hand side where the electronic panels were located. The lights had conked out and for a few minutes the Stylistics actually sang in the dark. The audience as a whole didn’t notice it because–kudos to the group–the Stylistics went right on singing and later even apologized for the glitches. The show was so enjoyable the group sang four songs for their encore, including O Holy Night which set up a hearty Christmas mood.

If there’s anything the last Stylistics concert proved, it is that we Filipinos are indeed a sentimental lot. Busy as we are with our daily grind, we may lock the good old days away in our hearts but we never really forget them. For somehow, dwelling on them reinvigorates and refreshes us. Though the whole world may go topsy-turvy, there will always be for us precious memories no one can take away.

At concert’s end I heard a man sighing as he left his seat, "Bitin!" What he meant was that one hour didn’t seem enough; he wanted more. That’s probably why groups like the Stylistics will always be warmly welcomed in Philippine shores.