Another Pinay making waves in US music scene

Of course, the name Sharon T. doesn’t ring any bell here – at all. Not yet, anyway. Soon, it just might – it should!

But in the US, particularly in Filipino comminities in the West Coast (specifically Los Angeles where she resides), the name does ring bells – for a good reason.

In May last year, Sharon T.’s song Awakening placed No. 11 among Tower Records’ Top 20 Singles within weeks of its release, coming after those of Madonna’s and Mariah Carey’s and, take note, before those of Yoko Ono’s and Celine Dion’s.

Here are those on the Top 20:

1. Intuition, Jewel
2. American Life (Remix), Madonna
3. Through The Rain, Mariah Carey
4. Picture, Kid Rock featuring Allison Moorer
5. Rock Your Body, Justin Timberlake
6. Angel, Amanda Perez
7. What The World Needs Now, American Idol Season 2
8. In Love with Chu, Da Brat
9. Make Me Smile, Erasure
10. Don’t Wanna Try, Frankie J
11. Awakening, Sharon T.
12. Solsbury Hill, Erasure
13. Walking on Thin Ice, Yoko Ono
14. Stuck, Stacie Orrico
15. In Da Club, 50 Cent
16. God Bless The USA, American Idol 2
17. Sumnabulist, BT
18. I Drove All Night, Celine Dion
19. Satisfaction, Eve
20. So Whassup, Jonell

The chart speaks for itself, for Sharon T. A month later, Awakening moved up to No. 8 on the same Tower listing.

Now, who’s Sharon T. and how did she beat Yoko Ono, Celine Dion and a few other singers in the hit race?

Last week during my working trip to L.A., tourists Ronald Constantino and Aster Amoyo and I were introduced to Sharon T. by the gracious host-with-the-most Alfonso "Al" Chu (of whom Ronald and Aster and her daughter Aila were guests at his beautiful bungalow in Anaheim, surrounded by flowers of a thousand blooms and colors) over dinner of home-cooked goodies (prepared by Al Chu’s sister Vicky).

At first glance, Sharon T. could pass for a sexy (no, not "bold") actress and she could give any of the Viva Hot Babes a run for their bikinis (sorry, though, but Sharon T. doesn’t pose – or hasn’t yet – in bikinis, not for publicity, anyway). Her complexion is deliciously brown, like that of Jennifer Lopez, and she’s very charming, a sweet smile never leaving her face.

We wondered, what does "T." stand for?

Sharon T. smiled, amused.

"You see," she explained, "Americans find it hard to pronounce my surname, Tanyag, so I decided to just use an initial. It clicked."

Her Awakening CD, a "maxi-single," was produced by Odyssey Records in eight different versions.

"I was surprised when it landed on Tower Records’ Top 20 Singles," said Sharon T. "I couldn’t believe it!"

She has just recorded a dance version of Joey Albert’s Tell Me (released by CYX Music in Germany and considered an "import" in America).

"Listen to it," said Al Chu, putting the CD on the player.

We did and we were completely surprised how Sharon T. turned Joey’s mellow song into a disco number. I’m sure the Vancouver-based Joey will dance with joy when she hears it.

Sharon T. has been singing professionally for 10 years now. Before she left for L.A. in the ’80s, she won the Yamaha Musicmate contest (two years after Jamie Rivera did), competed in the Johnson & Johnson Singing Contest and appeared in some commercials (KFC among them) before she toured Asia with the Expose Band.

She’s among the five children of Wilfredo Tanyag (son of former Taguig Mayor Monico Tanyag) and Ester Batucan of Bataan. Sharon T. was born in Cebu (Land of Great Singers, including Pilita Corrales, Dulce, Verni Varga and Vina Morales) where she finished elementary/high school (University of San Carlos); she graduated from St. Scholastica’s College with a degree in B.A. Marketing.

"I never put my degree into practice," said Sharon T. "Ever since, I really wanted to be a singer."

She idolizes Barbra Streisand, Gladys Knight, Zsa Zsa Padilla and Whitney Houston. (Sharon T. is compared to Houston because of a certain similarity in their voice and style.) In shows in L.A., she has performed with homegrown talents like Gary Valenciano, Regine Velasquez, Ella Mae Saison (also now based in L.A.) and, yes, Gabby Concepcion who is forced to sing in shows.

Out there, Sharon T. first sang with the Cool Change Band for two years as a vocalist, the only female member (there were three other Pinoys in the band). Then, she performed for three years with the Hot Sauce Band (the other members were African-American).

And then came the big break.

"I recorded and produced my own songs, Take Me Back in Time and Stargazing, and I presented them to several records labels. That’s the way things are done in the US. In the Philippines, you get discovered and a recording company produces your album(s). In the US, you look or do your own songs, record them and shop for a record label."

Calvin King, Sharon’s songwriter, presented the recording to Bill Bouvier, a French record producer based in Hollywood, and Bouvier liked the songs. He had Sharon T. sing at The Factory (a club) and the audience also liked what they heard. More gigs followed: At Hollywood Highland (located at the famous Kodak Theater where the Oscars are held) and Rage, performing her own songs. She soon gained a following. In 2002, Sharon T. recorded Awakening, which was released in May 2003.

Proud to be Pinay, Sharon T. is often mistaken for a Latina or a Puerto Rican.

"I am a Filipina," she would insist. "And I don’t even speak Spanish."

Her manager, Jojo Jereza (also a Pinoy who used to run his own talent agency called Dreamline Artist and now connected with Nenemusik Talent Agency, one of New York’s biggest agencies), described Sharon T. as hardworking. "She’s one of the best dance and R&B artists I’ve ever heard. With her amazing talent, she will be a big hit in the ‘mainstream’."

Now busy recording her third single, He Told Me He Loved Me, for Cuban record producer Lewis Martines, Sharon T. plans to come home soon. If she does, she should sing (on TV) not just Awakening and her other songs but also, more so, her lilting and lively version of Tell Me.

"I asked the permission of Louie Ocampo (the composer) and EMI before I recorded it. When Louie heard my version, I could see that he liked it; he was impressed."

And so will you!

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