Raymond Lauchengco 20 years after

Forty years of Vicor Music Corp. also means 20 years or more of Raymond Lauchengco. And there is no better way to celebrate the event than by listening once more and with lots of feeling to the songs that the foremost teenaged balladeer of the ‘80s popularized. Pang-emote ito.

The album is simply titled Raymond Lauchengco and it is an interesting package that appeals to a wide market. It is a reissue of his big hit, Farewell. It has new songs, the Paul Williams goodie Save Me a Dream. It is a collection of songs that today’s pop singers like to perform like I Need You Back, but done by the original singer, digitally remastered and with arrangements that have withstood the passage of time. Interestingly too, Spanky Rigor’s production still works today. No new cover version can stand against this one.

Best of all, the album also serves as a retrospective of Raymond’s life and career. There are the early recordings of the very strong kilig factor like So It’s You and the movie theme Saan Darating ang Umaga, because he was also a successful actor. There are examples of his personal influences like Somos Novios, because he grew up with Spanish songs playing around the house and As If We Never Said Goodbye from the musical Sunset Boulevard, because he is also an accomplished stage actor. Then, as if he also wants to tell people that he can still hack a pop tune these days, Raymond has a song written by Ogie Alcasid, Tunay Kitang Minamahal.

It may interest his fans to know that Raymond, then a young stage actor, was discovered by the then also very young future Megastar Sharon Cuneta. She heard him perform at a school event and took him to Viva Films, which put him under contract as an actor. Viva didn’t have a music division then, so Raymond was brought to Vicor. Within a scant few months, he was reaping success both as a recording artist and as an actor.

There was no question about his acting ability. That he proved early on, playing opposite Maricel Soriano in Saan Darating ang Umaga and then, more convincingly as Sharon’s convict brother in Bukas Luluhod ang Mga Tala. Great work. But those performances are not what his fans remember best. Raymond to them is the guy who gave the now classic Bagets its sensitive and of course, musical soul.

Alongside William Martinez, Herbert Bautista, JC Bonnin and Aga Muhlach, Raymond with the lovely Eula Valdez as leading lady epitomized the teenagers of the ‘80s on film and everybody identified with them. Raymond also starred in Bagets 2 and Hot Shots, now acknowledged as the first music-video driven motion picture made locally. It was directed by Jeric Soriano and marked the acting debut of Gary Valenciano. The song Standing in the Shadow of Time in the album is taken from the soundtrack of Hot Shots.

It was a heady time for the young actors. Likewise for their fans, and Raymond was there to sing the soundtrack album of their lives. An entire generation grew up with Raymond’s songs. They fell in love to the tune of So It’s You, love theme from Bagets, nursed a broken heart with I Need You Back and brought on the tears come graduation day with Farewell. Now that these songs are available again, they can bask in their memories while watching their children lose themselves in the magic of these now classic songs.

Sharon’s Early Albums Reissued

Speaking of Sharon Cuneta, Vicor has also reissued her early recordings in line with its 40th anniversary. Also all digitally remastered, the albums Sharon, Sixteen and P.S. I Love You capture the pristine charm of Sharon’s vocals during her pre-Megastar days. Listening to these albums feels like watching her evolve into the incredible star she was destined to be. Here with these songs was where it all started.

Some of the songs that can be found in these albums are Mahal Kita, Mahal Mo Siya, Mahal Niya ay Iba, Hagkan, Ewan, I-Swing Mo Ako, Dear Heart, P.S. I Love You, I Don’t Want You to Go, Come What May with Gabby Concepcion, Friends, I Don’t Mean a Thing to You Anymore, Together with Rowell Santiago and many others.