Ask Eddie Gutierrez and chances are that he’ll shake his head and sigh, "No, I can’t!"
I mention Eddie’s name because this piece is about Peter and Gordon, the acclaimed duo of the ’60s and ’70s which is coming for two shows in December, at the Big Dome on Dec. l and at the Hard Rock Café (dinner show) in Makati City on Dec. 3.
You see, Peter and Gordon’s A World Without Love happens to be Eddie’s all-time favorite, his personal anthem. So in love is Eddie with the song that he sings it at the slightest "provocation," doing it Elvis Presley style. (Eddie is one of the Filipino Elvis Presley "clones.")
Besides A World Without Love, also included in Peter and Gordon’s repertoire are the duo’s other hits, including True Love Ways, 500 Miles, I Got to Pieces, Lucille, Nobody I Know, Let It Be Me, Green Leaves of Summer, Somewhere, When I Fall In Love and Lady Godiva.
Peter and Gordon is the latest in a series of foreign acts mounted here, coming after The Cascades, Chad and Jeremy, The Beachboys and Gary Lewis and The Playboys, all of which, like the Peter and Gordon concerts, were produced by Steve O’Neal Productions.
Entitled World Reunion Tour, the Manila engagement of Peter and Gordon will mark the very first tour as a team of the two singers after 37 years. The two pursued separate careers in 1968.
Here’s a backgrounder on Peter and Gordon, courtesy of the Steve O’Neal Productions DPA who tipped off Funfare on the duo’s forthcoming Manila concerts:
Peter Asher (brother of Jane Asher, Beatle Paul McCartney’s steady girlfriend before he married Linda Eastman; a few years after Eastman’s death, McCartney married amputated model Heather Mills) and Gordon Waller were dubbed as "The Everly Brothers of the British Invasion" in the ’60s. They harmonized in perfect, ear-pleasing intervals, strummed acoustic guitars in tandem and recorded a consistently impressive string of great songs (some of them mentioned above).
With their distinctively unique sound that blended folk, blues and rock ‘n roll with their own pop-flavored English sensibility, Peter and Gordon were, in a short span of time, thrust at the center of international acclaim as they scored one smash hit after another.
The tandem had its beginnings at the Westminster School for Boys in London where Peter and Gordon met and became friends, brought together by their common interest in music. Peter was big on jazz while Gordon was more into rock ‘n roll, but they both admired the same singers: The Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly.
It was while performing at a local pub frequented by a lot of showbiz people that they were spotted by EMI Records executive who invited them to submit a demo recording of their songs which ultimately landed them a contract with Capitol Records.
The rest is, yes, history.
After they parted ways in 1968, Peter joined The Beatles’ then newly-formed company, Apples Records as A&R head before moving to the US in 1971 to organize his own Peter Asher Management company. As a producer, Peter has worked with the likes of James Taylor, Diana Ross, Neil Diamond, Ringo Starr, Cher, Robbie Williams, Kenny Loggins, Billy Joel and many others.
On the other hand, Gordon went to America in 1970 and appeared onstage in 1973 in the hit musical Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat during its performances in London and Australia. He later became a partner in a company that produces commercials for radio.
In 2001, interest in Peter and Gordon was rekindled when their greatest hits album was released.
And now, here they are, reunited on Philippine stage after 37 long years of separation.
Can you imagine the music world without Peter and Gordon?
(Note: Tickets to Peter and Gordon’s concert at the Araneta Coliseum – priced at P2,200, P1,800, P1,600, P800, P500 and P200 – are available at Ticketnet outlets, tel. no. 891-9999, and at SM malls. For reservations at the Hard Rock Café dinner show, call 893-4661 to 64.)
A seminar called Understanding and Healing After a Break-up, to be conducted by Fr. Corsie Legaspi, will revolve around this question and, hopefully, help broken-hearted souls come to terms with the situation and themselves.
It will be held on Nov. 19, Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Coming Home Retreat and Meditation Center, National Highway, Binakayan, Cavite (near the Centennial Crossing).
"Unless you come to grip with the process of why things ended up sadly for you," said Fr. Corsie, "the pain will make you die little by little every day. The best thing for you to do is pick up the pieces and give yourself a chance to recover. This seminar offers down-to-earth strategies to turn your negative emotions into channels for personal growth."
(Note: For inquiries, call Araceli Altmann Linsangan at 0919-264-2876, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.)
Alex (from Catarman, Northern Samar) is the head of Herway Inc. which discovered Michelle Aldana during a search for Miss Herway, a title Michelle handily won before she became Mutya ng Pilipinas and eventually Miss Asia Pacific. Herway is the importer and distributor of Maxellium.
I’ve been taking Maxellium for more than two weeks now and it works. I gave Tempo’s Ronald Constantino a small bagful and he, too, claims that, yes, it’s okay. You know, you come out of the restroom in the morning feeling amazingly light and easy.
According to Alex, Maxellium is not yet available at outlets like Mercury but so far only at Herway offices. (For inquiries, call 533-8992 or 533-8993.)