Swing Out Sister also coming for show

Barely recovered from the onslaught of foreign acts — from My Chemical Romance to Connie Francis, David Pomeranz and Rex Smith (more on him by and by) — we the insatiable Pinoy music-lovers must brace for servings of “imported” stuff, including Maroon 5; Shadows Fall; Incubus; Ne-Yo; Earth, Wind & Fire; and Toto.

Some more?

Yes, Swing Out Sister (SOS) which is making a comeback on April 7 at the Araneta Coliseum in a concert produced by Renen de Guia’s Ovation Productions. (Ticket prices are P4,700, P4,500, P3,500, P2,500, P1,000 and P500. For inquiries, call Ticketnet at 911-5555.)

A refresher (courtesy of Renen):

You won’t find Swing Out Sister listed in many, if any, rock encyclopedias. But you will find the English duo has its own entry in a new reference guide to lounge music called “Easy! The Lexicon of Lounge.”

Singer Corinne Drewery has understandably mixed feelings about being categorized as a cocktail-lounge act. She recognizes that the term can suggest a kind of generic, wallpaper music. Yet she’s not about to apologize for her unabashed love for the type of old-fashioned, melodic pop that often makes rock critics cringe.

The lounge-music label “is something we’ve been saddled with from the very beginning,” says Drewery. “I can remember someone describing our music as coffee-table jazz, whatever that is. It’s probably an easy way to describe something that’s not dance music. But from the beginning I’ve said that easy-listening is not an insult to me, because some of my favorite music comes under that category at the music store.”
Swing Out Sister’s music is an appealing reminder of how pop music was played three to four decades ago. Early Dionne Warwick, the Fifth Dimension and Dusty Springfield are appropriate reference points for music that sounds downright anomalous in this era for high-tech ballads and thumping electronic dance music.

It’s no wonder that Drewery was giddy with excitement after Swing Out Sister (which also features keyboardist Andy Connell) was appointed Burt Bacharach’s opening act for the veteran songwriter’s concert sometime ago at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Bacharach and lyricist Hal David wrote a plethora of melodic hits in the ’60s and early ’70s for soothing pop artists such as Warwick, Springfield and the Carpenters.

It’s Better To Travel, the band’s 1987 debut album, entered the English charts at No. 1. The group’s first single — the sprightly, horn-accented song Breakout — was a Top 10 success in both the UK and in the US.

With 1989’s Kaleidoscope World, SOS’s sophomore effort, the duo created a beautifully lavish work with layered instrumentation. Parts of the album were almost cinematic in feel and scope, which was appropriate, considering Drewery and Connell’s love for vintage soundtrack music.

Swing Out Sister’s very popular hits are: Fooled By A Smile, Twilight World, You On My Mind, Where in the World, Waiting Game, Forever Blue, Precious Words, Am I the Same Girl and Lalala Means I Love You.

Rex Smith still takes your breath away

Like David Pomeranz, Rex Smith has become a “virtual Pinoy” because  he’s always here, doing shows especially during special occasions like Valentine. No wonder Rex, like David, feels right at home, very casual and very natural in a performance particularly in a cozy venue like the Hyatt’s ballroom which reverberated with the sound of his enduring, well-loved hits, and the sighs and swoons that echoed after them, in a post-Valentine show Friday night.

Older now but still as sexy as he was during his Broadway/Hollywood days, Rex can still take your breath away without trying to...just by singing one hit after another.

“This is my fourth time to be in Manila,” he said. “This time around, I’ve been everywhere.” That is, doing Valentine shows in cities down south, with the Hyatt stint his second to the last of a series (produced by Danee Samonte, a.k.a. Steve O’Neal) which ended Saturday night in Subic.

In white, long-sleeved shirt and denims that highlighted the “essence” of Rex Smith, the man who turned Simply Jesse into a lovers’ anthem began his one-hour-and-a-half show with a lively rendition of Everlasting Love, followed non-stop by Forever, Jesse Will You Love Me, True, Foolish Heart, Let’s Make a Memory, Steal Away, Somewhere, Build Me Up Buttercup, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Don’t Give Up on Us and You Take My Breath Away, wrapping it up with Everybody Have Fun before he casually walked to the lobby to pose for pictures and sign autographs.

You guessed it: The much-awaited and most-applauded number was Simply Jesse which Rex sang with the same feeling, as in plakang-plaka.

Kudos should go to the pretty singer Olivia (simply Olivia), a Claudine Barretto lookalike who did a stirring medley of Phantom of the Opera songs with Rex, herself taking the audience’s breath away (from Rex, but only for a while) with her powerful voice reminiscent of that of a younger Verni Varga. Watch Olivia. She’ll go places. (I heard she’s keeping an eye on Broadway. After you, Lea Salonga!)

Bible-quoting Pinoy group is a winner

From Edmund Silvestre (news editor of the New York-based The Filipino Reporter), this report;

A highly-acclaimed Filipino music video promoting the use of the Holy Bible as a tool for overcoming the crisis of modern life and uniting the human race was honored with Gold Medal at the 50th annual New York Festivals International Television Broadcasting Awards held at the TriBeca Rooftop in Manhattan.

The Power To Unite MTV is produced by the Power To Unite Catholic Family Bible Group, Inc. and is the brainchild of its president, Elvira Yap Go, who personally accepted the award along with Louie Ignacio, director of the winning MTV; network executives Edith Del Rosario of RPN and Viz Bonalos of NBN; Bishop Antonieto Cabahug of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and Fr. Mike Garcia, SSS, of the National Catholic Family Bible Quiz.

The winning MTV(available on YouTube), which also depicts the Filipino and his family as evangelizers throughout the world, is endorsed by bigwigs in the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the Philippines, including Ricardo Cardinal Vidal of Cebu, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales of Manila, Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of Iloilo, Bishop Chito Tagle of Imus, and Bishop Fernando Capalla of Iligan.

 “God’s word is the unifying force,” says Elvira Yap Go. “We are able to reach out to Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and other faiths.”

Go said no less than three popes have already declared it “the mission of the Filipino to spread the Word of God, wherever he or she may be.”

Power To Unite is a lively and colorful mosaic of ethnic Filipino costumes, dances and faces, the beautifully-posed images flashing to the rhythm of a song whose lyrics can only have come from a heart impassioned by the Holy Spirit.

It also harnessed the talent of several big names in the Philippine performing arts: musician Charo Unite, arranger Roy del Valle, singer Rene Martinez, National Artist for Dance and world-renowned choreographer Ramon Obusan, and director Louie Ignacio, the popular director of GMA 7’s S.O.P., SIS and Pinoy Idol.

The Power To Unite MTV bested numerous other entries from around the world.

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