Billy & Marilyn: The music never ends

MANILA, Philippines - I have to admit I was green with envy when fellow promoter and co-DJ at RJ100.3 FM Renen de Guia (Ovation Productions) informed me he was bringing Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. to the Philippines. The husband and wife team has been one of my all time favorites. I’ve been playing and listening to their music as early as 1968.

According to my good friend Harry Elston, he was together with Marilyn, Lamonte McLemore and Floyd Butler in a group called the Hi-fi’s in the early ’60s. Ray Charles Jr. was so impressed with them that he took them on a tour in 1965 and also produced their first hit single Lonesome Mood. However, the group didn’t last long and split up. Harry and Floyd formed Friends of Distinction while Lamonte and Marilyn formed a quintet called the Versatiles  together with Florence LaRue, Ron Towson and Marilyn’s future husband and Lamonte’s cousin Billy Davis Jr. The group struggled and faced initial rejection until they were discovered by Johnny Rivers and Billy changed their name to the 5th Dimension. Their first release became a Top 10 hit in 1967 — Up Up & Away  was written by Jimmy Webb and won five Grammy Awards the following year.

That’s me with Billy and Marilyn

   Forty-four years later, Up Up & Away opened the lone Philippine concert of Marilyn and Billy at the Araneta Coliseum. I was seated close to the side of the stage with my co-deejays Long Tall Howard, Mac Roller, Virginia, Rudolf Rivera, Peewee and Raffy still mesmerized from the opening set of one of the country’s prime singers Arthur Manuntag when we got caught in the sing-along frenzy of the aged 40 and up audience who braved the rains. Marilyn who was a former beauty queen before entering the music industry looked svelte and in her early 40s despite being 68 years of age with a marvelous vocal range and power to match. Billy who is now 73 years with streaks of gray hair moved slow but still sounded fabulous. The duo performed some of the 5th Dimension favorites like Wedding Bell Blues and Stoned Soul Picnic both No. 1 songs written by singer/songwriter Laura Nyro. What really made Marilyn shine were her renditions of 5th Dimension torch songs If I Could Reach You and the Bacharach/David classic One Less Bell To Answer. The duo, backed by a very able band they brought along, performed a myriad of non-5th Dimension songs like the Otis Redding classic Try A Little Tenderness, Aretha’s Grammy winning song Chain of Fools and their No. 1 hit after leaving the 5th Dimension that won them their first Grammy — You Don’t Have To Be A Star. Sorely missed though were the songs Saving All My Love which Marilyn recorded seven years ahead of Whitney, Working On A Groovy Thing, California Soul and I Hope We Get To Love In Time.

Marilyn tried uttering some lines in Tagalog to the delight of the crowd while Billy chimed Me Too. The show ended with the Broadway musical classic from Hair, Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In, and the crowd sang along loudly. For a few minutes, the coliseum seemed to be bathed in pure sunshine. A standing ovation ensued and there was a clamor for an encore. The couple obliged with their version of James Ingram/Patti Austin’s How Do You Keep The Music Playing. Twice in the show I felt tears flowing down my cheeks from sheer euphoria. The concert was a real gem. I just wish they sang more.