How Stylistics makes us feel brand new

Betcha by golly, every time songs by Stylistics are played on the radio, I stop, look and listen intently and, you guessed it, they make me feel brand-new even if I’ve been listening to them since the ’70s.

The group has been here before and it will be back for another concert on Thursday, April 12, 8 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum (with Rico J. Puno and Elizabeth Ramsey as guest performers). Although That’s Ntertainment Productions (the producer in cooperation with ABS-CBN) is marketing it as “A treat for Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa,” the show is actually for people of all ages, for you and me.

Ask Airrioin Love, the original Stylistic member with whom Funfare did an exclusive phone interview last week.

Excerpts:

How do you maintain and sustain the distinctive Stylistics sound?

Airrioin: Wow, we’ve been doing it for over 40 years. We know what our audience is looking for; they want to hear the same sound over and over again. During a live performance, we make sure that we make the songs sound exactly as they do on the CD.

How long do you intend to be with the group?

“Well, as long as my health is good and I’m still able to sing, then I will be with the group.”

How do you preserve your voice? It sounds the same after all these years.

“Well, I make sure that I take plenty of rest before performing on stage. That’s what I’ve been doing these past years. It helps! We’re happy that we are able to hit the same notes as well as we’ve been doing 30 years ago.”

We look forward to listening to your enduring hits like Betcha By Golly Wow; You Make Me Feel Brand New; You Are Everything; and Stop, Look, Listen…

“Luckily enough, those and our other songs are great so they do make us and people feel brand new every time we sing them. They’re going strong 30 years later.”

Aside from your own, what type of songs do you listen to?

“Wow, anything! I love Gladys Knight, I’m a die-hard fan. I listen to a lot of stuff, although I’m not into hard rock.”

What Stylistics song do you sing or hum while driving or while taking a shower?

“I don’t usually sing in the shower but every now and then, if we’re preparing for a song, I do it to warm up my vocal cords. But when I’m off, I try not to sing so as to relax my vocal cords.”

You have a new album. Can you tell us about it?

“It’s called That Same Way, a brand-new one and not a collection of our greatest hits. It’s available on-line. When you listen to it, you will know that it’s an Stylistics album because we sound the same way that we did in our previous albums.”

(Note: Tickets to The Stylistics Live in Manila are priced at P4,770 Patron A [reserved seating], P4,240 Patron B [reserved seating], P3,180 Lower Box [reserved seating], P2,120 Upper Box A [reserved seating], P1,060 Upper Box B, and P530 General Admission. Call Ticketnet at 911-5555.)

What’s up?

• Could it be true that Cesar Montano was offered by Pres. Noynoy Aquino not just a post as an official of the OMB (Optical Media Board) but as a possible replacement for current head Ronnie Ricketts (who’s doing a good job so far)?

• Could it be true that Bobet Vidanes is resigning as director of the ABS-CBN noontime show It’s Showtime because he’s fed up with the bloated ego of one of the hosts?

• Could it be true that TV5’s Paparazzi will be reformatted, with only Cristy Fermin to be retained together with Ruffa Gutierrez who will form a pretty threesome with recruits Mariel Rodriguez and Lucy Torres-Gomez?

• Yes, it’s true that Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno is taking up a special course in Harvard. Funfare has an exclusive interview with Isko in L.A. two weeks ago before he flew to Boston.

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A loving kiss for Sammanta from Dad John

John Estrada gives his and wife Priscilla Meirelles’ two-month-old daughter Sammanta Anechka a kiss. The baby was born at 12:29 a.m. on Feb. 6 at St. Luke’s Medical Center at The Fort, weighing 3.090 kgs. and measuring 50 centimeters long. It’s not the first time for John to be a father (he has four children with his ex-wife Janice de Belen). — Photo by SOFIA GENATO of The Stork Studio

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