Still dancing to the VST beat

Brothers Spanky and Roger Rigor, the voices behind the famed VST and Company, mounted the stage anew for their recent concert, Awitin Mo at Isasayaw Ko, held at the Ernst Community Cultural Center of the Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia.

Filipinos in the US East Coast — Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington, DC, New York, Massachusetts — and as far as Manila trooped to the venue to listen and witness the brothers regale the crowd with VST and Company’s best-loved hits.

It was indeed a roaring trip down memory lane, as Spanky and Roger generously relived the hits of VST and Company. They rendered popular dance ditties and crowd favorites like Rock Baby Rock, Awitin Mo at Isasayaw Ko and Disco Fever to soaring ballads like Ipagpatawad Mo and Ikaw ang Aking Mahal.

“Ipagpatawad Mo got everyone swooning,” Roger shared. “When we sang Ikaw ang Aking Mahal, the crowd simply sang with us. It was humbling and truly powerful. We are really thankful for all the years we have been taken in as part of everyone’s journey. We continue to dedicate that song as our sincere response for the love from all.”

Roger is a college professor based in Seattle, Washington since 1985, when he moved to the US with Spanky. However, Spanky later moved to San Francisco and has since settled there.

“Spanky and I have been performing recently together for the past two years,” Roger proudly beamed. “It seems that there is this generational resurging of sorts for our songs. It started in LA in August 2016, then continued to Abu Dhabi in October that same year.

“Last year, we were at the Fiesta America in New Jersey. We performed at Stanford University early this April then in Virginia recently. Because of our schedules, we had to limit our guestings, but we go if our schedules permit. People are clamoring for a real concert of the VST and Company and that’s what we’re promising them.”

New Jersey-based singer, Suzanne Lansangan-Sabangan, helped mount the Awitin Mo at Isasayaw Ko concert. Suzanne’s singing group, Sounds of Manila, performed in the show. One of the producers of the concert was Romel Simon, Suzanne’s relative.

“For years, Romel has been asking me to have a show in their area in Northern Virginia,” Suzanne said. “Last year, he saw a picture of me with my singing partner, Hermie Angeles, along with Spanky and Roger on Facebook. Romel messaged me and told me that he and his friend, Francis Faina, were interested in producing a VST and Sounds of Manila back-to-back concert in Northern Virginia.

“Romel said there aren’t many Filipino concerts in their area. So, he thought it would be a very good idea to produce a show that would feature Manila Sound and Original Pilipino Music (OPM). That was when we started to connect again with Roger and Spanky through musical director Lorrie Ilustre.”

In Awitin Mo at Isasayaw Ko, Lorrie got to work with the brothers again after 40 years. Lorrie also arranged and co-produced Sounds of Manila’s debut album, where the group recorded hits of Cecile Azarcon. The group’s bassist and band leader, Ronnie Sabangan, thought the concert would be a wonderful reunion for the Rigor brothers and Lorrie, who was actually VST and Company’s first arranger.

Lorrie was thankful he was able to work again with Spanky and Roger not just onstage, but also in recording. “I was tasked to create a new sound and recording a la Bee Gees style of singing,” Lorrie shared. “But we had to be different because we had a competitor, another recording company, that was also coming out with the same style.”

After wrapping up the Virginia concert, Lorrie returned to the West Coast where he is based. He is slated to perform anew with his Big Mouth Band, featuring Concert King Martin Nievera, at the M Casino in Las Vegas.