Louie Ocampo transports audience back in time with greatest hits & more
Veteran composer Louie Ocampo took his audience on a trip down memory lane at his recently-held concert, dubbed Louie Ocampo: Composer Ka Lang!, at The Theatre at Solaire.
Louie “transported” the audience back to the ‘80s and ‘90s when his special guests Concert King Martin Nievera, Concert Queen Pops Fernandez, Joey Albert, the APO Hiking Society, Marco Sison, Janine Teñoso, Lyca Gairanod and Katrina Velarde dished out his greatest hits and more.
He held four shows (Feb. 4, 5, 14 and 15) at Theatre at Solaire to mark his 45th year in the music industry, which producer Viva Productions only saw fitting. Based on the tributes by Louie’s peers as shown in a video during the concert, his songs are timeless hits that resonate with people until now. Some people refer to Louie’s songs as the soundtrack of their lives.
This writer came on the last night of the show, where the crowd was a mix of people in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s — those who grew up on Louie’s songs and the voices of the beloved OPM artists.
Once the curtain opened, Louie appeared beside his piano and started the first strains of his new composition Composer Ka Lang.
He called on Sam Concepcion to render the song that conveyed how some people, probably Louie’s critics, had undermined his gift for making music. But at the same time, it highlighted how he helped define Original Pilipino Music (OPM) that’s been proudly embraced over the years.
Unlike other singer-songwriters who can croon, Louie readily admitted he can’t sing. But whatever he’s lacking in the singing department, he more than made up for the heartfelt, creative songs he penned for four decades.
The upbeat song also showcased the wide topics that Louie has written over the years — from love to political to religious to food and shampoo jingles. Name it, Louie has composed it. This includes Don’t Say Goodbye, Batibot, Knorr, Ikaw and Sto. Niño.
After the rousing opening number, Louie then asked the remaining members of the APO Hiking Society, Boboy Garovillo and Jim Paredes, to sing Ewan. Third member Danny Javier passed away in 2022. Louie explained that Ewan was his first entry at the Metropop music writing competition back in 1979. It won second place. It was interpreted by the APO and was subsequently included in the group’s album.
He got his inspiration in writing the song from a woman he was wooing for a long time. He was getting exasperated and asked her why she kept on saying “Ewan” to him. Her response was, “Hindi mo ba alam na ang ‘ewan’ ay katumbas na rin ng oo’ng inaasam.” Louie, Jim and Boboy exchanged light banter on stage, with Jim saying that Louie is the fourth member of APO. They then proceeded to sing Anna, an upbeat hit that Louie wrote for the group in the ‘80s.
After the APO, Louie then called onstage two of the most talented young singers in the country, Lyca Gairanod and Janine Teñoso, to do a cover of Point of No Return, a dance song that Louie wrote for Divine Diva Zsa Zsa Padilla in the mid-‘80s. The biriteras raised the energy in the theater with their vocals.
For the next number, Louie introduced I Can, which he composed as the theme song of the 1996 movie, Do-Re-Mi, which starred Donna Cruz, Regine Velasquez and Mikee Cojuangco. This time, he called Katrina Velarde to join Lyca and Janine. Imagine the trio’s soaring vocals altogether — the blending was superb.
But one of the most anticipated performances that night was Canada-based songstress Joey Albert’s rendition of her hit, Tell Me, composed by Louie in the mid-‘80s.
The audience cheered when Louie, in introducing the well-loved song, explained the circumstances behind why he was able to create the heartbreak anthem. He derived inspiration from a girl he once loved and who broke his heart when he was a young composer.
“I remember I had a tour with Kuh Ledesma in the US in the ‘80s, and I was calling my girlfriend every day and we would say I love you and I miss you to each other every day,” Louie told the audience.
On the last day of his tour, he called her again and when he uttered, “I love you,” the girl was silent, and when he asked her what was wrong, she just replied, “I don’t love you anymore.”
The pain was stinging and Louie, the original hugot composer, couldn’t finish the song. So, he asked a friend who suggested the hugot line: But if this love’s not ours to have, I’ll let it go with your goodbye.
That “friend” turned out to be Joey, who popularized the song in 1985.
Nostalgia filled the cavernous hall of the Solaire theater as soon as Joey emerged on stage and Louie started playing the few strains of the song on the piano.
Joey, clad in a resplendent black gown, sang, “Tell me, where did I go wrong? What did I do to make you change your mind completely, when I thought this love would never end. But if this love’s not ours to have, I’ll let it go, with your goodbye.” Louie also sang some lines from the song.
After the performance, Joey paid tribute to Louie, saying: “After 45 years, your songs continue to touch people’s hearts.”
Then, the composer called Pops Fernandez to have a duet with Joey on the friendship song Points of View.
Pops reminisced for a while, telling Albert: “Remember, we sang this song when we were still naïve and innocent.”
After their duet, Pops went solo on stage and performed the ballad that became one of her greatest hits, Don’t Say Goodbye, which hit the airwaves in the late ‘80s. A Louie Ocampo original, the song is about a woman begging her lover to stay.
As Pops rendered the last parts of the song, her ex-husband Martin Nievera was heard singing a few lines as well in the background, drawing cheers from the crowd.
The concert also highlighted the jingles that Louie popularized in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
He was commissioned to write commercial jingles. Among his popular ones were Knorr, Super Ferry, TVC, Royal True Orange, Closer You and I and So Many Questions for a shampoo brand. He also wrote GMA 7’s station ID, Kapuso Anumang Kulay ng Buhay, which the media giant uses to this day. Sam returned onstage to sing a medley of Louie’s jingles.
But one of his most notable works, which became an anthem for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), was the jingle Babalik Ka Rin. It was sung by no less than Mr. Pure Energy, Gary Valenciano.
Gary V, who couldn’t make it to the show, sang in a recorded video, with a background of his young self, performing the OFW anthem on small TV sets.
Another show highlight was the performance of Mark Bautista, who did Ngayon at Kailanman. The audience was enthralled as he navigated the highs and lows of the song about eternal, unconditional love — a classic Filipino masterpiece.
Louie expressed his admiration to great Filipino composers like National Artist Ryan Cayabyab, Willy Cruz, George Canseco, and said he was fortunate enough to have collaborated with them.
Mark, who has made his mark on an international stage by starring in a West End musical, said the song was memorable to him because it was his contest piece in Star for a Night.
“Kinanta ko po ito sa Star for a Night kung saan ako natalo at si Sarah Geronimo ang nanalo,” he said, to the laughter of the crowd.
Then, it was Martin’s turn to serenade the audience. His well-preserved voice seemed to “suspend time” while he was crooning Say That You Love, Kahit Isang Saglit (originally performed by Verni Varga) and Ikaw. Louie described Martin as his best friend, and he wrote the most romantic songs for him.
Katrina’s rock version of Freddie Aguilar’s Anak was another memorable performance. Louie, unknown to many, also arranges songs as a musical/concert director. One of the songs he arranged was Anak.
After that number, videos were shown paying tribute to Louie’s genius as a composer with Mr. C calling his works as timeless classics that remain relevant to this day.
Louie also paid tribute to the late American composer Burt Bacharach, who recently passed away. Joey did a medley of Bacharach songs like Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, The Look of Love and What the World Needs Love.
The concert ran for about three hours and Louie squeezed in as many hit songs as possible for the audience.
He called Marco Sison to the stage to sing his jazzy composition, the irreverent Si Aida, Si Lorna o Si Fe. He also acknowledged the presence of National Artist Ben Cab in the audience. He wrote a song for a musical hailing Ben Cab’s artistry. It was also performed during the show.
The last number was a Pops and Martin duet of The Time of My Life, the theme song of the Hollywood movie Dirty Dancing. The couple provided comic relief when they recreated the film’s famous lift scene.
Of course, Louie’s concert was not complete without an encore.
After his wife and two kids briefly joined him onstage, he returned to the piano to sing a new song he composed during the pandemic. As he played the piano, Louie was overwhelmed with emotions. He tried to continue playing but could not stop crying. We could only surmise it was because of his grateful heart. Louie Ocampo is deeply grateful to the people who continue to support and love his music.
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