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Rosita dela Vega of ‘Mambo Magsaysay’ fame sings again | Philstar.com
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Sunday Lifestyle

Rosita dela Vega of ‘Mambo Magsaysay’ fame sings again

- Jojo G. Silvestre -
Nationalist art patron Danny Dolor and the Tribung Pilipino Foundation recently presented a different kind of concert. For the last 28 years, the foundation has been at the forefront of promoting traditional Philippine music – kundiman, harana, balitaw, and danza. Its recent production was a far cry from its usual concert-lectures and concert-tributes honoring the country’s musical luminaries, including composers Nicanor Abelardo and Francisco Santiago, lyricist/poet Jose Corazon de Jesus, and kundiman and zarzuela singers Maria Carpena, National Artist Atang de la Rama, and kundiman exponent Sylvia La Torre.

This time, Dolor brought back to the stage Rosita de la Vega, dubbed the Queen of Novelty Songs of the 1950s. Famous for her interpretation of Raul Manglapus’ composition Mambo Magsaysay, which helped catapult Ramon "The Guy" Magsaysay to the presidency, Rosita also captured the imagination of Filipino listeners with her rendition of Sa Liwanag ng Buwan (from the American By the Light of the Silvery Moon), Luneta (from the Spanish Granada), and Titina My Titina, among others.

"We wanted to give musical aficionados a glimpse of that era in Philippine music when the airwaves were filled with adaptations of American ditties translated into Tagalog, as well as Tagalog songs translated into English," says Dolor. "The same was true of Spanish songs, although in both cases, translations or adaptations were not always faithful to the original songs in terms of theme and lyrics, but instead were given either a funny or naughty twist."

Dolor points out, "It was during this time, in the golden years of radio that Rosita de la Vega rose to her peak, as the Filipinos took fancy to her songs that dominated the airwaves and the record bars of downtown Manila, her name becoming a byword in every Filipino home, not only for her sensual rendition of these songs but also for the originality of her style."

Clearly, what Dolor is saying is that such a period in our cultural life cannot be erased from history, and its contribution to the evolution of Filipino music cannot be overlooked, as the succeeding generations of composers learned that the Filipino and the Western can be fused to produce what is now known as Original Pilipino Music (OPM). Taken from that perspective, Rosita de la Vega and her songs occupy more than a mere footnote in our musical history.

The imaginative cultural worker and impresario that he is, Dolor simply knew the lady must be heard again. Indeed, the concert "An Afternoon of Sweet Nostalgia ... Down Memory Lane" turned out as he had envisioned it.

To the audience’s surprise and pleasure, Rosita, who has been absent from the public eye for 50 years, interpreted her songs with the same voice that thrilled her fans of yesteryear. At 80, Rosita sounded and emoted like the 18-year-old sultry singer who kept them coming back to the top nightclubs along the Dewey strip (now Roxas Boulevard).

A star was reborn as Rosita rendered Spanish songs and a Tagalog repertoire. When the time came for her to do Mambo Magsaysay, the audience was more than revved up, only too willing to lend their voices when she asked for their participation.

A teenager during the Japanese time, Rosita got her first break from Lou Salvador Jr. who hired her to sing the intermission numbers for stage shows at Cine Strand. Although radio announcer Rafael Yabut banned her song I Like It in his programs, Rosita’s songs all the more endeared her to the masses, even earning for her the title Queen of Naughty Songs of the 1950s, the golden era of Philippiine recording.

AN AFTERNOON OF SWEET NOSTALGIA

BY THE LIGHT OF THE SILVERY MOON

CINE STRAND

DANNY DOLOR AND THE TRIBUNG PILIPINO FOUNDATION

DOWN MEMORY LANE

FILIPINO AND THE WESTERN

I LIKE IT

MAMBO MAGSAYSAY

ROSITA

SONGS

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