Musicians - Pinoy rock

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	Musicians - Pinoy rock

Pinoy Rock, or Filipino Rock, is the brand of Rock music produced in the Philippines or by Filipinos. It has become as diverse as the Rock music genre itself, and bands adopting this style may now be further classified under more specific genres like Alternative Rock, Ethnic, Metal, New Wave, Pop Rock, Punk Rock, Reggae, Emo, Heavy Metal and Ska. Some bands even fuse a variety of styles to come up with their own style of music. Regardless, these genres are generally considered to fall under the Rock music category; so, basically, Pinoy Rock is Rock music with Filipino cultural sensibilities.

History

One of the first popular Filipino rock stars was Bobby Gonzalez, whose major hit was "Hahabul-Habol." Eddie Mesa, another teen idol from the period, became known as the "Elvis Presley of the Philippines." Back then, many Filipinos refer to Rock bands as "combos," many of which used nontraditional instruments like floor-bass bongos, maracas, and gas tanks.

1960s

In the early 1960s, as electric instruments and new technology became available, instrumental American and British bands like The Shadows and The Ventures flourished. Filipino instrumental bands arose as well in this period; bands like The Deltas, The Celtics, RJ & the Riots, The Technicolors, The Hi-Jacks, and The Electromaniacs. These bands spawned the first Filipino singer-songwriters.

In 1963, the so-called British Music Invasion brought bands like The Beatles to mainstream audiences worldwide. Their widespread popularity and their embrace of the counterculture injected the possibility of socio-political lyrics with mature comments on real life into popular music. Immensely influenced by this new breed of British artists, many Filipino bands began adopting similar musical styles; and this produced acts like Downbeats, Tilt Down Men, The Moonstrucks, The Dynasouls, and Bits & Pieces. Some groups enhanced their style by adding unconventional instruments like a horn-and-brass section, trumpet, flute, and saxophone. Examples of such bands included Drop Outs, The Howlers, The Originals, The Houserockers, Clubmen, and The Imperials.

In the late 1960s, the onset of the Woodstock generation brought about bands like Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Chick Corea Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Who, and others in this frontier such as Ten Years After, Iron Butterfly, Led Zeppelin, Joe Cocker and The Mad Dogs & Englishmen, to audiences worldwide. This brought about the rock culture that still heavily influences Pinoy Rock today. This era produced acts like Circus Band, Maria Cafra, Anakbayan, Isang Kilo Band, Psyclones, Makati Avenue Blues Band and Juan De La Cruz Band, to name a few.

1970s

Into the early 1970s, Pinoy Rock was growing more nationalistic and socio-political in nature, as well as using Tagalog more often. Performers included Freddie Aguilar, Asin, Florante, Apo Hiking Society, Anakbayan, Juan de la Cruz Band, and Banyuhay. OPM (Original Pilipino music) also became popular. The songs like "Ang Miss Universe ng Buhay Ko" (The Miss Universe of My Life) of Hotdogs combined Filipino and English words within the same song. This helped innovate the so-called Manila sound. Asin, Freddie Aguilar, and Florante fused Pinoy Rock with Folk music; while other artists mixed Pinoy Rock with other styles.

In 1978, Freddie Aguilar's debut single, "Anak," became the most commercially successful Filipino recording in history. The song became known also in other Asian countries and in Europe.

Today, many music journalists refer to the works of these pioneering artists as Classic Pinoy Rock, perhaps to distinguish them from the works of relatively younger Pinoy Rock bands, especially those that emerged in the 1980s through the 1990s.

1980s

In the early up to mid-1980s, Pinoy Rock became the music of Filipino protestors. Gary Granada and the band Buklod had socially relevant lyrics for their songs. Aguilar's Bayan Ko (My Country) became an anthem during the 1986 EDSA Revolution. A subculture rejected this kind of socially aware lyrics. A Filipino brand of Punk Rock also began to flourish during this period, as led by bands like Betrayed, G.I. & the Idiots, The Jerks, Urban Bandits, and WUDS. Simultaneously, other brands of Pinoy Rock were starting to develop; for instance, Joey Ayala at ang Bagong Lumad (fronted by Joey Ayala) adopted an Ethnic sound, even using indigenous instruments like kubing and kudyapi while Cocojam combined it with Reggae.

The most popular Pinoy Rock band in the Philippines in the '80s was The Dawn, whose early songs were largely influenced by New Wave music, the dominant Alternative music genre in the Philippines during that period. The Dawn came to prominence in 1986, when its independently released single "Enveloped Ideas" became an instant favorite among listeners of DWXB 102.7, a now-defunct FM radio station popular in the mid-'80s that heavily played New Wave music and other similar genres. Many music journalists and enthusiasts, as well as musicians themselves, attribute the flourishing in the mid-'80s of New Wave- and Punk Rock-influenced bands to DWXB 102, which began playing independently released singles of unsigned local bands. This helped many of the struggling bands in this era to achieve cult status. These bands included Deans December, Ethnic Faces, Identity Crisis, and Violent Playground, all of which were able to record and release their respective albums in the years that followed. Other Pinoy Rock groups took their cue from these pioneers and started recording their own songs; and this proved beneficial to the Pinoy Rock scene, which brought back creativity and originality to the awareness of fledgling musicians. Among the lot, The Dawn, After Image, and Introvoys proved to be the enduring and more successful. Each of them was able to sustain a relatively long career.

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