Pinoy rock

From Freepedia

Pinoy Rock, or Filipino Rock, may be regarded as the brand of Rock music produced in the Philippines or by Filipinos. It has become as diverse as the Rock music genre itself that 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, 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.

1 History
- 1.1 1960s
- 1.2 1970s
- 1.3 1980s
- 1.4 1990s
- 1.5 2000s
2 List of Pinoy Rock bands and personalities
3 External links

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.

1990s

Introvoys and After Image were among the prominent bands in the early 1990s; but their popularity were later overshadowed by younger bands that eventually emerged. Radio station LA 105.9 had advocated Filipino rock music, encouraging original amateur (even if poorly recorded) singles and gave new avenues for emerging bands. The band that stood out of the amateur clutter was Eraserheads, which to this day many Filipino music enthusiasts regard as the Pinoy rock icon of the 1990s. In 1993, with the release of Eraserheads' first commercially released album, Ultraelectromagneticpop, a new type of Pinoy rock emerged and many Pinoy rock bands followed their lead. Rivermaya, another Pinoy rock icon, also emerged, further injecting pop sensibilities to rock music, making rock more accessible to the general public. It was also in this period when NU Rock Awards was born. Socially relevant lyrics persisted as well, as exemplified by the band Yano, whose lyricism dwelled mostly on social and political issues.

Bands that emerged after the commercial success of Eraserheads adopted a variety of influences both in image and music. Many of these groups fell under a particular genre; however, crossing over of styles is most often inevitable.

Around the same time as the Eraserheads, along with the prominence of re-issues, bands influenced by 80's Metal and Classic Rock emerged. Most successful of these bands were Wolfgang and Razorback, each recognized for their songwriting prowess, bandmembers' technical abilities, and extended live performances.

In the late 1990s, bands that adopted the Nu Metal style dominated the Pinoy rock music scene. These bands include Greyhoundz, Cheese, and Slapshock.

2000s

In the early 2000s with Hip hop and R&B influenced bands dominated the Philippine music scene, causing Pinoy Rock to take the backseat. Only a number of Pinoy Rock bands had managed to stay in the mainstream during this period; artists like Barbie's Cradle and Moonstar 88. Noel Cabangon, formerly of Buklod, re-released the song "Kanlungan" and became popular.

In 2002 an unsigned New Wave group called The Pin-Up Girls found themselves making front-page headlines after being tagged as the first Filipino Rock band to be signed by a U.S. label. Michael Sutton, a Filipino-Scottish staff writer for The All-Music Guide and the A&R Representative of Know-It-All Records, based in Seattle, Washington, discovered The Pin-Up Girls through a random aircheck of Metro Manila's Alternative Rock radio station DWNU 107. Sutton added the group to the label's roster, releasing the Taste Test EP a year later. The EP hit no. 1 on a New Jersey-based radio station, helping to bring Pinoy Rock into the awareness of the American audience. Sutton left Know-It-All Records in late 2004, bringing The Pin-Up Girls to his own label.

Also in 2002, Cheese released their sophomore album Pilipinas thus again establishing Pinoy Rock as OPM even if the song lyrics are not in Filipino. This album garnered awards and recognition in the NU Rock Awards 2002 for Album of the Year, Vocalist of the Year Ian Tayao, and the Listeners Choice Award for that year. This also marked a resurgence of Pinoy pride in Pilipinas rock music and nationalism. Cheese has unsigned from Warner Music Philippines, and the band in 2005 is independently known as Queso.

In the U.S., DJ Jason Baquilod continues to expose a multitude of Filipino acts, from R&B to Metal to Alternative, to a worldwide audience on his WRMN broadcasts.

In 2004, Bamboo, former lead vocalist of Rivermaya, formed a band bearing his name. The commercial success of their debut album, As the Music Plays, has somehow recharged the Pinoy Rock music scene. Another wave of Pinoy Rock bands emerged after this; artists like 6 Cycle Mind, Girl in Park, Kitchie Nadal, Sponge Cola, Sugar Free, Itchyworms, Kamikazee, and Kjwan.

The year 2004, also heralded the second wave of 'Pinoy Rock resurgence,' reminiscent of the '90s scene. Bamboo and Hale are among the prominent bands in the current Filipino Rock scene, alongside '90s veterans like Rivermaya and Parokya ni Edgar. Meanwhile, bands of other genres (from Hip hop and RNB to Funk to Soul and Ska) have been making the rounds of the Metro Manila scene. Not to be excluded is the blossoming Cebu music scene, with forerunners that include Urbandub, Junior Kilat, and Shiela & the Insects.

The year 2005 has seen the emergence of influential music venues such as Cafe Saguijo and 6undergound, in addition to the myriad of venues in the Philippines, such as 70's Bistro, Freedom Bar, 19 East, Dish, mag:net, Kolumn, Mai Yuchi, Caliente, A-Venue, Xaymaca, to name a few. In the United States of America where the Fil-Am Rock Scene burgeons, venues are slowly but surely recognizing the presence of Pinoy Rock.

Venues in the Philippines play host to a sizable number of bands, and productions like Rockista, No Front Act, Admit One, Play4Serve, Revolver Productions, and the dizzying array of current production houses. Plus, there is growing support from corporate sponsorships, as can be seen nowadays in bands' mall tours, tri-media commercials, and the ever growing number of internet sites supporting and catering to the pinoy rock scene.

In the passage of time and many musical styles in the Philippines, the term Pinoy Rock has become as diverse as the Rock music genre itself. Today, many music journalists and music enthusiasts regard Pinoy Rock as the brand of Rock music originating in the Philippines. And just like the Rock music genre itself, it may be further classified into more specific genres of music.

List of Pinoy Rock bands and personalities

Here is a growing list of Pinoy Rock bands and personalities, both active and defunct, which were able to record and to commercially release full-length albums.