Philippine Showbiz Today
September 22 - October 7, 2017
Jan. 22-Feb.7, 2015
9
Special Feature
Original Pilipino Music (OPM) is still vital today
by Jose K. Lirios
I
s Original Pilipino Music
(OPM) still vital in 2017?
It’s been almost 40 years
since the golden age of Pinoy
music peaked in the late 1970s
and times have changed in the
local music scene.
So get ready as we rewind
the soundtrack of our lives and
reminisce with three familiar
Original Pilipino Music artists now
considered legends by their peers
and loyal fans: singer, actress,
comedian Pilita Corrales and
singer, actor Hajji Alejandro.
Pilita Corrales
Known by many for her
signature song “Kapantay Ang
Langit,” Pilita Corrales, Asia’s
Queen of Songs, still has what
it takes to be a star after almost
six decades in the local showbiz
industry.
An award-winning singer and
comedian, Corrales started her
career in Australia where she was
among the country’s pioneers of
the growing television years. She
also had a string of memorable
concerts and shows, like Your
Evening with Pilita Corrales, which
aired from 1965 to 1972 and is
considered one of the benchmarks
in Philippine television.
During the early 1960s,
Corrales only recorded Spanish
songs but then went on to record
popular English, Tagalog and
Cebuano songs. Corrales has
performed with world-acclaimed
international singers, like Sammy
Davis, Jr., Matt Monroe and Frank
PST Manila Correspondent
Sinatra.
She
is also known
as
the
lone
Filipina singer to
perform during
the 1966 concert
of The Beatles in
Manila.
“I used to
say that Australia
was my second
home after the
Philippines. That
is where I started
my career in
show business
and
that
is
where I made
my first albums.
I used to appear
on
Australian
television three
times a week in
a show called A Memory Tonight.
But what I think the people found
unique about me is that I was one
of the few performers who could
sing in Spanish, English, Visayan
and Tagalog,” said Corrales.
Corrales got into singing as a
means to support her family when
her father died while she was in
finishing school in Spain. She
was able to send her five siblings
through school with her singing.
She is also the first Filipino to win
in an international music festival
when she was given the Best
Performer Award at the first Tokyo
Music Festival in 1972.
Corrales takes pride in her
children, Jackie Lou and Ramon
Christopher. She also thoroughly
enjoys being a grandmother.
“For me, the work of a mother
is never ending. A grandmother
is just like being a mother and
you should always be there to
help them in every problem that
they have, what they need and
what they don’t need. So I don’t
differentiate between grandmother
and mother but it is wonderful,”
said Corrales.
Corrales’ philosophy in life
is to just wake up in the morning
and first of all thank God that you
have a brand new day ahead of
you.
“I don’t make a problem a
problem. Whatever comes within
the day I will accept it but my
attitude is everything will be
fine,” said Corrales.
members of the
Circus
Band
eventually parted
ways and started
their respective
solo
careers.
One of them,
Angelito Toledo
Alejandro, bet