Kiss FM Aircheck DJ Vince St. Price & DJ George Boone Dec '86

Our friend BigBadJamMan has posted yet another really cool KISS-FM aircheck for you to listen to! Relive the great '80s Kiss FM days with our friend AJ Fats (aka BigBadJamMan), who has been so cool to share audio snippets from his 101.1 KISS-FM airchecks; recorded During the holidays in December of 1986. You'll hear (now retired) ex-99.5RT DJ Vince St. Price on one of his wackier stints on 101.1 KISS-FM.. note how he gets to play around with the music, thanks to the beauty of turntables. Also listen to the commercials (Penshoppe ad voiced by ex- RT jock Johnny Cesar now of RJ100.3), and hear (ex-WLS-FM DJ) George Boone's broadcast past. This is one cool aircheck you've got to hear!

Vince St. Price & George Boone 101.1 KISS-FM - Listen
Listen closely to the cool plugs, the commercials, and the music!

Commercials:
Shakey's Homestyle Pan Pizza
San Miguel Beer Christmas (only P3.50!)
Hallmark Cards

Announcements:
See "Rainbow Brite In Motion" at Harrison Plaza, brought to you by Interbank & Mirinda.

Plugs:
Strawberry Cheescake from Coney Island

Ah, those were the days diba? Many thanks to BigBadJamMan. Visit his cool music page on Multiply, and download his amazing music collection.

More Kiss FM Airchecks: Kiss FM Aircheck 1987 with AJ Fats

Technorati Tags:80s, music, blog, radio, nostalgia

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Kiss FM Aircheck 1987 with AJ Fats

Do you remember how fun radio was back then? Do you even remember what it sounded like? Well here's a chance for you to take a trip back in time and relive the great late-'80s Kiss FM days with our friend AJ Fats (aka BigBadJamMan), who has been so cool to share audio snippets from his 101.1 KISS-FM airchecks; recorded in 1987, during the midday shift. Listen closely to the events plugged, the commercials, the news of the day, and all the great music.

AJ FATS 101.1 KISS-FM (1) - Listen
This one features that cool long-lost tune "Don't Disturb This Groove" by '80s pop duo The System. Hearing this song will surely flood you with great memories.

AJ FATS 101.1 KISS-FM (2) - Listen
Listen closely to the cool plugs, one of them mentions a concert dance party with No Nukes, Ethnic Faces, Identity Crisis, and Deans December.

Ah, those were the days diba? Many thanks to BigBadJamMan. Visit his cool music page on Multiply, and download his amazing music collection.

Technorati Tags:80s, music, blog, radio, nostalgia

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The Kode: A Classic Video Game Band

The Kode is a "Classic Video Game Band" playing music from Video Game systems of the 80's and 90's. Live sets feature music from Mega Man, Contra, Super Mario Brothers, Sonic The Hedgehog, Mike Tysons' Punch-Out!, Castelvania, Zelda, Ninja Gaiden, Paperboy, etc. What sets The Kode apart from other VG cover bands is their attention to detail. The songs are played at the same tempo as their original counter-parts. Arrangements and harmonies are kept intact accurately detailing every nuance. Nothing is made easier for the musician thus paying the ultimate homage to the music that we respect. The Kode goes one step farther adding solo sections & forming chronological medleys of the already tight arrangements.

1. Super Mario Medley - DOWNLOAD
2. Mega-Man - DOWNLOAD
3. Contra - DOWNLOAD
4. Double Dragon (Live) - DOWNLOAD
5. The Legend Of Zelda (Live) - DOWNLOAD
DOWNLOAD ALBUM

You can listen to streaming music on the band's MySpace page as well. Many thanks to Mike of FreeIndie.com for sharing with us this really cool band. Visit FreeIndie.com and download cool indie tunes. Guilt free!
Technorati Tags:80s, video game, music, nostalgia

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Disco Fever

By Nicholas Stoodley

There weren't even convenience stores in Manila in the mid 70's. It was hard back then. Couldn't get anything much. Something to do with Import Controls imposed by the Marcos Government. I mean there was everybody's ultimate status symbol as in, "Yes I got it from the PX at the Base!" Wow, big time. American bases. That was a thing then. But that's another story. There was Cartimar of course where you could get smuggled food but it was all in cans and packets and jars. It wasn't REAL food! I remember I almost wept when I first saw an apple for sale. A real apple that grew on a real tree and not some amorphous invention of a chemist that worked for a "food" company.

But now we have the so called convenience of the MINI STOP. They're everywhere. Like 7/11. Better than 9/11. Just. Only just. It's like everything "over here", in Manila, is being repackaged as fast as possible to "over there". Twenty first Century man. Manila can do it. Really?

So needing convenience I slipped unobtrusively into a MINI STOP last night under cover of darkness to buy an ice cream to alleviate a hot tropical night. The ubiquitous musak sounded familiar. Holy Shit….it was DISCO FEVER which was originally done by VST and Company way back then in the throbbing disco decade. But this wasn't throbbing. It was decidedly flaccid. And it was Bossa Nova. The only thing I can say is that it was appropriate to the setting: plastic, limp and packaged to appeal to a dead mind with little or no imagination. Manila has changed.

I remember VST and Company well. I should; I did their clothes once…a raucous blend of wild color and satin and braid. A bit Sergeant Pepper meets Earth, Wind and Fire. But they were good, this group. I mean VERY good. There's this thing in Manila that you get accolades if you can actually be as good as a big name in America or Europe and then, hey man, you MADE it. Please. VST and Company were better than that. They were World Class and nobody seemed to really know that. If they'd been nice white boys and released Disco Fever in the States they'd have been big, as in BIG. These guys had real talent. And cliché as it is, those really were the days. The disco decade. Who can forget Donna Summer's LET IT BE MAGIC as Marijuana fumes drifted up from the mini forest (that was then there in the center of Remedios Circle) as soon to be dancers in skin tight jeans and Cuban heels prepared to go to Coco Banana – a frenzied mix of socialites, call boys, the odd European Film Star, transvestites and LIFE. Yes it was alive. Very alive. Last night, in MINI STOP, it was the night of the living dead. VST and Company we NEED you. Not the limp Bossa Nova version please. Manila changed.

More VST & Company: VST & Company Photo Album, VST & Company Exclusive Interview Part 1



Technorati Tags:70s, music, nostalgia

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When Combo Was King

By Roger Rigor

As a small four year old tyke during the late fifties, I can still vividly recall our Camp McKinley (now Fort Bonifacio) days how an elder brother and his gaggle of Elvis wanna-bes would perform at a local theater, showing off their latest vocal impressions of rock and roll---harmonies from the Brothers Four, or a Buddy Holly tune, or a Ricky Nelson bit. A hollow guitar and some good amount of gutsy attitude was all it took for them to rock a house full of admiring teen belles.

Those days at our house, aside from Presley favorites, the songs of Pat Boone, Harry Belafonte, Johnny Mathis or the Everly Brothers would lord over the radio. When we moved to San Juan, Rizal, after my father retired from the military, my other elder brothers began what was known then as the decade of the combo. And San Juan eventually became the Philippine version of Liverpool, England where many of its young teenagers would form Manila's most popular bands in the years to come. In many respect, Manila was to become the hotbed of the world’s best "copycats" of American music, especially rock and roll.

My earliest experience of combos began when friends and neighbors of my brothers would come to our basement in San Juan, set up their make-shift instruments and began singing at their heart’s content: a gasoline container with a bass string attached to a long plank of wood substituted for the sound of the "bajo de arco". A snare drum snagged from a local school band room securely placed on a chair was the only "drum set", with drumsticks that clearly showed overuse from many marching band performances. One of the guys would bring his hollow guitar, and they’re set for a daylong session of trying to sound like that raspy sound coming out of a 45-rpm vinyl record. It would be a busy weekend session if one of the guys would come ecstatic that he had gotten a long playing album straight from the U.S. Every single one of those songs would be practiced ever so diligently and played. Soon, they'd be ready to play for a party. They now have a play list of songs to perform with. And that party would be at the same basement. How the house would rock for hours. Even if the band had ran out of songs to play, it was fine to replay the play list over and over again.
It would be some months later when the rickety instruments would be replaced with flashy red and black Fender electric guitars and complete drum sets that would sparkle in the dark. My brothers had found a manager. I can still remember when they performed as a full-fledged combo at a birthday party at very same basement. The whole house would literally shake with the sound of the combo. My two other younger brothers and I would sneak out to the stairs and just ogle at the site of it all.

Those guys were the center of the party, chorusing their instruments to the sound of The Ventures or the Shadows, and then would have a go at the latest Beatles song, or mellow down with a Chad and Jeremy piece. It was easy for the night to just slip by so quickly.

And so it was. The combo era has arrived and became a bigger spectacle in Manila's teen world. And most of those who were known then were from the little town of San Juan. The Ramrods, The Electromaniacs, The Intruders, The Downbeats, and The Hi-Jacks to name a few were the early bands that were most sought after. In fact, the Downbeats were renowned to have opened for the one and only Beatles concert at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. Battle of the bands became a thing in Manila. Bands would try to out-duel each other. Events like these would be held at college auditoriums all over the city almost every weekend.

The evolution of Pinoy band music got even more pronounced in the days of the club culture. This was especially so when Subic Bay Naval base in Olongapo City became a regular stop-over for American battle ships on the way or coming back from Vietnam. Olongapo City was the place to be for military R&R and its bands were to be the best in Asia. Olongapo strip had two sides to it: Rock and roll and soul. The nature of the bands here were quite different from their Manila counterparts: band music was a case of fierce competition and a source of serious livelihood. And that is why bands from Olongapo sounded so much like the record they even managed to look like the guys from the record. If it was great band music that you wanted, it was here that they thrived. Although Manila bands were more attuned to the social culture of the all-girls or all-boys college party events in the early days, the Dewey Boulevard strip by Manila Bay eventually caught up to emulate the intensity and popularity of Olongapo City.

The band hysteria would only get bigger as the recording industry started to grow. Suddenly, bands became icons to the fledgling Manila Sound. The copycat combo was beginning to fade from the scene. Most would now find their way to contractual stints in Japan. Not only would bands now become more originally Filipino, they would burst into the music scene, not only in Manila, but other Asian cities as well. Its original music, in the late seventies, even made its way to the U.S.

The Ihaw-ihaw Jam project, made up of Seattle's different band personalities and groups will attempt to relive the days of the combo come December 16th Saturday, at the Filipino Community of Seattle as part of their fundraising effort to raise disaster funds for the Philippines. Twist and Shout 4, in cooperation with the Life After Forty Basketball League will feature the sound of the late fifties and the early sixties. It will be an attempt to again create a party scene reminiscent of the mini-skirt, hip hugger days in Manila, where invited "combos" will try to out-duel each other with their rendition of vintage rock and roll, including riffs from the Ventures and the Shadows. Welcome back the sound of Buddy Holley, the BeeGees, the Monkees, Ricky Nelson, Brothers Four, Chad and Jeremy, Everly Brothers, Connie Francis, Cliff Richard, etc.

If you feel like reliving those days, this is one eventful party you will not want to miss!



Technorati Tags:50s, music, nostalgia

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Before they were legends! The early beginnings of Phil Music recording in the late '60s & early '70s.

Touring Japan
Noong late '60s at early '70s karamihan ng mga matitinik na bandang Pinoy ay dumadayo sa Japan. In those days in-demand ang mga bandang Pinoy dahil talagang nahiligan ng mga Hapon ang tugtugan ng mga bandang galing Pinas.

Doon sa Japan nahasa ang maraming nagsisimulang banda; touring Japan was basically "paying your dues" (ika nga) as a young Filipino band. Kaya naman pag-uwi ng banda sa Pinas from their Japan tour, ibig sabihin matindi talaga ang kanilang tugtugan at respetado sila ng mga musikero ng music community.

May magandang kwentong nakaukit sa litratong ito. Ang kwentong ito ay tungkol sa makulay na pagsimula ng OPM recording industry ng Pilipinas.

Before They Were Legends
This photo features The Ramrods and The YoungTones touring in Tokyo in the early '70s. The Youngtones had well-known guitarist Nestor De Las Alas, who was good friends with Ramrods members: Bob Guzman who would later form Boyfriends (famous for their hits "Sumayaw Sumunod", "Dahil Mahal Kita", & "Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal"), Celso Llarina and Snaffu Rigor, pioneers or the Manila Sound and would later form Cinderella. A few more years later Snaffu Rigor would start producing and make stars out of many OPM artists including Freddie Aguilar. Celso Llarina would later become a member of legendary disco kings and hitmakers Vst & Company.

Early Recording & Vicor
Dalawang generation ang Ramrods: 1st Gen featured Orly Ilacad, 2nd Gen featured younger brothers Guy and Sonny. Orly Ilacad was the co-founder of Vicor Records which he established with Vic Del Rosario. Wala pang mainstream recording company ang Manila noon, at nagsimula ang maliit na recording company sa Paco. Karamihan ng early singles na nilabas ng Vicor ay mga kanta nila Nora Aunor at Tirso Cruz and other matinee idols of the period. Ang backing band na madalas tumutugtog sa mga recording sessions usually consisted of Ramrods members, pati na rin si Spanky Rigor who played in Purple People, Cinderella, Blackbuster, then later VST & Company.

Magandang tingnan ang espesyal na litratong na ito. Maraming mga masasayang alaala ang nakaukit sa mga mukha ng mga nakangiting musikero. Dahil sa kanilang pagmahal sa musika ay nasimulan ang mainstream recording industry sa Pilipinas na nagbigay buhay sa culturang sariling atin.

For more Phil Music history and nostalgia read: Nostalgia Manila Exclusive interview with Roger Rigor of VST & Company.



Technorati Tags:60s, 70s, music, nostalgia

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Nostalgia Manila Exclusive Interview with Roger Rigor of VST & Company Part 1

Here's a big treat for all of you VST & Company fans! Nagkapihan kami ni Roger Rigor of the legendary hitmakers, VST & Company. Ang saya ng aming kwentuhan, as he shared with me all the fun memories nung mga unang panahon ng grupo. This is Part 1 of our Nostalgia Manila Exclusive Interview:



NM: Bumalik tayo sa simula, papano nabuo ang VST? Sino ang mga original members?

VST is a conglomeration of guys from two sectors of Manila: the Paco boys and the 461 boys---we referred to the Sotto brothers with Joey (De Leon) as the Paco boys, kasi doon sila nakatira and of course, the 461 boys are the guys like us from San Juan. But, the core section of the band, the rhythm section headed by Homer Flores, could be considered the driving force behind the music of the 70s---most of the guys in the band were active producers in the recording business...kaya, matindi...

NM: Close kayong mga magbabarkada, sino-sino ang mga kasama sa barkada ninyo?

The 461 boys have been together for many years, as with the Paco boys...the 461 boys were Spanky (Rigor), Male (Rigor), Monet (Gaskell), Celso (Llarina), Jun (Medina) and myself...Val (Sotto) was the lone Paco boy until Vic (Sotto) joined us in the latter part. That was because Jun Medina left for the States...and this was the height of the band as we would do all kinds of concerts around schools and provinces...prior to VST, the 461 boys were already into the music scene: Spanky and Celso were mainstays in the production house of in the very early days of Vicor music. They also were part of many bands from the past: Celso was with the Ramrods and Cinderella, and Spanky with Purple People and the Cinderella...they were also together in the superband of the early seventies called the Blackbuster band---where the mainstays were Bob Guzman (also a 461 guy, who eventually was the driving force behind Octo Arts and the Boyfriends), Celso, Spanky and Snaffu Rigor, the Ilacad brothers: Sunny, and Guy; and Willy Cruz, who eventually headed Jem records. Together with the Blackbuster were Charo Unite, Nanette "Dona Buding" Inventor and Aida Firme...
Monet also had his band stints with his San Beda friends, while Male tinkered in the theatre arts...as for myself, my only background in music was when the 461 boys would sing in church for weddings where the ultimate of singing was doing some real good harmonies...Of course, among all of us, it was Jun Medina who was the most veteran, being the guy from Olongapo, he had the voice and the presence of any band crooner...

NM: Saan ang home base ng barkada?

The home base of the barkada, especially the 461 boys, were at the house in Little Baguio. The address 461 General Lim was always filled with cars everyday as guys would flock to the house for some beers and a time to unwind with some dart games and singing. If the mood strikes everyone, the whole gang would drive out to see a movie. It used to be, in the early days of the seventies, the barkada, as they would always be together to watch a movie or whatever, will always attract some attention, since all would be sporting some really long hair---the hippie days, as we all fondly recall...Greenhills Shopping Center was the place to be...

NM: Ano ang usual gimmik ng grupo? Saan kayo gumigimmik? Mga paburito ninyong pasylalan at gimmik spots.

The 461 guys would also have some weekend sprees to Matabunkay, the summer place owned by the Estevas and Johnny Wilson...otherwise, it would be at Greenhills...and then, of course, the weekend basketball games at Greenhills park, where the boys remained unbeatable as the color Tangerine in the local Little Baguio Basketball League....we would also frequent St. Paul's College in Quezon City as we coached the girls' basketball teams for the WNCAA...and after these games, we would be having some weekend parties at the Estevas in Little Baguio.

NM: Any usual tambayan?

Ang paboritong hang-out ng barkada ay sa Greenhills Aristocrat dahil kabarkada ang may ari nito, si Butch Reyes. And then, meron pa yung Sun Moon Restaurant for the favorite pre-basketball merienda, "makimi"....pag masaya na sa 461 at andoon na ang tropa, yung paboritong pulutan ng lahat ay yung titsaron bituka ng Santa Lucia...yun at matinding game ng darts o chess, at may accoustic guitar, masaya na ang lahat...

NM: Sino ang iyong mga paburitong music artists noon? Mga madalas mong pakinggan nung araw?

At that time, the hit was the band Queen...which we would play while even playing basketball at the park...or, Dan Fogelberg, England Dan and John Ford Cawley, Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Rick Wakeman, Deep Purple, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Crosby, Stills and Nash and many, others...

Don't forget to check out the VST & Company Photo Album at maraming mga photos na siguradong hindi mo pa nakikita.

Also Read: Nostalgia Manila Exclusive Interview with Roger Rigor of VST & Company Part 2

Technorati Tags:70s, interview, music, movies, nostalgia

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VST & Company Photo Album: Nostalgic Photos of The Original Disco Kings

Everyone is a big VST & Company fan!
It's pretty obvious why everyone loves VST & Company. They were the biggest hitmakers of the '70s and early '80s, and to this day their hits have never been surpassed. Their songs have become anthems for any generation, their image iconic. There has never been any musical group that matches the uniqueness and style of VST & Company. They remain one of Philippine music's greatest inspirations, and will forever be in our hearts as a true Pinoy original.

Nostalgia Manila is very proud to present this RARE collection of VST & Company photographs taken from the group's personal photo albums. Maraming salamat kay: Roger Rigor, Spanky Rigor, Celso Llarina, Monet Gaskell and Male Rigor, who allowed Nostalgia Manila to publish these photos online.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE AND USAGE: These images are governed by copyright laws. If you decide to use any of these images on your web page PLEASE MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE PROPER CREDITS TO NOSTALGIA MANILA! NO HOT LINKING PLEASE!

(CLICK ON IMAGES FOR LARGER VIEW)

A Pre-Vic Sotto VST. A photo of the 1st original lineup which included: (Left-Right) Monet Gaskell,Val Sotto, Spanky Rigor, Jun Medina, Celso Llarina, Roger Rigor, and Male Rigor. This photo can be seen printed on the back of the first VST & Company album (orange album cover). What makes this photo different from the one in the album sleeve is that the group is seen smiling in this one.




Original concert ticket: St. Scholastica Academy, San Fernando Pampanga, October 5, 1979. Roger Rigor signs autographs (left), Male Rigor and Monet Gaskell in background. Taken during one of many record store appearances.

Top: Behind the scenes photo of Vic Sotto (Left) and Celso Llarina (Middle) recording tracks at Cinema Audio Studios. Below: Vic Sotto lounging, and laying down vocal tracks.

Below: Vic Sotto wears a very cool VST Promo T-Shirt that says "Get instant relief with Disco Fever!" VST & Co in concert. Vic sotto and the group prepares for soundcheck on stage.




More Vst & Company: Nostalgia Manila's Exclusive Interview with VST & Company's Roger Rigor! NM interviews the former VST idol Roger Rigor. Roger shares with us some amazing stories and memories of what is was like to be a member of the legendary musical group.

Technorati Tags:70s, music, disco, nostalgia

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