Pinoy rock, or Filipino rock, is the brand of rock music produced in the Philipp

ines or by Filipinos. It has become as diverse as the rock music genre itself, a
nd bands adopting this style are now further classified under more specific genr
es or combinations of genres like alternative rock, post-grunge, ethnic, new wav
e, pop rock, punk rock, funk, reggae, heavy metal and ska. Because these genres
are generally considered to fall under the broad rock music category, Pinoy rock
may be more specifically defined as rock music with Filipino cultural sensibili
ties. It is very easy to identify a Pinoy rock song because the lyrics are often
in Filipino, Tagalog, or any other language native to the Philippines.
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 1960s
1.2 1970s
1.3 1980s
1.4 1990s
1.5 2000s
1.6 2010s
2 See also
3 References
4 External links
History[edit]
One of the first popular Filipino ballerinas was Bobby Gonzales, whose major hit
was "Hahabul-Habol". Eddie Mesa, another teen idol from the period, became know
n as the "Elvis Presley of the Philippines". Back then, many Filipinos referred
to rock bands as "combos", many of which used nontraditional instruments like fl
oor-bass bongos, maracas, and gas tanks.[1]
1960s[edit]
In the early 1960s, as electric instruments and new technology became available,
instrumental American and British bands like The Shadows and The Ventures flour
ished. In 1963, during the British Invasion, bands such as The Beatles rose to m
ainstream audiences worldwide. Their widespread popularity and their embrace of
the counterculture injected the possibility of socio-political lyrics with matur
e comments on real life into popular music. Immensely influenced by this new bre
ed of British artists, many Filipino bands began adopting similar musical styles
.
1970s[edit]
Into the early 1970s, Filipino music was growing more nationalistic and socio-po
litical in nature, as well as using Tagalog more often. Pop music still dominate
d the airwaves with disco and funk bands such as the Apo Hiking Society and Hotd
og. Songs like Hotdog's "Ikaw ang Miss Universe ng Buhay Ko" ("You are the Miss
Universe of My Life") combined Filipino and English within the same song. This h
elped innovate the so-called "Manila Sound". OPM (Original Pilipino Music) also
became popular.
However, emerging social and political consciousness somehow creeped into the in
dustry with the traditional allied genres that are folk and rock music. Folk mus
icians and bands included Freddie Aguilar, Asin, Heber Bartolome and Florante. (
In 1978, Freddie Aguilar's debut single, "Anak", became the most commercially su
ccessful Filipino recording in history. The song became known also in other Asia
n countries and in Europe.) Perhaps Asin, an ethnic-folk band, was the first com
mercial band to successfully bring a pro-environment song to the airwaves with "
Masdan Mo Ang Kapaligiran". Also famous for providing subtle rebellious (anti-Ma
rcos dictatorship sentiment was growing at that time) and peace messages behind
its skillful vocal harmonizing, Asin gave the masses hits such as "Bayan Kong Si
nilangan (Cotabato)" and "Balita".
Juan de la Cruz Band, a garage and blues-rock influenced group consisting of dru
mmer Joey "Pepe" Smith, bassist Mike Hanopol, and lead guitarist Wally Gonzales,
are often credited for ushering in the first "rock & roll revolution" in the Ph
ilippines that lasted from the late '60s to the late '70s (also known as the "Go
lden Age of Pinoy Rock"). Considered by many[who?] to be the "grandfathers" of P
inoy rock, they played a large role in re-awakening national pride through their
bluesy Tagalog rock songs at a time when the music circulating predominantly in
the local scene used lyrics in English. During a Woodstock-esque concert in Lun
eta Park, the group performed their original "Himig Natin" for the first time.
Being influenced by the counterculture, the bands of the '70s were known to have
never been sidelined commercially and sometimes took the center stage by storm.
The radio station DZRJ, particularly the AM weekend "Pinoy Rock and Rhythm" sho
w hosted by the ex-Fine Arts student from Philippine Women's University named Da
nte David, a.k.a. Howlin' Dave, provided the much-needed support and publicity t
o Pinoy rock during this era.
Today, many music journalists[who?] refer to the works of these pioneering artis
ts as Classic Pinoy Rock to distinguish them from the works of relatively younge
r Pinoy rock bands, especially those that emerged in the 1980s through the 1990s
, much as other rock traditions are divided into classic rock and modern rock.
1980s[edit]
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In the early to mid-1980s, Pinoy rock became the music of Filipino protesters. G
roups like RP, with Goff Macaraeg and Bob Aves, Nuklus, Sinaglahi, UP Sintunados
, Patatag, Tambisan, and soloists like the nationalist folk rock singers Paul Ga
lang and Jess Santiago, the progressive folk duo Inang Laya, the progressive Pin
oy rock band The Jerks, and also the then very young Noel Cabangon were a hit on
street concerts and campus tours. These groups of artists eventually reunited a
nd formed Buklod (Bukluran ng mga Musikero para sa Bayan), which later Rom Dongg
eto of Sinaglahi, Noel Cabangon and Rene Bongcocan of Lingkod Sining took as the
ir new band name when it disbanded after the EDSA Revolution. Aguilar's "Bayan K
o" ("My Country") became an anthem during the 1986 EDSA Revolution. A subculture
rejected this kind of socially aware lyrics. Thus, recordings of these early pr
otest groups mentioned above were banned from radio stations but not in DZRJ, ow
ned by composer, musician and businessman, Ramon Jacinto.
The fact that around the world, mainstays such as Bob Dylan with his controversi
al lyrics, and bands such as Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden and Queensryche all got
record company and radio support with their heavy, socially aware lyrics that al
lowed to be embraced by an aware audience, had no bearing on the Philippine musi
c industry who chose to dumb down the impetus of music as it tried to break new
ground, keeping music still-born and ersatz, thus further dumbing down the masse
s due to lack of proper support, piloted by shortsighted program directors. The
band Nuklus with Joven Aguilar, Jesus Nebreja and Ariel Angus was given airplay
with their winning of the 1st Tuklas Songwiriting piece "Ang Mamang May Baril".
The song became the anthem of the movement against abuses of the military in the
early to mid-1980s. Likewise, RP's "While Angels March" received airplay on NU1
07 as its launch pad, which in turn paved the way for other groups to follow the
original yellow brick road like The Dawn. RP's song, illuminating the aftermath
of a nuclear holocaust that even today nears the edge of reality, taking into c
onsideration the song was released in 1985, signed to Blackgold Records with the
album Street Legal, about being a nuclear armament free zone, which later found
the duo without a record company after a period. While product placement throug
h advertising by companies selling food and beverages was the basic support for
rock groups wanting to get a leg up, a beverage company paying for music videos
that sandwiched in its product placement within the band's artistic intent, dilu
ted and compromised the artist's fervor as the music industry was ineffectual to
support itself. That media, too controlled by political and financial constrain
ts, led the direction of music and art to be waylaid into a narrow mindset, leav
ing much of it unheard and unsupported, rendering the artistry and the messages
to get buried under the rubble of shortsightedness and censorship. Meanwhile, th
e aforementioned bands Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, etc. received Philippine reco
rd company and radio support. The opium of the masses turned into the saccharin
of the unknowing. Had more groups been allowed to come to the forefront, the zei
tgeist of the Filipino culture may have taken a more stable road, based on aware
ness, not being kept naive. Because the masses were kept in the dark, a record c
ompany's target demographic is an intellectually retarded market, which it keeps
needing to feed if only to survive. Now that the rest of the music world has in
vaded Philippine shores, the music industry has nothing much to offer in the way
of viable artists as it did not keep up with the natural world class progressio
n, seeking only to address the local industry with mimicry and gimmickry. Rather
than listen to the artist, it listened to the businessmen, who are not artists
themselves. This stunted the growth of the Pinoy rock genre.
The most popular Pinoy rock band in the Philippines in the 1980s was arguably Th
e Dawn, whose early songs were largely influenced by new wave and post-punk, the
dominant alternative music genres in the Philippines during that period. The Da
wn came to prominence in 1986, when its independently released single "Enveloped
Ideas" became an instant favorite among listeners of DWXB-FM 102.7, or WXB 102,
a now-defunct FM radio station popular in the mid-'80s that heavily played new
wave, post-punk, and similar genres.
Many music journalists and enthusiasts, as well as musicians themselves, attribu
ted the flourishing in the mid-'80s of new wave and post-punk influenced bands t
o DWXB-FM, which began playing independently released singles of unsigned local
bands. This helped many of the struggling bands in this era to achieve cult stat
us. These bands included Dean's December, Ethnic Faces, Identity Crisis and Viol
ent Playground, all of which were able to record and release their respective al
bums 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 brou
ght back creativity and originality to the awareness of fledgling musicians. Amo
ng them, The Dawn, AfterImage and Introvoys proved to be the enduring and more s
uccessful groups. Each was able to sustain a relatively long career.
DWXB-FM went off the air on June 9, 1987. The new Cory Aquino-led government beg
an sequestering properties owned by her predecessor Ferdinand Marcos and his cro
nies, including the home that DWXB-FM beamed from. DWXB-FM was revived as an onl
ine radio station on September 10, 2005 by Sutton Records, with the original DJs
broadcasting from Manila.
1990s[edit]
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During the start of the decade, The Hayp, Introvoys and AfterImage were among th
e prominent bands enjoying mainstream recognition. But their collective populari
ty was later overshadowed by younger bands that eventually emerged. An undergrou
nd music scene was already burgeoning in some unknown bars in Manila. Red Rocks
(which later became Club Dredd), together with Mayric's (now Sazi's) and Kampo (
Yosh in the mid '90s), were the only venues where unsigned bands were allowed to
play their own songs. Bands were influenced from such genres as power pop, shoe
gazer, post-punk, alternative rock (Eraserheads, Color It Red, The Youth, Half L
ife Half Death, Feet like Fins, Advent Call, Alamid), hard rock, heavy metal (Ra
zorback, Askals, Wolfgang, Dahong Palay), hardcore, punk and death metal (Skychu
rch, Genital Grinder, Death After Birth, Disinterment, Kabaong ni Kamatayan, Loa
ds of Motherhood, WUDS, Yano, Bad Omen, Rumblebelly, Disinterment, Deiphago).
The late 1980s and early 1990s marked the beginning of what was known as the era
of underground rock and progressive music, with NU107.5 playing unknown bands t
hrough Francis Brew's "In the Raw". It was through this station that many of the
prominent and promising rock bands were discovered such as GreyHoundz, Slapshoc
k, Sugar Free, Fatal Posporos, Itchy Worms, Peryodiko, Monsterbot, Tanya Markova
, Pedicab, and many others. NU107.5 was the only radio station that played music
longer than the standard radio format would allow, as well as soundtracks (The
Reel Score). Apart from allotting air time to new and known foreign rock bands s
uch as Save Ferris, Veruca Salt, Metallica, Audioslave and Sound Garden etc., it
gave full exposure to Filipino groups such as Sugar Hiccup, Eraserheads, Imago,
Cynthia Alexander, Parokya ni Edgar, Wolfgang, Razorback, Ciudad, Teeth, Urband
ub, Putreska, Tropical Depression, Rivermaya, Yano, Siakol, and Cheese. Its pres
tigious NU107 Rock Awards honored the Philippine rock industry's best and bright
est for 17 years. These Rock Awardees now rule the local scene.
To add to the plight of the underground bands, radio stations would not play the
ir music due to the payola system in the radio industry despite the fact that mo
st of these bands, if not all, had self-produced (indie) albums. But DWLA 105.9
challenged the current system by providing a venue for the bands to broadcast th
eir original songs. Pinoy rock enthusiasts were finally elated to hear their fav
orite underground bands ruling the airwaves.
Radio station LA 105.9 advocated Filipino rock music, playing original amateur (
even if poorly recorded) singles and gave new avenues for emerging bands outside
organized underground concerts. Rock n' Rhythm, a local music magazine also sup
ported this scene with news and updates, band interviews, album and concert revi
ews, carrying on the torch that the defunct Jingle Chordbook and Moptop (popular
Philippine rock music magazines during the '70s and '80s, respectively) have en
trailed. The band explosion opened avenues for non-traditional artists as well,
like Intermidya, for example. Their musical instruments looked like materials fr
om a junk shop glued together and which had names like Sandata#1, Sandata#2, Bab
y Sandata, etc.
The commercial success of Eraserheads paved the way for more Pinoy rock acts suc
h as Rivermaya, Rizal Underground and The Youth getting record deals. Some brave
all-female bands got signed (Kelt's Cross, Tribal Fish, Agaw Agimat) and a few
solo artists as well (Maegan Aguilar, Bayang Barrios, DJ Alvaro). Rappers crosse
d over with great success (Francis M with Hardware Syndrome and Erectus), despit
e some earlier controversy with hip hop-bashing allegedly incited by some artist
s. These bands adopted a variety of influences both in image and music; many fel
l under a particular genre; however, the crossing over of styles was most often
inevitable.
Unfortunately, around 1995, the height of the Pinoy band scene was exploited up
to its wits. Bands were guesting almost everywhere from noon-time TV shows and m
ovies to drama sitcoms like Maalaala Mo Kaya. Even the Miss Universe pageant hel
d in the country was not spared.
The rise of NU 107.
Although the 1990s were more inclined to be about pop rock bands mentioned above
, many Filipino rock fans were ardent supporters of the more creative and indepe
ndent Filipino underground community. Diverse not by name alone, these undergrou
nd musicians were not easily attracted to mainstream pop sensibilities and grew
their own market without the support of corrupt major labels that some critics a
nd artists viewed as responsible for damaging most Filipino music careers.
A big chunk of these bands shared the same ideology of refusing to be exploited.
It was only a matter of time when two factors, piracy and technology, brought m
ajor labels to reconsider their business dealings. In effect, most underground m
usicians secured their own spots in the metal, gothic, punk and hardcore genres.
This national scene influenced provincial bands as well. In the Bicol region, th
e Pinoy rock scene was carried by bands such as Boardwork, Bluestar, Idiocy and
Hellbent, to name a few. Local rock concerts became the go-to school fund raisin
g activities, such that there was a concert almost every week. With the explosio
n of the band scene, however, came hordes of wannabes who wanted a part of the a
ction, albeit lacking in talent. The proliferation of bands with a dearth of tal
ent eventually caused the loss of interest of the locals and as such, contribute
d to the fading out of the scene.[citation needed]
2000s[edit]
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is article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be ch
allenged and removed. (May 2013)
In the early 2000s, hip hop, reggae, acoustic pop/jazz and R&B-influenced bands
dominated the Philippine music scene, causing Pinoy rock to take a backseat. Onl
y a number of Pinoy rock bands managed to stay in the mainstream during this per
iod. In 2003, a not-so-well-known home-educated DJ named DJ RO started playing i
n a small bar and restaurant known as Gweilos; DJ RO helped promote the club eve
ry Monday night while there was an emergence of Filipino rock bands like Bamboo,
Orange and Lemons and Kitchie Nadal that started performing in Gweilos and even
tually became popular. In 2004, Pinoy rock once again gained prominence, with th
e rise of yet another wave of Filipino rock bands. During this time, the Pinoy r
ock music scene in Cebu also gained exposure.
2001 saw indie band The Pin-Up Girls, made up of former Keltscross members and u
nderground musicians, signing to Know-It-All Records in Tacoma, Washington, maki
ng them the first Manila-based band to sign with an American label. This develop
ment caused quite a negative reaction from the Manila rock scene as most musicia
ns deemed the band unworthy of the break.
The Pin-Up Girls released an EP worldwide called Taste Test that sold out. Know-
It-All then printed a new batch dubbed "Taste Test: The Expanded Menu". The lead
-off single "Caress" hit number one on the New Jersey and Internet-based radio,
flashbackalternatives.com.
2004 also saw the emergence of the first Philippine virtual band, Mistula. With
the internet as their stage, Mistula came alive through their official website,
a fusion of music, graphic art, literature, photography and other art forms.
The rest of the 2000s further ushered in the mainstream buzz on Pinoy rock, and
along with it bands that leaned more towards pop sensibilities. During this time
, Pinoy rock, more than ever, gained mainstream exposure. "Pogi" ("pretty-face")
rock was born (with such bands as Hale, Cueshe, Sponge Cola, Callalily and the
new, post-Rico Blanco Rivermaya), although an obscure, provincial band that call
ed itself Groupies' Panciteria tried to assert a different political path, relea
sing in 2009 an mp3 album for free downloading on Soundclick after having been i
nspired by the politics of ultra-independent rock artist Dong Abay; the half-sen
d-up-of and half-tribute-to-commercial-TV 2005 album by the band Itchyworms call
ed Noontime Show; and the downloadable protest-folk albums of Gary Granada.[2][3
]
2006 was when Filipino band, Kala appeared in the commercial music scene with th
eir full length album entitled Manila High, distributed by SonyBMG Music Enterta
inment. Their first hit was "Jeepney" which was released in the summer of 2006.
According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the band started the resurgence of t
he Manila Sound genre into the modern world through their own mix of funky, jazz
y electronic rock music.
The band was also part of the tribute album Hopia Mani Popcorn. They made a funk
y remake of VST & Co.'s "Rock Baby Rock" which hit number 1 in the airwaves.
In recent years as well, bands like Urbandub, Pupil, Chicosci, Slapshock and Typ
ecast have also played in other countries such as Singapore and the US, amongst
others. Some have even garnered nominations and recognition from internationally
based publications and award-giving bodies. This is mainly attributed to the ef
fect of the internet and globalization on almost anything including music, as li
steners from other countries can now see and hear songs and videos of bands over
seas without leaving their country.