33 years ago, November 17, 1990, Joe Mari Chan’s song Christmas in Our Hearts was released and has sold millions of copies, making it the all-time best-selling Christmas album. We are all excited here in this side of Canada to share an early Christmas celebration with Joe Mari and The Company this coming November 19 at Canada Event Centre in Whitby. I heard the concert comes with a well-festooned Pasko Village with everything – food, decors, etc. Maligayang Pasko from the producers, Tala Entertainment.
I remember when I first saw Joe Mari Chan on tv – he was a special guest of Pilita Corrales (An Evening with Pilita). Chan also appeared as the host and singer of a television show called “9 Teeners” of ABS-CBN in 1966.
I finally met him in person in the 70s at Elks Club where the Baptismal party of Leona Paula (the only child of Hilda Koronel and Jay Ilagan) was held. It was Direk Lino Brocka who invited Joe Mari – they did a movie together for Lea Productions entitled Cherry Blossoms in 1972 which was filmed in Japan and topbilled Hilda, Dante Rivero and Pilar Pilapil. Joe Mari was the musical director and his top hit Afterglow was featured. Playing the leading man then of Hilda was Nicholas Hammond who was famous for his role as one of the Von Trapp children in the Sound of Music.
I was almost tongue tied as Lino introduced me to Joe Mari then, I was a big fan. Joe Mari brought his guitar as promised to Lino and after dinner, he started singing for us. To me that will remain as my favorite JMC concert, a private one, and truly upclose and personal.
Years later, in the late 80s, I saw Joe Mari again, this time in Pasadena (Los Angeles). His concert was well promoted and I had to call Jo San Diego (the famous lady dj of ‘All Nite Stand’ which she usually started with ‘Would you like to hold my hand at all nite stand?’) who, like me, had moved to L.A. I knew she was a very close friend of Joe and that she promised we would join him back stage. After the sold-out concert, we were with JMC and he asked a favor from Jo San Diego.
“I am doing a new CD, some hits from the 50s, I need your assistance,” JMC asked Jo.
JMC was asking about Starlight Serenade, a beautiful haunting piano piece which Jo always played daily at about 12:30 midnight on her radio show.
“Jo, do you still have the vinyl?” JMC further asked.
Jo said she was not sure – and so I joined in the conversation as I had been looking for this melody too – I even went to Raon, Quiapo to look for it – as Raon then had the vast collectibles of rare records but found nothing. When I migrated to L.A., I continued searching – went to all famous and small records shops but in vain. When SUSAN Roces visited me in LA in 1986, she introduced me to Jo San Diego and I thought Jo herself could come up with the original copy as she always played it on air. Still nothing!
It was after Joe Mari’s concert in Pasadena that i heard the good news – JMC finally found the Starlight Serenade piece and included it in his new CD entitled Souvenirs, and this time he even added lyrics to it. Imagine my happiness! Starlight Serenade, we found out, was recorded by Stanley Black and was released in the 1950s as the flip side of a 45 single record From Here to Eternity, the theme song from the movie of the same title that starred Montgomery Cliff, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr (remember the kissing scene on the beach showing Burt and Deborah locked in a torrid embrace, which is now termed as very iconic).
After a few years (2007?), my colleague and close friend Ricky Lo alerted me that JMC had another CD coming up. I asked Ricky to remind Joe Mari about me, “Ask him if he still remembers me,” I said.
Ricky did not answer. Surprise! I got a special delivery from the Philippines, an autographed CD from Joe Mari. I was on cloud 9! Ricky texted, “Happy ka na? JMC still remembers you!”
In 2016, bumped into JMC again – I was invited by Charo to watch Andrea Bocceli and saw each other at the lobby! And now of course, I will be at Whitby.
Have you heard the story about the origin of Christmas In Our Hearts?
The song Christmas in Our Hearts began as a Filipino poem entitled Ang Tubig ay Buhay, written by Chari Cruz Zarate oif Assumption whose high school class was celebrating their Silver Jubilee. Their class asked Joe to set this poem to music. The meter was so lilting that it only took Joe half a day to come up with the melody. In 1990, when his first Christmas album started production, he thought of giving the melody a new personality by turning it into a Christmas carol.
“Around that time, I was coming out from a Sunday Mass when a young lady approached me and tapped on my windshield, introduced herself as a young songwriter interested in collaborating with me. Her name was Rina Cañiza and after a few back and forth, Christmas in Our Hearts was born,” Joe revealed.
“We all thought that Lea Salonga and I would make the perfect pair for the song. Unfortunately, her studio contract would not permit her to record for another label and with only two weeks to go before our scheduled release, someone suggested that I ask my (then) 19-year-old daughter Liza instead. Liza had to learn the song quickly and go into recording the next day. It could not have been better the way the Holy Spirit worked it out: father and daughter singing a melody that’s a blend of East and West, delivering the real message of Christmas.”
Unknown to some, music is just a hobby to Joe Mari. “I’m in the sugar business,” he shared. Jose Mari Chan owns the Binalbagan-Isabela Sugar Company Inc. and A. Chan Sugar Corporation which he both credits as the enterprises that supported his family.
“And that’s what keeps me going. I inherited the business from my father. I’m running the business even until now.” He is also into the real estate industry with his two daughters, referring to his Morning Glow Development Corporation for which he serves as the president.
But wait, let us focus now on The Company who will perform with JMC. The Company (stylized as The CompanY) is a Filipino vocal group since 1985. The current members are Moy Ortiz, Annie Quintos, Sweet Plantado and OJ Mariano. I had an online chat with their leader Moy on Messenger (we actually met when they were here 3 years ago and performed with Joey Albert.)
Bk: Are you doing something extra for this show – I mean more special than any show?
Moy: We’re going with the old adage of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. We’re excited to do a show that meets the expectations of the audience that comes to see us. We’re going to be doing the timeless hits that our loving audience has given us. Moreover, we’re bringing the sights, sounds and feels of a Pinoy Christmas so that will definitely make the show nostalgic and sentimental for our kababayans in Canada.
Bk: How does it feel working with THE JMC?
Moy: It’s always a privilege and pleasure to share the stage and make music with such a pillar of OPM. Our relationship with Jose Mari Chan goes deep and wide. It even pre-dates the existence of The CompanY. We knew him in our Ateneo College Glee Club day. Furthermore, we’ve always been fans of his music! His songs are highly melodic with colorful chord changes, the sentiments on his songs are very emotional and relatable. We feel that Jose Mari Chan’s music is a good complement to ours. Musically, we match.
Bk: How does it feel returning to Canada?
Moy: We are extremely grateful that we are returning to our beloved Canada after those three difficult years of the pandemic. Last time we were here was February 2020, just at the precipice of the pandemic. We are so grateful that we got out of it alive and we get to reconnect with our Canadian audiences and bring good vibes and nostalgia. We’re excited and grateful to be back!
Bk: What do you intend to do this time – are you doing some surprise numbers?
Moy: The CompanY will be doing a world premiere performance of our latest single – “Lead Me Lord” (Star Music Ph) in a cappella. We just released it last October 27 and we’ve never performed it live. That’ll be exciting for us onstage and hopefully our audience too.
Bk: How is it rehearsing with JMC?
Moy: Rehearsals with Jose Mari are quick and efficient. JMC’s schedule is always full and tight so we come very prepared when a rehearsal is scheduled with him. What was a suprise was we became emotional when we rehearsed certain songs (“Here and Now”, “A Love To Last A Lifetime”) with him. That realization that we get to make music with a beloved friend and an OPM music hero of ours is such a gift. How blessed we are to have these experiences.
Moy informed us that the pandemic has not stopped them from being creative. The CompanY released a full album with Star Music Philippines in 2022 entitled GITNA. “We filmed a music special in support of this album. We were blessed with online corporate shows. We were highly active in the presidential campaign run of Leni Robredo and Kiko Pangilinan all throughout 2022. Sweet and Annie of The CompanY focused on their online voice lessons up to this day. I wrote, produced and released an online songwriting workshop that’s still available on the Instagram and Facebook pages of Stages Talents; title is Songwriting from a Songwriter. Currently, we’re working on our 30th full album with STar Music Philippines which will be released early 2024. We also did a US Tour with Jose Mari Chan last March (2023). Despite the difficulty of the pandemic, we deliberately chose to be creative and busy.
Moy added that he continues to produce and create OPM’s biggest music festival called Pinoy Playlist Music Festival, now on its 5th year!
Superstar
Last week, our dear Superstar sent a message. “Ate Babes, are you there?” she messengered. I said yes and she sent a poster, an attachment of the restored version of BONA, a film she produced in 1980 and headlined as an actress. Bona is cited as one of the best 100 films in the world by the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles in 1997. On the same year, it was also screened at the 47th Viennale. Vienna International Film Festival.
(Background: Last Spring, the recently-restored BONA was screened at the Olympia 4 theater in Cannes, Bona is one of the major films of Brocka which many even believed was lost. In 2023, Carlotta Films acquired the rights of the film and recovered the original negative. For the sake of preservation and distribution, one of the greatest lovers of Filipino cinema, Pierre Rissient, had the original negative of the film deposited in France at the laboratory LTC. Thanks to the combined efforts of Carlotta Films, Cite de Memoire and the American distributor-publisher Kani, the Bona adventure continues to live.)
Nora was disturbingly quiet as she shared the new BONA poster. “Papalabas po next year uli sa Cannes,” she almost said in a whisper. OMG! Has it been 42 years when both of us were there with Lino, leading man Philip Salvador and journalist Bibsy Carballo?
Okay, What is Bona all about? BONA is a fanatic follower, obsessed with Gardo, a bit player (Phillip Salvador). Her one and only goal is to serve him utterly, she braves rain, hunger, the scorn of her “decent” family, and everything else that means complete blind submission to Gardo.
“Sige, you want me to join you?” I offered.
I saw emojis of love, excitement and happiness which she sent in a row. “Talaga po?” Nora asked. Then the line, “I love you Ate Babes.”
I remember in the 80s when I was oft-times requested to be interviewed, some of them from U.P., one of them was Patrick Flores who patiently waited for my availability.
Who is Patrick Flores? Briefly (I will only choose some highlights), Patrick Flores is Professor of Art Studies at the Department of Art Studies at the University of the Philippines, which he chaired from 1997 to 2003, and Curator of the Vargas Museum in Manila. He is the Director of the Philippine Contemporary Art Network. He was a grantee of the Asian Cultural Council (2010). He was a Guest Scholar of the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles in 2014. He curated an exhibition of contemporary art from Southeast Asia and Southeast Europe titled South by Southeast and the Philippine Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2015. He was the Artistic Director of Singapore Biennale 2019 and Convenor of Programs for the Taiwan Pavilion 2022.
How does Patrick describe Nora as a performer? “Nora Aunor has made a career as one who experiences physical and emotional pain, whether as the doormat love-slave of a “never was” actor in Bona, the disillusioned nurse in ‘Merika, the tireless housemaid in Atsay and the doomed domestic helper in The Flor Contemplacion Story. In each of these films, she performs sacrifices worthy of several heroines and (usually) survives extreme levels of class and foreign oppression and dehumanization and emerges more human and no less indomitable. Her performances are very much acclaimed and awarded. The life of Nora Aunor before stardom provides her added credibility. Her transformation from impoverished child, to amateur singing sensation, to movie icon is a story book.
I recall one paragraph from the book I wrote about Nora, when she was on the train with me to Bicol in 1971.
“Nang una akong umalis dito, nakatren din ako pero third class. Waiang tao sa istasyon. Walang pumapansin. Umalis akong nagrerebelde ang isipan. Sabi ko, hinding hindi na muli akong magugutom sa aking pagbabalik. Hindi na on ako muling mangungutang sa mga tindahan. Sabi ko rin, pagbalik ko, successful na ako… Tingnan mo sila, mahal na nila ako ngayon, Maraming nagmamahal pag kaw ay matagumpay…”
I am looking forward to reunite with her this 2024 when BONA returns to Cannes.
Question
The Dear Heart concert of Sharon and Gabby at MOA (Mall of Asia in Manila) definitely was a big hit. Now the question: who will produce this here in Canada? We heard 5 producers are interested. Will bidding begin? But I know of one who is certainly ahead of them. Secret muna.
And as the cold breeze now starts to envelope us, we are hoping sana for a mild winter.. Let’s just say that winter’s arrival brings the beauty of a frozen world.
