Sunday, March 15, 2009

The Man from Manila

Back in high school, our class was told to do something which required synchronized choreography a la Paula Abdul in "Promise of a New Day."

We decided to do Francis M.'s "Mga Kababayan."

During rehearsals, we let the girls from the Women's Basketball League run the show. They had a field day, testing our dancing chops by making us do the "running man." Those of us who had no qualms shaking their bon-bons were told to stand at the very front; those of us who can't be bothered with the "running man" were told to stand at the very back (me included).

One of the girls had a Sony double deck cassette player—a black, clunky piece of machinery that elicited "oooohs" and "ahhhs" from us hickies. When she played her Francis M. cassette tape, a wave of patriotic pride swept among us, sending an electric jolt straight through our convoluted hearts.

Francis M. unified our disgruntled class, making us realize how cool local music was. We promptly ditched our Wilson Phillips, New Kids on the Block, and Bon Jovi cassette tapes.

For one whole week, we were bona fide Francis M. fans.

40 comments:

Thor Bee said...

I like this vignette. Controlled nostalgia.

Never was a Francis M fan but I always found his nationalistic pride contagious.

Visual Velocity said...

Thor: We've only been fans for one week; it was short-lived. The last time I saw him on TV was in Philippine Idol in ABC 5. My memories of him as a judge are not very pleasant, ehehe.

Thor Bee said...

Andy: Ygads! You watched that show, too? Have to admit that I even texted in a few votes. For Pao.

Visual Velocity said...

Thor: I only voted once. You wouldn't believe who I texted for — Jan Nieto. Ehehehe. Holy kamolie, right? I like his rendition of "Bridge Over Troubled Water." He was a mess after that. His Ricky Martin number was a bloody nightmare. Whatever possessed him to do a dance number? Horrible.

escape said...

i too have the same experience. listening to his old songs and even the new ones reminded me of what francis m was really calling the pinoys to be.

Yas Jayson said...

@Andy Brinoes: uhm cge cge kuya! salamat! daan ka din dito minsan ulet. (ano daw?)

ehe, maraming salamat sa kudos! nakakataba ng puso. ;0

Visual Velocity said...

the donG: I'm not very familiar with his new songs though except for Kaleidoscope World. I love that track. It was remade 2 years ago by the Philippine Idol finalists. Great song.

yas.tolentino: Yeah sure, no prob! Thanks for dropping by! =)

Thor Bee said...

@Andy: Jan?!? At least it wasn't---what's her name? Arms? Hehehe.

The show started out okay actually but got messy down the middle. It's like everyone lost hope and gana, except for Gian, whom I also voted for. Once! Hehehe.

Visual Velocity said...

Thor: Ssssshhh! Keep your voice down; I'm not very proud of what I did. Ehehehehehe.

Hey Arms is okay. Knockout nga yung Freddie Aguilar performance niya. :p :p :p

Thor Bee said...

@Andy: Freddie Aguilar night? You're making that up, right? :p I keep getting distracted by Arms' arms! Hehehe.

Raft3r said...

francis rocks
one of our dogs was named after his first CD, "yo!"
it's sad that his accomplishments were only recognized just because of his sudden death
gone too soon
syempre pa pati si gloria nakisakay na sa bandwagon
hay

Raft3r said...

paula abdul pala, ha
huli ka
hehe

Visual Velocity said...

Raft3r: Huwhaaat?! Nakisakay nanaman si Ate Glo? Grabe talaga yung babaeng yun, walang patawad; lahat na lang nang puwedeng sakyan, sinakyan niya. Yung away nina Wilma Galvante at Annabel Rama, kaya niya kayang sakyan yun? Ehehehe. Patay-patay tayo jan. :p

Teka, ano nga pala ginawa nya re: Francis M. ? Nagpa photo op ba siya nung funeral?

Oman said...

I grew up listening to his music. Such a nationalistic person.

Visual Velocity said...

Lawstude: Yeah, I like his patriotic songs the best. Yun yata yung forte niya. Those are the songs he'll be remembered for.

Raft3r said...

sir, nasaan na yun jodie post mo?
=P

Visual Velocity said...

Raft3r: Ehehehe, kala ko makakalusot na ko, hindi pala. :p :p :p

I have the DVD already, pero hindi ko pa napapanood. Balak ko sana a review of The Dark Knight first, then Wanted, followed by The Brave One.

I've been trying my darnest to finish my Dark Knight article, pero hindi ko talaga matapos-tapos. I don't know if it's my state of mind that's preventing me to do so, or if it's because I ended up hating the movie. That, and the fact that I have writing issues (which I plan to blog about soon). It's not easy for me to write — weird, but true.

Don't worry, I intend to keep my promise and do a Jodie Foster post soon (fingers crossed). =)

Thor Bee said...

@Andy: At last! Someone who didn't like TDK! I thought I was the only one. I've been keeping quiet about it mostly because my comic book geek friends will beat me to a pulpy, bloody smile. Hahaha.

Visual Velocity said...

Thor: I hated it. Whatever happened to Christopher Nolan? Memento and Following are brilliant. The Dark Knight pales in comparison to these two.

I'm suddenly reminded of Bryan Singer, who, after a brilliant turn with The Usual Suspects came crashing down after selling out. The bloody X-Men franchise is horrible. :p :p

Thor Bee said...

What a morose, didactic mess TDK is. Maybe studios should just stop producing superhero movies because they just can't equal the art and delicate writing poured onto every page.

Anybatsway, no AI updates from you? Hmm. My favorite performance last night was Matt's.

Visual Velocity said...

Thor: Yeah, Matt's pretty cool. I like his piano-playing more than Scott MacIntyre's. Scott bores me to death. I was hoping he'd get eliminated today or Lil Rounds (I love her, but her country crossover was a disaster), but someone else did. Spoiler alert, spoiler alert! Ehehehehe.

Galing nina Anoop dawg and Megan kagabi.

Thor Bee said...

I know na who got eliminated and am a bit sad. Was really expecting Scott to go. Or whathisface Michael. I liked Megan, too. Breakthrough last night si Anoop dawg!

Axel said...

Wow!! Pwede pa lang sayawin ang "Mga Kababayan" song ni Master Rapper ah... hehehe...

You should listening more sa local music, marami ding magagaling dyan... Hindi ako masyadong mahilig sa local rap songs kasi walang masyadong magandang songs pero yung kay Francis M. at Glock9 I could really appreciate...

Anonymous said...

that was exactly the reason why kiko was a legend.

Visual Velocity said...

Axel: Mejo danceable naman yung mga "Kababayan," bagay sa running man na sayaw, ehehehe. Pero hindi ako nag-running man, nag sway lang ako from left to right. Nag mukha akong pendulum: left, right, left, right. Tsaka mahirap din sumayaw kasi may hawak akong banner nun. Ehehe.

prinsesamusang: "Mga Kababayan" I think is his most popular song. Super sikat yun when I was in high school. Hindi pa uso CD nun. :p

Raft3r said...

mukhang guilty
ang haba ng explanation, eh
hehe

take your time
jodie and i can wait

have you seen contact?
astig din yon

btw, panalo talaga ang memento
=P
pero ok din ang dark knight
kahit ang first 2 xmen films

singer also did apt pupil, tama ba?

Visual Velocity said...

Raft3r: The Brave One is very dark; I have to be in the right frame of mind to be able to watch it. Right now, I'm stressed out and haven't been feeling well. I promise to write something re: Jodie; I just need time. :-)

Oo nga 'no, nakalimutan ko yung Apt Pupil? Ganda nun! Dun ko yata unang napanood si Ian McKellen.

Visual Velocity said...

Raft3r: Ang haba nanaman ng explanation ko. Halata bang guilty? :p

Anonymous said...

I loved that song when it came out. It was a cool new sound and had a great, unifying message. Too bad that the messenger who delivered it so well has left us.

Visual Velocity said...

Panaderos: That song caused a frenzy when it first came out. I think it's the first Francis M. song that I really like. We went crazy over it, ehehehe. I also like "Kaleidoscope World."

Axel said...

Ahahaha, defensive mode ka nanaman ata... lolz

Ok lang yun...

Visual Velocity said...

Axel: Parang hindi nga okay yun.... Ewan ko ba, tuwing naaalala ko yung dance number namin — este nila pala (in denial ako, kunyari hindi ako kasama) — kinikilabutan ako. Buti na lang hindi na ko high school student. Grabe yung mga pinagawa sa 'min, puro ka-jologan. Ehehehehe.

Axel said...

Ahahaha, oo nga in denial ka pa...

Ok lang yan, lahat naman tayo dumaan sa stage na naging jologs tayo eh...

Visual Velocity said...

Axel: Ang problema jologs pa rin ako ngayon. Ang hirap magpaka-finesse ha. Ehehe.

Axel said...

Ahahaha, ganun ba... Ok lang yan, lahat naman tayo may ka-jologan talaga sa katawan... lolz

Visual Velocity said...

Axel: That's true! Pati nga si GMA, kunyari lang yun, pero deep inside, jologs rin yun. Ehehehehe, biro lang.

Axel said...

walang biro biro... lagot ka kapag may nakabasa nito... hahaha

Visual Velocity said...

Axel: Uy, hindi naman! Labs ko nga yun! :p

We labs you Madam! More power po; sana tumakbo po ulit kayo sa susunod na eleksyon! God bless! :p :p :p

Axel said...

Tama na... Nakadalawa na siya eh...

Iba naman...

Visual Velocity said...

Axel: Baka maglaslas na ko ng pulso pag tumakbo pa siya uli. Patay-patay tayo jan. :p