Anticipation for the Juan Dela Cruz Band & Listening to Himig Natin

Anticipation for the Juan Dela Cruz Band & Listening to Himig Natin

by rick olivares

I was with a cousin of mine and a classmate from Ateneo. We arrived early at the Loyola Center on a Saturday afternoon. The campus was quiet as there weren’t any classes. We all sat on the metal railings by the ticket booth waiting for it to open. That evening was a concert called “Loyola Jam” featuring a virtual who’s who in Pinoy rock – Sampaguita, Maria Cafra, Anakbayan, Asin, and the Juan Dela Cruz Band who were the headline act.

Now that was one heckuva line-up! I only remember few things about the show as this was in 1981 sometime after Martial Law was lifted. One was waiting outside the aforementioned ticket booth. Two, was I sat right behind Howling Dave and Delilah, local rock’s royalty. And that incandescent set by the Juan dela Cruz Band where they performed songs from their new album, Kahit Anong Mangyari (with Joey ‘Pepe’ Smith giving everyone the finger when they sang ‘Titser’s Enemi No.1’), and an incandescent performance of “Himig Natin” that closed the entire show.

As a sidenote that has nothing to do with this, there was this time when the Juan Dela Cruz Band performed in a show in Olongapo and a couple of hours before they took to the stage, Pepe went around from store to store asking if anyone had change for five centavos! For real, man! And absolutely hilarious!

I was in an entranced state during the guitar solo for “Himig Natin” where Wally Gonzalez just blew everyone away. Whoever was manning the light controls during the show focused on Wally as he bent backwards as he was coaxing one last note from his guitar. It was mesmerizing. No one said a word. It was an incredible performance and when the show ended and everyone filed out into the night, my cousin and my classmate were gushing about the show.

The Juan Dela Cruz Band’s Kahit Anong Mangyari was the first Pinoy records that I had bought with my own money. It cost P24 back then and I saved up my allowance just to buy the record.

I inherited my father’s copy of Himig Natin, the album. He was incidentally, the president of the Philippine Association of the Record Industry for 27 years and that meant we got every single OPM album released. Unfortunately, that and most of my massive record collection were lost to a fire that gutted our home several years ago.

A few years after that fire, it is only this 2017 that I got back into vinyl. I stopped back in the 1990s and shifted to compact discs. It took an ex-girlfriend of mine to get me back into the habit (she gifted me with a portable turntable and a couple of records). Beginning this past January, I have managed to reacquire many of those old records that my dad or I once had. Of course, it is significantly pricier now that it was back then. However, this is a small price to pay for something that means a lot to you.

Listening to Himig Natin (1973) and Super Hits (1977) today, I am transported back to my days as a 10-year old kid hearing those songs on the radio. Let’s face it, there was only one radio station worth listening to and that was the old DZRJ.

The records sound like a product of the time – a rumbling bass and a heavy sound. Simple and at times nonsensical lyrics. Blues-inflected. Sludge at times. But to borrow a term also from that time – groovy. Six of the nine tracks that comprise Himig Natin are in English. Not only borne of the time but also reflective of that band’s shows at the nearby American bases not to mention stints abroad.

“Take You Home” with Mike Hanopol singing reminds me of something that Iron Butterfly would play.

I wish that for “I Wanna Say Yeah”, the producer had Joey “Pepe” Smith singing with a bit more edge. This bluesy number and its wah pedal make it close to perfect except for that in my opinion.

“Round and Round” is a honky toink number that reminds me of the Rolling Stones who were obviously a massive influence on Smith (in the manner of his songwriting and singing).

“Blues Train” is a slow blues number that BB King would be proud of.

The classic “Rock ‘n’ Roll sa Ulan” opens Side Two. In this song, Pepe doesn’t really sing but sort of rants rather inanely.

“Shake Your Brains” finds Wally cranking up the reverb. As much as I like this song, I find myself wishing that the producer had Pepe deliver a more torch number to go with Wally’s wailing licks.

“Mamasyal sa Luneta” opens with that classic riff that was later used for Rizal Underground’s “Sabado Nights”.

“Big Boss Man” is another one of those bluesy numbers that start with an awesome riff ala Muddy Waters and finds Mike Hanopol channeling his inner George Thorogood.

Then the last track, Himig Natin, takes the whole blues-inflected album down several notches. It’s a beautiful and simple song that was an instant anthem for Pinoy Rock. And listening to its decades after I saw Wally Gonzalez mesmerize me and the audience at the Loyola Center, I remain in awe and enthralled.

When I listen to Himig Natin (and Maskara which are the first two albums featuring the trio of Gonzalez, Hanopol, and Smith), it makes me happy that we had a record that sits nicely next to Cream’s Disraeli Gears or the Doors’ LA Woman and their self-titled debut. It’s riff heavy, bluesy and smoky, and well, a darn good record. It was so good that provided a template for its follow up, Maskara, that came out a year later. It is unlike the punk influenced Kahit Anong Mangyari that came out four years after Maskara.

And now, I am so looking forward to see them perform at Full Blast Pinoy Super Bands this October 20 at the Cuneta Astrodome. I know that the band is older and they don’t rock out the way they used to. In fact, Pepe no longer sings as it is Mike who takes on the lead vocals full time. But just to see them… I’ll take it, warts, changes and all. After all, heto ang Himig Natin.

A copy of a JDC Band cassette made in the United Arab Emirates. Doesn't this take you back?