The summer when he was 13, Rico Blanco would often climb onto the roof of his house. The signal of DZXB, Blanco’s favorite “new wave” FM station, was weak in San Pedro, Laguna, where the family had moved from Sta. Ana, Manila. He stood on the roof holding aloft a broken-off radio antenna hooked up to his boom box with wire from a spiral notebook, hoping to catch some stray radio waves so he could listen more closely to every note of Madonna, Prince, Duran Duran and Depeche Mode when they went on the air.
An accident of birth gave Paul Marney Leobrera the blues. He was born with a cleft palate and lip, and although they had been surgically repaired, the residual scar and speech impediment made him the butt of insensitive jokes and a magnet for unwanted attention from some of his schoolmates at the New Era University high school.
Guitarist Edgar “Koyang” Avenir devoted much of his not inconsiderable talent to making others sound and look good, while he himself remained in the shadows. He had perfected that most subtle art-accompaniment-that pushed the soloist forward into the spotlight while rendering the musical backing as unobtrusive as possible.
The song request was for “I Will Survive,” and for the first time in 35 years as a professional singer,...
No More Content
