FMM: Travel back

This weekend will definitely be one that I'll spend reminiscing. It's going to be at a place that was my home for a few years and holds a lot of wonderful memories.

With that, it's time to bring back a 1988 classic that used to be played a lot at home. It's from Johnny Hates Jazz, and the vibe of this song is perfect for my upcoming weekend.

I'm looking forward to 3 days of going back to "Turn Back the Clock." 

FMM: Love-filled song

I enjoy singing Church hymns. In fact, that's the reason why I joined the choir when I was in High School. It was a chance to sing all these beautiful songs in Church during school functions.

One song that we used to sing was "Fill the world with Love." It's a song that I haven't heard in decades, and I just thought of it today. And that's how it ended up in my Friday Magic Madness list.



The song is enough to do what its lyrics state: Fill the world with love!

FMM: Memory mash-up

On today's Friday Magic Madness, the question is, what do you get when you cross Ace of Base... (which is on its second appearance on FMM for the same song)



The Bangles...



And Gloria Estefan?



You get this awesome mash-up from "Pitch Perfect."



Yes, this film really brings back fond memories.

FMM: Cole me maybe

Successful father-and-daughter singing tandems are quite rare. Most of the time, when a daughter follows her father's footsteps in front of a microphone, she doesn't reach the same level of success that her father did.

Nancy Sinatra had a couple of hits, including my favorite "These boots were made for walkin'," but she didn't quite become as legendary as Frank. Carnie and Wendy Wilson made worldwide hits as member of Wilson Philips. But their father, Brian Wilson, was a global phenomenon as member of The Beach Boys.

There's one exception to this rule that I know of, though. She's one of my favorite singers from the 80s, and until now. And yes, she's the daughter of a famous singer as well.

She's Natalie Cole.

Like her uber famous father, Nat King Cole, she's been singing since she was young, she's churned out hit after hit, she's famous globally, and her career has longevity. I think it's been more than 3 decades, and she's still singing and entertaining audiences worldwide. In addition, her songs have become "anthems" of sorts, and they're still being sung and used today.

Among my favorite Natalie Cole songs include this fun and soulful song that she did when she was still quite young. "This Will be" has to be one of the most upbeat (and most difficult to sing) songs I've heard:


In the 80s, when I was in grade school, I remember hearing this song on the radio as we were driven to school. It's funny because our car that time was this big, gold Buick we dubbed "The Batmobile," and inside the car, we'd be listening to Pink Cadillac.


Then, there's her "signature song," which has been used in movies both here and abroad. It's also a favorite song in videoke joints.

Apart from these 3 Natalie Cole songs that I really like, she had dozens of more hits that are part of our popular culture. And that makes her someone that both Natalie and Nat King Cole have described aptly through song.

She's "Unforgettable."

FMM: Real Nice

Today started with me trying out the iPod nano that Mark sent.

Since I haven't loaded songs on to it yet, I used the radio function and tuned into - what else - Friday Magic Madness on 89.9!

And what's the first ever song that played on this gift from Mark? Cheryl Lynn's "Got to be real."



Yup, today has got to be real. Real nice.

FMM: Never ending Hello

One time in class, we played this game where I'd pick a word and the class would try to identify as many movies with that word in the title. Some time back, Mark and I used to play this game as well, sometimes with countries (name as many countries that start with V) or songs (name as many songs as you can with the word "go.")

Since it's a Friday, I began to think of old songs that have "Hello" in the title.

The first thing that came to mind was Lionel Richie's "Hello," followed by Sergio Mendes' "The trouble with Hello is Goodbye." Then, there's this song that Rona sang beautifully during our videoke session last week at Good Times.



After Rona sang it, I remembered how much I liked this song when I was younger. Everything about it - from the lyrics to Randy Crawford's voice - is flawless. That's why this Friday, I thought I'd say hello to this song all over again.

FMM: Theme Music

On the ride going to the office, the radio suddenly blared one of Madonna's classics - "Crazy for you." This song brings back a lot of memories: the 80s, our old house in Scout Gandia, Madonna's hey day, and more importantly, the concept of "theme songs."

During the 80s, it was customary for a romantic couple to have a "theme song." It's a song that encapsulates and personifies the couple, and would usually result in the typical "awwww..." reaction from the pair whenever they hear it. Back then, a couple wouldn't be a real couple if they didn't have a theme song. (Cheesy, but true.)

The reason why I thought of theme songs was the fact that "Crazy for You" was the theme song of my older brother, Kuya Marv, and his then-girlfriend Lisa. This was very appropriate since Lisa was - at that time - the Madonna of Scout Gandia. She'd always come in a Madonna-inspired outfit and she'd be a hit. (Her look is similar to what you see in this video. It's vintage Madonna!)



Strangely, I still remember the theme songs of my other siblings. Back then, I didn't have a theme song since I was but a wee little boy. The songs that would count as my "theme songs" back then were movie themes like "Ghostbusters."

For Ate Lissa and Bob, that theme song would be "Truly." I'm not sure how they ended up having that theme song, but what I know is that whenever I hear this Lionel Richie ditty, I still remember how I was asked to "chaperone" Ate and Bob during their first date. (It was at Chew-Chew junction in Greenhills, and I remember how Bob bought me a hamburger from McDonald's via drive-thru.)



Another theme song that I remember is "The Old Songs" by David Pomeranz. This was the song that my other older brother Biboy and his then-girlfriend Eva called their own. As a kid, I didn't know the title of that song, all I knew that it was the "candles burning..." song. Harhar.



I can't seem to remember what the theme song of Ate Bullet and Renny was. Maybe I was just too busy watching cartoons to notice, but I'm sure they had one. I mean, all legit couples HAD to have a theme song.

Oh, to be young and cheesy!

FMM: Ice see you

The other day, my colleague and I were laughing at another officemate who was dressed up looking like an ice skater. She was wearing a black, body hugging ensemble, complete with sparkly crystals all over the place.

We were just waiting for her to do a pirouette and a triple axle. Which she didn't do, of course.

Our ice skating conversation later moved to "Ice Castles," which led me to remember the theme song of the film:



It's a Friday, so I don't think I'll be skating on thin ice by playing this song today.

FMM: Interacting music

Way back then when proms weren't really sanctioned by our schools, we had "interactions."

What would happen was there'd be two schools chosen to interact with each other. We'd be sitting in a row of chairs across and positioned parallel to each other, and we'd basically just fill the room with awkward silence.

Then, they'd play music and you're encouraged to dance. Just make sure there's a distance of one feet in between you two when the dancing commences. How fun was that? Hahaha.

For some strange reason, Wang Chung's "Let's go" reminds me of those interactions we had in high school. And after hearing this song, it was like interacting all over again.

FMM: Alessi is more

There's an old song that never fails to relax me.

Whatever I'm doing, and this song starts to play, I automatically sit down, let loose and just relax. It's almost Pavlovian!

Hearing it reminds me of my first Advertising job in Adformatix, and we'd often work overtime on a Thursday night and it would spill over to Friday early morning. Things would often get too busy and frenetic, and this song would suddenly play as part of Friday Magic Madness.

Suddenly, everyone would become more relaxed and the stress in the air would go away.

That was the power of the Alessi brothers. Particularly, their classic song, "Oh, Lori."



They should play their songs more often.

FMM: Shake it!

Among Dad's collection of cassette tapes, one of my favorites was his Manhattan Transfer collection. Even as a kid, I was amazed at their voices and how perfectly they would blend. Listening to them was such a magical experience for me that time.

A song that demonstrates this vocal mastery is "The Shaker Song." It's like a song that's a scat, and despite the difficulty in singing this ditty, they do it beautifully.



I remember back in our high school choir, our music teacher would encourage us to sing this song just to practice our blending and phrasing. And I must say, it's easier to listen to it than sing it. So, for today's Friday Magic Madness post, I'll just listen to it.

FMM: Extra cheese, please

Tomorrow's lesson is about editing and I'm looking for videos that use cuts, dissolves and wipes in telling the story.

The dissolve effect is often used by ballads, so I started scouring youtube for possible candidates. Lo and behold, I found the Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan classic, especially for you.



With all the slow dissolves, half dissolves, split screen and and superimposition, I must say this is one cheesy video. It can put Dutch towns to shame.

Thankfully, I like Kylie Minogue. And yes, I like cheese.

So, cheesy as it may seem, I actually like this video.

FMM: That's Life

There was something amusing about a cab ride I took sometime this week.

The driver was your typical cab driver. A bit burly, wore an arm guard on his left arm, had a good morning towel around his neck - basically, a teleserye-looking stereotype.

What wasn't typical was his choice of music while driving. It was an old song (from the 70s, in fact, hence making it qualify for Friday Magic Madness), and it was from broadway!



Yes, he had Liza (with a z) Minelli's "Cabaret" on his CD player. Which was a bit odd.

What's even more odd was the fact that he was singing along!

He must be a very happy man. After all, for him, "life is a cabaret old chum!"

FMM: Fully Charged

As I was watching streaks of lightning from our school window, thoughts of electricity immediately came to mind.

And those thoughts of electricity were eventually translated to "electric" songs that I used to enjoy listening to in my youth.





It's always nice to listen to songs that were written at a time when writing songs was a work of art and lyrics meant something more than one line being repeated over and over and over and over again.

The songs of the 80s really were - as Debbie Gibson so aptly put it - electric!

FMM: The slip

Time really does fly when you're having fun. Especially when you're having so much fun.

It's hard to imagine that I've been in Tokyo for 2 weeks, and now I'm on my way back to Manila. It feels like time gave me the slip.

It was two weeks of going around the city with Mark - rediscovering our old haunts and discovering new ones.

Of meeting old friends in a new city, courtesy of Grace and Rick.
Of meeting new friends - particularly Mark's friends at GRIPS who were very welcoming.
Of trying new adventures - specifically the Onsen.
Of so many things - both big and small - that made this trip a wonderful homecoming.

And before I slip into the plane, I'll cap off this visit with the Japanese song which Mark and I would randomly sing. Shonen Knife's "Banana Chips." Which is quite apt since we're talking about giving the slip:



Next time, I wish time would be slower like molasses rather than quick and slippery like a banana peel.

FMM: I Heart This Era

The cab driver of the cab I rode was playing a Madonna CD, so I was treated to a lot of her older songs. Particularly the ones from the "True Blue" album.

Yes, Madonna is the queen of reinvention and we've seen many incarnations of her. But for me, the younger Madonna - all pop and catchy - is the best version of her. It's this era that really captured my heart.



It's not that hard to love a song like this.