Cheers for ’80s stars

THE LADIES— Lou Bonnevie, Ella May Saison and Jamie Rivera— are just as smashing.

There are two ways of looking at “80289” (’80 to ’89), a recent concert series at the Music Museum that looked back on the soundtrack of the 1980s generation of Pinoy youth.

First, as fun factor. The show had a concept—the stage was dressed up as the 80289 Music Bar, where patrons partake of “happy hour” drinks while watching a live gig.

The “front act,” composed of a female vocal trio that doubled up as dancers later on, warmed up the audience with a medley of Toni Basil’s “Street Beat” and “Hey Mickey,” and B52’s “Rock Lobster.”

It sounded very upbeat and promising, but for a moment we wondered why the show’s host, Franco Laurel, was made to rap the lines “’80s baby…” on a taped recording of Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby”—a 1990s hit.

In any case, what followed was a quick sample of ’80s Top 40 hits by the main performers: Juan Miguel Salvador showing off his punk-New Wave attitude in Billy Idol’s “White Wedding;” Gino Padilla recounting the joys of teenage life in Wham’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go;” Lou Bonnevie pumping energy into the imaginative lyrics of Nena’s “99 Luftballons;” Chad Borja interpreting the ambiguous drama in Spandau Ballet’s “Gold;” Ella May Saison sounding like the real Tina Turner in “What’s Love Got To Do With It;” and Jamie Rivera adding kitsch to Sheena Easton’s “Telephone.”

Everybody sang together in DeBarge’s “Rhythm of the Night,” sending out a message for the audience to “forget about their worries” for the next two hours.

Personal best

The next batch of songs spelled out the strengths of each performer: Borja excelled in ballads via Chicago’s “Look Away;” Salvador exuded rough charm in George Michael’s “Faith” and Prince’s “When Doves Cry;” Padilla had an easygoing pop appeal in Wham’s “Careless Whisper;” Bonnevie’s raspy vocals shone in Kim Carne’s “Bette Davis Eyes;” Saison’s powerful pipes rang in Blondie’s “Call Me;” and Rivera played it cute with full costume in Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical,” and later on in The Bangles’ “Walk Like an Egyptian.”

The script also featured a number of movie theme songs, with the singers in matching costumes. Padilla looked cool in The Beach Boys’ “Kokomo” and amusing in Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghosbusters,” but Rivera stole the spotlight by appearing again as Newton-John in “Xanadu.”

It was during the OPM segment that we gleaned the second factor through which the concert could be better appreciated.

The performers were made to reprise their respective hits: Rivera with “Hey, It’s Me;” Bonnevie, “Love Me Tonight;” Padilla, “Gusto Kita;” Saison and Borja in a duet of “I Don’t Love You Anymore”—which the latter said was an original by the New Minstrels, of which he was once a member.

Salvador was curiously left out, which could mean that he had no hit, either of his own or with his former band, Rage. Our memory fails now, but if this was true, there’s something very disturbing about it.

The point is, Salvador—as well as the rest—are brimming with talent and obviously have not lost these gifts. Why are they not recording new songs, original stuff that would allow them to shine even more and perhaps attract new fans? They don’t have to write these songs themselves, and we’re pretty sure there are lots of composers out there who have the material that would suit the styles of these performers.

We understand that Salvador shines best as an interpreter of classic rock tunes, but we somehow felt sad watching him do a note-for-note interpretation of the Meatloaf hit “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” complete with quivering vocals. Sure it sounded great, but all it proved is that Pinoys are still the best cover singers in the world.

Passionate

It was the same case with Bonnevie, whose passionate rendition of Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” was met with loud cheers. Wow, indeed, she really sounded like Tyler, but is that all? Well, Bonnevie could argue that she got to record a number of albums that might have produced a few hits. We really wish she would keep on writing more songs, no matter how radically different the musical landscape has become in the age of digital downloads and silly radio programming.

Borja and Saison, for that matter, should be given more exposure so we would be reminded how wonderfully talented they truly are. Borja, in his prime, probably had only one hit single, “Ikaw Lang.” Saison—member of a respected family of musicians—is likewise known for only one hit tune, “Till My Heartaches End,” and we’re not even sure how many copies the album sold.

There’s got to be a better way for these artists to recharge their creativity, although the “80289” gigs served notice that they are definitely not has-beens.

The full-house crowd at the Music Museum was perfectly aware of that and apparently enjoyed themselves—including Dina Bonnevie, who even obliged with a snippet of her own song, “Bakit Ba Ganyan.” Other celebrities, like Ruby Rodriguez, were seen dancing along towards the show’s end.

CHAD Borja, Juan Miguel Salvador and Gino Padilla: The best is yet to come for these gifted artists.

The ’80s were both good and bad times for Pinoys, and the gig wisely mentioned that, no matter how superficially.

When the fun subsided, there was one line that hit us from a Devo song, which Salvador covered: When a problem comes along, you must whip it…” It captured the essence of what Pinoy music artists ought to deal with, and overcome, in the near future.

By that time, all the artists featured in “80289” hopefully would be ready with their own new hits.