SOTW: Styx's "The Best of Times"

I had the recent privilege of interviewing the regal Judy Torres, who you might know as one of Freestyle’s beloved figures thanks to her hits “Come Into My Arms” and “No Reason to Cry.” Perhaps you recognize her name from her popular Sunday night Freestyle show on WKTU 103.5FM. I’d rather not contain her work to Freestyle, or any genre for that matter, because Torres should be heard as part of that incredibly talented NYC cohort who deserve to have a Broadway show built around them. This cohort of stunning vocalists prove that what this city really needs is a cabaret comeback, and fast. (For a beautiful exploration of New York’s cabaret’s past, stay tuned for Shane Vogel’s forthcoming The Scene of Harlem Cabaret: Race, Sexuality, and Performance.)

Torres has given me too much to think about as I prepare my Freestyle article for revision. As I interviewed her through fan-tears, however, it was her brilliant reflections on her training that reminded me that a scholar must rehearse before they write about the performers they study. When a musician explains how they came to be self-taught, you are given a peek into their past, a feel for their old family living room furniture. Typically anecdotal, specifics about their training reveal intricate systems of independent learning. Self-training requires an innate talent for improvisation: one has to assemble a motley combination of teaching aids, be they handed down from family or other formative babysitters like record players. Eventually, there might be an elementary schoolteacher who takes on a burgeoning musician. Nevertheless, it is an astonishing thing to imagine all those makeshift exercises when formal lessons were out of reach.

From her childhood Bronx apartment, Torres would turn up her alarm clock radio and sing along with Styx’s lead singer Dennis DeYoung. He provided the keys for her to “get vibrato.” She would lay belly-down on the floor so that she could feel her diaphragm working to produce that distinct vocal wave heard on “The Best of Times.”

Have you ever tried to sing to Dennis DeYoung (at home or karaoke)? Below (and by way of Torres) I invite you to sign up for DeYoung's most challenging lecture.

The Best Of Times - Styx


The embed was disabled on youtube, but here's a link to the video (you want to catch this video) at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFCGn_bU_kI

Suerte,
ATV

SOTW: Pac-Man is in the Heart

A special and quick shout-out to our fellow kababayan and newest international boxing champion, Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao, for his win last night against Golden Boy, Oscar de la Hoya. A fight that promoters touted as the Dream Match, the face-off at MGM Grand last night was so powerful that it packed a punch felt as far as Metro Manila, Philippines -- with the city reporting its lowest levels of crime and a significant drop in street traffic during the fight's telecast.

As much as I hate spectacles of brown-on-brown violence, I also recognized the deep love and admiration that both boxers had for each other (despite and perhaps because of the controversy surrounding Pacquiao's renege on signing as a Golden Boy fighter back in 2006). At the end of 8 rounds, Pacquiao hugged de la Hoya and stated, "You're still my hero". De la Hoya lovingly replied, "No, you're my hero" (cue tender guitar strums a la Brokeback Mountain score).

In a serendipitous series of events, I happened to purchase Filipino rock band, Rivermaya's, 2006 Greatest Hits CD earlier yesterday morning. I finally stopped at one of the kiosks in the middle of Eagle Rock Plaza (aka Virtual Manila since it caters to the city's Pinoy enclave with food chains such as Jolibee, Chow King, Goldilocks, and even a Bench clothing store) and directly in front of Asian grocery store, Seafood City (where I would later purchase a 12-pack of San Mig Lite for last night's main event screening).

As I popped the CD collection of pop, folk rock, and alternative rock songs into my car's player, an anthemic-sounding nearly acoustic melody filled the front seat with these lyrics from "Posible" (Rivermaya former frontman, Rico Blanco's, composition for the Philippine team during the 2005 Southeast Asian Games):

Sulong (Uphold, continue onward)

Laban Pilipino! (Fight, Filipino)
Pakinggan sa iyong puso (Listen to your heart)
Ang sigaw na dating bulong (The shout that used to be a whisper)

Posible! (It can be achieved)

To Manny Pacquiao, the David that persevered in the midst of boxing's Goliath.

To Filipinos, who continue to survive everyday with a song and a smile.

To any person who faces what seems to be the insurmountable - Posible! -
(CBB)