SOFT rock as genre of music is usually scoffed at. Music critics, especially the young ones, blast soft rock as too commercialized, too formulaic and, uhm, too soft.
But it is those three elements critics often malign that, for me, make soft rock a genre to listen to again with fresh ears. There are a lot of musical gems in your tita playlist, like from Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Hall & Oates, Bread and, of course, Air Supply.
I remember years ago when Air Supply had a concert at the Araneta Coliseum, I really wanted to go. A lot of my friends raised their carefully drawn eyebrows to the heavens when I told them about this. Baduy was the word they used to dismiss my fixation, telling me that spending a good chunk of money to watch them would be a waste. I insisted on the merits of their songs and how these were underrated and should be considered pop classics.
“Lost in Love” for me is their best song. Simple yet melodic, with perfect lyrics. It’s the perfect pop song actually. And then there’s “All Out of Love,” a painful rock ballad that starts subtly, before a lush orchestra comes in the middle; then a reflective middle eight appears (“What are you thinking of?”), finally punctuated by that long, high note.
“All Out of Love” was a smash back in the 1980s, but the song title might as well be what young listeners, with all their exposure to electronic dance music, modern R&B and hip-hop, nowadays feel about the song—and Air Supply in general.
That is why Air Supply members Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell were so delighted that their song has been revived by Iñigo Pascual so that the Gen-Z market may appreciate it.
“It’s very flattering to start with, that someone would pick our song and re-record it for this generation. I have been singing that song since 1978, and it never gets tired for me,” Hitchcock said in a media conference to promote the single launch as well as the Valentine online concert of the duo.
“This development is great because it means the song is transcending generations,” Russell said. “There are going to be many more people that will hear it,” he added.
In Iñigo’s version, gone are what I considered the highlights of the song. No more orchestra, no more high notes, no more glam rock guitar drops, but the original hugot of the song is still there. Iñigo does a low-key performance filled with a vibrato that got the thumbs-up from the Graham and Hitchcock. They also praised Moophs AKA Chris Lopez of Tarsier Records, who led the production of the song, with Hitchcock musing, “The harmonies are amazing. Right arrangement. It’s like a perfect thing.”
“All Out of Love” is just the first in Tarsier Records’ series of Air Supply remakes that will be spread out this 2021. “You can expect a few more remakes by different artists and then we’ll compile them into an album at the end of the year,” Moophs shared.
Glad to hear that Air Supply, Moophs and Iñigo aren’t all out of music.
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Thanks to Netflix, I was able to watch again The House Arrest of Us, starring Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla.
The series, which debuted on the streaming platform recently, instantly won the hearts of viewers because I think it’s relatable, amusing, a heartwarming story about a newly engaged couple.
It delves into the challenges Quencess (Kathryn) and Korics (Daniel) must face as they make their engagement official via the Filipino tradition of pamamanhikan, only to find their families quarantined under one roof due because of a pandemic. It’s cute, funny and even touching in many moments and very easy to binge on.
The popular romantic dramedy series also stars Ruffa Gutierrez, Herbert Bautista, Dennis Padilla, Arlene Muhlach, Gardo Versoza, Alora Sasam, Riva Quenery, Anthony Jennings, and Hyubs Azarcon.
Directed by Richard Arellano, the 13-episode program had its premiere last October 2020 on www.ktx.ph. The series dropped weekly new episodes on ABS-CBN’s streaming service iWantTFC.
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