Rock ’n’ roll will never die while he’s around

Tag : Steel Die Sets

WHAT IVE LEARNED
Rock n roll will never die while hes around


Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 08:04:00 08/11/2008


I grew up in a family totally immersed in the business andcorporate world. So what am I doing rockin n rollin in front ofan audience every week?
My destiny was supposed to have been pre-ordained. My brothers andI were groomed to take over one of the largest industrialconglomerates.
My grandfather was the founding chair of the first privately-ownedFilipino bank, the Philippine Bank of Commerce. My father was thefounder of Iligan Integrated Steel Mills (IISMI), which traced itsroots to Jacinto Steel and is now National Steel (IISMI was thefirst integrated steel mill in Southeast Asia and even precededSouth Koreas POSCO Steel, now the largest in the world).
Today, I am not a corporate tycoon but I may just be the happiestman in the world. Heres what Ive learned:
Follow your heart but always balance it with logic and commonsense.
I started a school band in Ateneo in 1960 and a small undergroundradio station in 1963. They were hobbies that have become anentertainment powerhouse composed of 10 radio stations, one TVstation and a chain of music instrument stores with a cutting-edgeguitar factory producing world-class instruments.
As a result I can hardly differentiate between work and fun.
My passion for music has made countless people feel better, evenhappy, whether I am singing at my RJ Bistro/Bar, sitting as a DJ inmy radio and TV network, rockin n rollin at some concert, orentertaining Asean leaders. But I am in my office at 9 a.m. everyweekday no matter how late I finished the night before.
Each one has his own destiny, his place in the sun.
You just have to recognize what God wants out of you that will makeyou do the most good for your fellowmen.
It took martial law and 14 and a half years of lonely exile andfighting for the return of our democracy alongside Ninoy Aquino,Raul Manglapus and other anti-martial law leaders to make merealize what God had in mind for me.
My radio station, DZRJ-AM, became the voice of democracy afterRadio Veritas was bombed by Marcos forces during the 1986 EdsaRevolution. DZRJ came under the control of the Enrile faction whenhe and Ramos broke off from Marcos. Enrile called Father Reuter,who in turn asked the St. Paul nuns and June Keithley to man mystation and call the people to Edsa.
Poetic justice: That backyard rock n roll station taken by Marcosat gunpoint at the onset of martial law became the dictatorsundoing. In a way, rock n roll brought back our freedom. I wonderhow the revolution would have turned out had I not set up DZRJ outof my passion for music.
Find a need, think out of the box and fill it.
I set up DZRJ in our backyard in New Manila, Quezon City, manned bymusic-loving classmates, band mates and friends who only got paiddelicious merienda (snacks) whipped up by our family cook.
In the early 1960s all radio stations played the same music largelydictated by payola-paying recording companies. Music in thePhilippines was behind the United States a year. I began importingrecords direct from the US and played a wide variety of up-to-datehits and started a new style of fast, air-tight disc-jockeying andbroadcasting. All that changed the industry.
My upstart rock n roll station also started radio slogans. Icalled it The First Teenage Station Serving the Teenage Nation.The teenagers the station addressed were the baby boomers, andthere were five in an average family. Youth was the biggest marketabout to happen.
Today RJ 100.3FM is still my flagship, entertaining millions ofpeople every day with the greatest and latest hits. Many of todaysradio veterans passed through the University of DZRJ. We gavethem the playground for freeing their dreams and ideas.
All the time my music and radio were making history, I was in thecorporate world of steel, banking and other businesses. Yousometimes dont know what is really for you. My radio hobby wouldoutlast our steel mills.
In entertaining a live audience, be sincere and never shortchangethe audience.
My performance contracts specify that I perform for a solidhour-and-a-half. I normally exceed that time because I often enjoymyself, perhaps more than my audience. I get my energy from thosedancing in front of me. Its one of the best highs. Passion givesyou almost unlimited focus and energy.
Sincerity is infectious. You can fake it a few times, but peopleeventually see through you. So be upfront and sincere from thestart.
Stick to your formula: If something works, dont change it, justimprove on it and make it relevant to the times.
Station DZRJ became the Rock of Manila, inventing Pinoy Rock andgiving the first exposure to bands and acts that could not get thetime of day from other radio stations.
We gave the first on-the-air exposure to Apo Hiking Society, Juande la Cruz, Anakbayan, Sampaguita, Florante, Asin and countlessartists who are now icons of Philippine music. For foreign artistswe were the first to air the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys,Eric Clapton, Steely Dan, etc.
Deep in self-reflection while writing this, I realized I could justbe the longest-running musical act in history.
I started performing in 1960 at my high schools Christmas program.Today, people still dance, laugh, sing and jump to my music.
Why do I do it? Because it is what I do. Its like breathing.
My radio and TV network is growing, retro music is very in. Bandsare back. Guitar-playing among the youth and even older people isbecoming a national fever. More and more executives, doctors andeven priests are forming weekend bands. Young bands like theBloomfields are playing 1960s music. Michael Bubl