WONDERFUL WORLD of the WONDERFUL ONES, Page 18
During the era of the WONDERFUL ONES SOCIETY (circa mid-fifties to mid-sixties) many recording stars came to the Philippines to perform, and very often it was at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. The ones that were there most frequently were Paul Anka and Neil Sedaka, and that's why even today they are the Philippines' favorite (foreign)recording stars! Araneta Coliseum could not invite Elvis Presley due to the exorbitant price he then commanded - to the woe of his many fans there!
I remember attending Paul Anka's concerts in 1959. Young Paul performed excellently and was always cheered and given
thunderous applauses by the audience. Among the songs I remember he sang were Diana, which begins with "I'm so young and you're so old, this my darling I've been told",
My Hometown, which begins with "I took a little trip to my hometown, I only stopped just to look around", Puppy Love, which begins with "And they call it puppy love, Just because we're seventeen", Adam and Eve, which begins with "In the garden of Eden, a long time ago, there goes a story, I'm sure you all know", Don't Ever Leave Me, which starts with "Don't ever leave me, don't say we're through, if you do, I'll be the lonely one....", A Time To Cry, which starts with, "When somebody leaves you, that's the time to cry....", Love Me Warm And Tender, The Story Of My Love, Put Your Head On My Shoulder, Cinderella, Dance On Little Girl, Tonight My Love Tonight, and All Of A Sudden My Heart Sings.
I also remember seeing Neil Sedaka and his piano. He was also well received by his inumerable fans there and given loud applauses that reverberated within the walls of the modern coliseum. Among the songs I remember him singing were
Oh Carol, which starts with "Oh Carol, I am but a fool, darling I love you, please don't treat me cruel....", Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, which starts with "Tonight's the night I've waited for, because you're not a baby anymore, you've turn into the prettiest girl I've ever seen....", Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, Run Samson Run, Next Door To An Angel, Stairway To Heaven, One Way Ticket To The Blue", Stupid Cupid, Little Devil, My Diary, No Vacancy, Calendar Girl. Both Neil Sedaka and Paul Anka, by the way, were not only singers but also songwriters and composers. I also remember attending Pat Boone's concert where he sang Love Letters In The Sand, April Love, and other lovely
melodies. In what I was hearing in the news then though, he
was not satisfied with the response of the audience which
was too tame compared to other audiences he had sung to and
who had cheered him wildly. I don't know but I did enjoy his
concert! I also got the chance to see The Platters, my favorite group of singers, and of course, I mean the original ones headed by the main vocalist Tony Williams and the only female in the group, Zola Taylor. With their well-known brand of "uh, uh!" and other vocal accompaniment popular during that time, they sang Only You, The Great Pretender, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, Am I Just Another Dancing Partner, One In A Million, I'm Sorry, Enchanted, My Dream, Heaven On Earth, Magic Touch, Why Should I?, My Serenade, Red Sails In The Sunset, My Prayer, For The First Time, Helpless, etc. Then there was Johnny Mathis who also performed there but whom I unfortunately did not get to see because I was busy then preparing for an exam. Anyway, I found out in the news later that the concert was a very successful one and with a big turnout. Mathis even mentioned in an interview that he used to have a Filipina girlfriend by the name of (I forgot). I have the feeling that he must have sung Warm, A Certain Smile, Misty, The Twelfth Of Never, and other lovely ditties he popularized on the air then. I missed Ray Peterson too. In his concert he must have sung his beautiful ballads such as Missing You, Blue Velvet, The Wonder Of You, Good Night My Love, Tell Laura I Love Her, Corinna, Corinna, etc. I think Harry Belafonte and Jackie Wilson also did a concert there, though I did not see either. If they did so, Harry would have sung Island In The Sun, Day O, Coconut Woman, Matilda and other calypsos, and Jackie would have sung Lonely Teardrops and Someone to Love. And oh yeah, the Beatles! They came to the Philippines too but I no longer remember if they ever got to perform. First Lady Imelda was, I think, inviting them to come over to Malacanang Palace and perform before her for some occasion I can no longer remember. I think the Beatles refused saying that that was not a part of their contract, and if I remember right, they were stoned and chased away to the airport by their own fans! For the Beatles, that was indeed A Hard Day's Night! She (Imelda) loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah....!
Free Webpages at Webspawner.com
Send E-Mail to: eiturla@aol.com
This page created using the webpage creation facilities of Webspawner.
Copyright © 2004 ERNESTO C. TURLA, president, Akademya ning Kapampangan, USA. All Rights Reserved