The songs Ogie, Louie, and Mr. C wrote in the name of love
Ogie Alcasid would like to think of himself, and his idols-turned-industry colleagues Louie Ocampo and Ryan Cayabyab, as “men who have experienced life.” And one of the biggest things that bind them together, he observed, is that they’re all music artists who are “very romantic—in every sense of the word.”
And surely, at one point in their lives, they must have used their songwriting genius and predilection for romance to win over a girl they liked, or make a special someone feel even more special. Well, yes, they all agreed—and might they add—to great effect.
In the early 2000s, Regine Velasquez went up to Alcasid, asking him to write a song for a film she was set to top bill with Christopher de Leon. They were just good friends back then, Alcasid recalled, but he was already starting to catch feelings for the Songbird.
“Yeah, sure,” he said. “What’s the theme?” And as soon as Velasquez finished describing her character, Alcasid—as if possessed by the songwriting gods—spontaneously broke into a song (just as he did in this interview): “‘Pangarap ko ang ibigin ka/ At sa habang panahon ikaw ay makasama/ Ikaw na lang ang siyang kulang sa buhay kong ito…’ For some reason, I just started singing—and on the fly,” he told Lifestyle.
And then Velasquez uttered the magic words. “Ang ganda!”
“Okay, I will start writing it,” said Alcasid—the easiest transaction ever.
Curiously enough, he got an extra shot of inspiration while watching “Spider-Man,” starring Tobey Maguire (2002). This particular quote by Peter Parker, about MJ, kept the creative juices flowing: “When you look in her eyes, and she looks back in yours, everything feels not quite normal, because you feel strong … and weak at the same time. You feel excited, and at the same time terrified.”
“I couldn’t help but relate to it so I used it,” said Alcasid. “And in the song, that inspired the opening lines: ‘Tuwing ikaw ay nariyan/ Sabay kong nadarama ang kaba at ligaya/ Ang ’yong tinig wari ko’y di marinig/ ‘Pagkat namamangha ’pag kausap ka.’”
That was “Pangarap Ko ang Ibigin Ka,” which was also the title of the 2003 romance flick Velasquez starred in. And while they wouldn’t publicly announce that they were already dating until a few years later, the song, looking back, seemed like a love confession of sorts.
“At sinagot naman ako,” said Alcasid, who tied the knot with Velasquez in 2011. “Music works!”
‘Say that You Love Me’
Ocampo, meanwhile, was at a disco—in the old Silahis International Hotel—if he remembered correctly, when a girl dancing caught his eye. “She especially loved ‘I’m So Excited’ (by The Pointer Sisters). It was her favorite,” recalled the songwriter, who must have been in his late teenage years back then.
So what did Ocampo do? He composed a song with the same beat as the song the girl was dancing to. “Anna,” it was called, and it eventually landed on the lap of the Apo Hiking Society for recording. “Sinagot din ako!” he told Lifestyle.
But while he was head over heels in love with “Anna,” Ocampo didn’t end up marrying her.
One day, at a San Francisco airport, on his way home to the Philippines after a two-week concert tour in the United States, Ocampo—as he dutifully did each day while he was away—called Anna using a pay phone. “See you soon and I love you,” he said.
Silence.
“Why are you so quiet?” Ocampo asked.
“I don’t love you anymore,” she replied.
And just as she said those words, an airport announcement blared, requesting Ocampo to board the plane as soon as possible—just like in the movies. But before he did, he needed to know, he needed to ask: “What, how can that be? What did I do? Tell me!”
Upon landing in Manila, Ocampo—his final words in the previous phone call still echoing in his head—headed straight to Anna’s house and demanded: “Where did I go wrong? What did I do? How can you change your mind just like that?”
That encounter would lead to his hit song “Tell Me,” and, ultimately, his short-lived romance with its original singer, Joey Albert. But that’s another story.
Now, Ocampo is happily married to his wife of 35 years, Jojo Marquez—the woman who inspired another one of his greatest songs, “Say that You Love Me.” “But will you say that you love me/ And show me that you care?” so begins the chorus of the would-be Martin Nievera hit (but first sung by Basil Valdez).
Fearing that Marquez would reject him, Ocampo added this line for good measure: “But if you go and leave me/ This I swear is true/ My love will always be with you.”
For Mrs. C
Cayabyab didn’t really need to write songs to earn Emmy Punsalan’s sweet yes. They had been good friends for a while, sharing packed meals for lunch at the University of the Philippines College of Music, before he told her—not asked, mind you—“to get married.” No grand gestures or explosive crescendos there.
The National Artist did, however, compose two songs for Punsalan and presented it to her “on her last day as a single woman.”
“It was also her birthday. So, together with two friends, I trooped to Mount Makiling, where she was working in a conference. I sang for her the songs I wrote. I wanted to greet her with not just one, but two songs,” he told Lifestyle.
After that they sat by the piano, thinking which singers would best suit the new compositions. Punsalan, now his wife of 39 years, suggested Nievera for the first one, and Gary Valenciano for the second one. However, the two music stars had just finished recording their respective studio albums that time, and so they ended up being recorded by other artists.
“‘Tunay na Ligaya’ went to Basil Valdez. ‘Araw-Gabi’ went to Nonoy Zuñiga,” said the National Artist. “But just the same, both of them are for ‘Mrs. C.’”
The original versions were pressed on 45 rpm vinyl records and given as souvenirs to wedding guests.
Are these the greatest songs these composers have ever written? It was tough for them to say for sure. But perhaps the better, more fitting word is “dearest”—close to their hearts. And the three couldn’t be more delighted to perform these meaningful songs in their Valentine concert, “OAC: Original and Absolute Classics” on Feb. 13 at Solaire Resort North’s grand ballroom.
“This show is to really serenade the ladies with our original songs,” said Cayabyab, who worked with either Ocampo and Alcasid countless times, but never all of them together.
“That’s three single men serenading the ladies,” Alcasid quipped, drawing laughter. “Well, at least for that night!”
Catch “OAC: Original and Absolute Classics” at Solaire Resort North’s grand ballroom tomorrow, Feb. 13. Tickets available through TicketWorld.
