Hi, hello there! This is Ernie Turla of KZWO here in Song
City, U.S.A.! Any W.O. out there in cyberspace? I know it's
been a long, long time, but I'm pretty sure there are still
many Wonderful Ones around - many of them either golden-agers
or sexagenarians by now! My golly, it's unbelievable to think
how time has fleeted so fast! Parang kahapon lamang! Balamu
capilan pamu! Yes, it seems that it was just yesterday when
we squandered time exchanging "requests and dedications"
(R & D) in the Popular 1001 Song Hits Album and the Philippine
Pioneer Song Hits, as well as in radio programs, most notably,
"Yours To Command" which was hosted by dee-jay Teddy Ocampo
of Angeles and then continued later by his sidekick, Eddie
Basilio. We felt like stars whenever we saw our names spangling
the pages of the song hits or heard them on the air! And of
course, we had fans too - and they were the ones who always
came across our names in every issue and every program during
all those care-free years of our lives. BTW, do you still
have copies? I lost all of mine (a big stack) to Typhoon
Dading decades ago! Fortunately I was able to save one - a
l962 issue - from where I have gathered these familiar names
of youngsters still then in their teens or early twenties!
Here are some of the members of the Wonderful Ones Society
(W.O.) whom fans probably can recall: Baby Guanzon, Brenda
Solon, Liza Lopez, Dolly Silverio, Flor Paule, Herminia
Cabillage, Mary Bala, Josie Calinagan, Nellie Grecia, Juliet
Cajucom, Neil McGarzia, Joe Sason, Manny Santos, Domy Dizon
and Nick Laxa. There was then a lot of friendly competition
among clubs which all vied to have the most R&D's as well as
have their favorite song in the front page of the R&D section.
Besides the W.O.(founded by me in l953), there were the Lover
Elvisian Dolls (L.E.D) headed by Lynn Tolentino, now a
principal teacher in Angeles, the Slim Girls of Manila (SGM)
under Belen Campaner, the Joni James-Jerry Vale Fans Club
under Nellie G. Then, there were various fan clubs
patronizing such hot recording stars then as Pat Boone,
Elvis Presley, Neil Sedaka, Paul Anka, Johnny Mathis, Chubby
Checker and Connie Francis. One would see or hear such names
as White Gardenia, Aida Manalac, Lynn Tolentino, Precy
Antikoll, Baby Guanzon (they were my pen-pals too!) Charito
Suing, Willy Ramos, Ernie Lafuente, Eddie Ilaga, Remy Layusa,
etc. But the one I was mostly attached to was the W.O. of
which I was the first prexy. The year was 1953 (I just
graduated from high school then) and the song "Tell Me You
Are Mine" by the Gaylords which starts with "Oh my wonderful
one, how I adore you" was number one in the hit parade!
Off and on, between l953 and l966 (mid-fifties and mid-sixties)
even when we already finished college, our names still dotted
the pages of various song hits magazines. The jukeboxes then,
esp. during the mid-fifties were everywhere and one would hear
again and again the voices of favorites like Elvis, Pat, Neil, Paul,
Ricky Nelson, Little Richard, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis,
Buddy Holly, Jackie Wilson, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Bill
Halley and the Comets, the Platters, the Diamonds, Everly
Brothers as well as Doris Day, Patti Page, Teresa Brewer,
Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Tony Bennett, Nat
"King" Cole, Johnny Ray and other oldtimers then. Of course,
in later years others came along, including Connie Francis,
Anita Bryant, Bobby Vee, Matt Munro, Steve Lawrence, Bobbi
Darin, Teddy Randazzo, Bobby Vinton, Johnny Tillotson,
Frankie Avalon, Dion, Sue Thompson, Brenda Lee, Timi Yuro,
Cliff Richard, Paul Evans, Andy Williams, the McGuire Sisters,
the Shirelles, the Exciters, the Beach Boys, and the Beatles!
In the beginning, the club was just composed of local people
from the towns of Guagua, Lubao, Sexmoan, Betis and Florida,
all in Pampanga. John Manlutac,(now a retired district
school supervisor), Tom Cosio, Nick Laxa, Manny Santos,
Resy Dabu, Frank Torres and I were among the early members
and all of us were Kapampangan. It grew nationwide when we
were able to get in touch with other youngsters sharing the
same interest in song hits, especially, R&D's. And that was
during the late fifties.
Through the years, we saw the advent of 3-D movies, and
cinemascope. We saw great westerns, starting with Shane,
Viva Zapata, Man Without A Star, Vera Cruz, Jubal, Johnny
Guitar, Warlock, The Magnificent Seven...., and other great
movies like On The Waterfront, An Affair To Remember, Psycho,
The Great Escape...., "agent" movies like James Bond, Man
from UNCLE, Our Man Flint...., and colossal movies like The
Robe, The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, El Cid...., musical
extravaganzas like Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, West
Side Story, Sound of Music, The Music Man. The Comics Section
had among others, Mutt and Jeff, Nancy, Buck Rogers, Flash
Gordon, Brick Bradford, Johnny Hazard, Captain Marvel,
Superman, Batman with Robin, Tarzan, Terry and the Pirates,
Blondie, Lil Abner, Dick Tracy, Prince Valiant, Big Ben Bolt,
Mandrake the Magician, Tim Tyler's Luck, Popeye the Sailor,
Tillie the Toiler, Captain America, The Torch, Green Lantern,
Jane Arden, Buz Sawyer, Alley Oop, Secret Agent X-9, Little
Iodine, There Oughta Be A Law, Little King, Katzenjammer Kids,
Joe Palooka, Casey Ruggles, Hopalong Cassidy Red Ryder, The
Phantom, Sheena, Rip Kirby, Gasoline Alley, etc. The songs
then were Hi Lili Hilo, Changing Partners, I'll Understand,
Hernando's Hideaway, How Important Can It Be, Secret Love.
Cha Cha and early rock: Rico Vacilone, Sweet and Gentle,
Sh-Boom, Istanbul, Rock Around The Clock, Long Tall Sally,
Little Darling, Poor Little Fool, Beebop a Lula, Peggy Sue,
Oh Carol, Diana, then followed by the Twist, the Calypso and
the Limbo Rock. Early on, we had The Great Pretender, Blueberry
Hill, A Tear Fell, Que Sera Sera, Someday, An Affair To
Remember, Around The World, Fascination, Volare, Put A Ring
On Her Finger, Love Letters In The Sand, Just Walking In The
Rain, River Kwaii March, then came The Voice of Love, A
Certain Smile, Fraulein, Paper Roses, Lies, Making Believe
You're Here, 12th of Never, Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow
Polka Dot Bikini, Lonely Teardrops, From Russia With Love,
Walk Away, Crazy, Don't Ever Leave Me, My Little Room, The
Wonder Of You, Can't Help Falling In Love With You, Sweet
Nothing, Summer Love, A Summer Place, One More Chance,
Portrait Of My Love, Sad Movies, Roses Are Red, Have A Good
Time, Wishing It Was You, Sinner Or Saint, Born Free, Moon
River, Teen Age Senorita, In Other Words, End of the World,
I Left My Heart In San Francisco, You,You Are The One, God
Knows... and then later on, the songs A World Without Love,
There's Always Me, Love Me With All Your Heart, Somewhere My
Love, Downtown, The Wedding.... Latin music was also prevalent
in the late fifties: Patricia, and Apple Blossom White by
Perez Prado, and the rhumbas of Xavier Cugat! But Elvis's
songs had always been the most dominant (followed by Anka and
Sedaka's in the Philippines). Until the Beatles invasion in
1963, that is! The Presidents during our era, by the way were
Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson. In the Philippines, they
were Ramon Magsaysay, Carlos P. Garcia and Diosdado Macapagal.
Yes, "Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'll
never end", says a song! But gone are the days! Yet somehow,
we've kept the time alive in our hearts. It's so unforgettable,
we'll always remember those years. 1953 to l966! The wonder
years of the W.O. - the Wonderful Ones Society! Cheers!!
For Part II, go to http://maxpages.com/songhits/songhits2
And for other nostalgic features go to:
http://oldfortyfives.com/TakeMeBackToTheFifties.htm
Awarded with one "sigay" and proclaimed Best of Cyberspace
by Tanikalang Ginto.
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