CHANNEL SURFING
By Althea Lauren Ricardo
The Freeman
Updated November 19, 2009 12:00 AM

One of the advantages of having a sister who works events in the nearby shopping center is that you get a heads up on the place’s free concerts. Last week, I found myself sitting front and center in an intimate concert featuring Christian Bautista, who is promoting his newest album, Romance Revisited: The Love Songs of Jose Mari Chan.

I’ve always liked Christian, ever since his Star in a Million days, from which I remember his always beaming smile, no matter the comments of the judges. His smile was still in place, despite his having placed fourth. I remember turning to my sister and saying, “This guy is going to be a star.” In the same manner, I’ve always held Jose Mari Chan’s songs dear, mostly for strange, sentimental reasons, ever since grade six when we were taught the song “Constant Change” for our graduation ceremony.

While it made me feel old that someone was actually introducing Jose Mari’s songs to a generation that may have never heard any of them before, I was pleased that it was Christian who stepped up to the task as I couldn’t have thought of a better singer to do it than him.

Happily–since I am overly protective of things that hold sentimental value–Christian not only “revisited” the songs, but also made them his own without rendering them indistinguishable from the original and removing them from their history as the hits of a decade or so ago. I’m not in anyway an expert in music, but my personal measure for a good revival of an old hit is that it should be successful by its own merit, but it should never take away from the memories of the people who remember the original.

So, yes, Britney Spears’ version of “We Will Rock You” is not a good revival in my book, even if it was a really big hit—so big, in fact, that even my fifty-something uncle was playing it in a constant loop in his car. And neither are any revivals of Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill songs, which could never capture the pure angst in her early music. Then again, not even Alanis could recapture that.

Listening to Christian sing one much-loved ballad after another, in a mall that I’ve been going to since I was a kid, I couldn’t help but remember what made Jose Mari’s songs to dear to me in the first place. Of course, my memories served to remind me how both strange and lovely the childhood and teenage years can be.

Jose Mari Chan was so popular in the 1990s. He had so many hits, but “Beautiful Girl” was really the first song that introduced me to him. I was nearing the end of my “tweens,” feeling insecure about practically everything, and–well, what do you know?–Gretchen Barretto herself makes it her anthem.

Christian sings “Beautiful Girl” as a medley with “Can’t We Start Over Again?”

The only song that I could really relate to was “Please Be Careful With My Heart,” which Jose Mari sang in duet with Regine Velasquez. Oh, the innocence of first love, the plea to be worthy of trust. We all know Regine has really had her heart badly broken, and now, when I listen to this song, it reminds me of how naive we all are when we first start to love–which can be sad, but also funny, when you’re already in a better space.

Christian sings “Please Be Careful With My Heart” as a duet with Sarah Geronimo. Yes, they’re the heir apparents.

Lastly, as I mentioned above, “Constant Change” was one of our grade school graduation songs. I forgot about it for a while, until one day, when I was already entering my thirties, I suddenly heard it in a cab and got to listen to the lyrics with a twenty-something mind:

“Why couldn’t we keep time from movin’ on?

Hold on to all the years before this moment’s gone?

Why must we live the days at such a frightening pace?”

What would that mean for a 12-year-old whose life stretches out in front of her like eternity?

Nothing, except that it kind of makes her a sentimental sap, way too early. And, yes, that she would have an advanced awareness of how fleeting everything is, and how best to enjoy the moment.

That explains why I do love Jose Mari Chan’s songs. And why I think they deserve to be revisted and remade by Christian Bautista.

Email your comments to alricardo@yahoo.com or text them to (63)917-9164421. You can also visit my personal blog at http://althearicardo.blogspot.com.

Staying In
BY JEFFREY O. VALISNO, Senior Reporter
Business World

CD REVIEW
Romance Revisited: The Love Songs of Jose Mari Chan
By Christian Bautista
Universal Records

After four chart-topping albums with his previous recording label, Warner Music Philippines, pop singer Christian Bautista has crossed the fence to join Universal Records.

For his debut release with his new recording company, the singer — dubbed as Asia’s Romantic Balladeer — came up with an album containing some of the best songs by prolific singer and songwriter Jose Mari Chan.

Called Romance Revisited: The Love Songs of Jose Mari Chan, the album contains 19 of the most memorable compositions of the legendary music artist, spanning more than 40 years of his highly successful career.

Mr. Bautista admits that it took Universal Records more than two years to convince him to transfer. But he said what sealed the deal was the recording outfit’s offer to remake Mr. Chan’s songs — beating out other formidable Universal Records contract artists like Jed Madella and Gary Valenciano.

“It was really an honor for me to be given this chance to do my versions of the songs of Mr. Jose Mari Chan,” Mr. Bautista told reporters last week. “Jose Mari Chan’s songs are really my favorites ever since I was young.”

If the only reason Mr. Bautista revived Mr. Chan’s ballads was to update the songs to appeal to a younger crowd, then he can say that he triumphantly accomplished his task.

With refreshing musical arrangements and outstanding guitar and piano tracks, Romance Revisited is a compelling album that music fans should buy.

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