Leading in the Golden Age of Pinoy Rock back in the late fifties and early sixties, guitarist Wally Gonzales, bassist Mike Hanopol, drummer Ed Fortuno and lead virtuoso Joey “Pepe” Smith are considered by many as gods of Rn’R in the Philippines, even though the Juan dela Cruz experience was short-lived. Classics like “Beep, Beep”, “Balong Malalim” and the undying Pinoy Rock Anthem “Himig natin” taught would-be rockers and present rock flagbearers Razorback and Wolfgang what they needed to know. And everybody says that, they’re one of the pioneers in Pinoy Rock [Hands Down]

               “Salamat, at tayo’y nagkasamang muli….” With it’s muscular synthwork, atmospheric effects and a battery of punk guitars, The Dawn was pushing the envelope with the hit song “Envelope Ideas” in the mid-eithties. Their label was about to make them a music video, unheard of in those days, to push them further into the pop stratosphere when guitar wunderkind Teddy Diaz was stabbed dead in Tatalon in 1988 effectively destabilizing the group. The Dawn was left in the dark as its members embarked on session work, but briefly regrouped with the modest hit “Iisang Bangka tayo” for the San Miguel Beer campaign in the early 90s. Almost a decade later, Prodigal Sun saw the light of day in January 2001.
 
    

                 While having the limelight in early 90s, these heads came in. Who could ever forget these Four-Chunky Heads? –the Eraserheads. You’d have to be dumb not to know why these four “Heads” from U.P. dormitory take home the “cake”. As products of underground club circuit, Ely Buendia, Buddy Zabala, Raimund Marasigan and Marcus Adoro found poetry in the commonplace with songs like “Pare Ko”, “Toyang”, and “Ang Huling El Bimbo” weaving unforgettable chorus lines around them. Irrelevant and intelligent, they made fun of everything mainstream, singing out of sync and switching instruments on their noontime T.V guestings. Ely once said he wanted people to be able to sing along to their songs, one of the reasons the group remains popular to this day. With Ely on Pupil Band, the “Heads moved on. Before Raimund Joined Sandwich, Fatal Posporos’ Kris Gorra-Dancel became their interim lead vocalist.
 
     

                  Mid 90’s escalating to fame with their self-titled debut back in 1996, summoning up how these wolves rocked our world with their “Arise”, “Halik Ni Hudas”, “Anino”, “Center of the Sun” and “Atomica” Wolfgang smashed all notions that they were just another pretty boy rock band playing Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. By Releasing award-winning album after album, frontman Basti Artadi found his own, raspy voice while guitarist Manuel Legarda, bassist Mon Legaspi and skinner Wolf Gemora took their musicianship to a higher level. With the highly-succesful releaseof Black Mantra, these four guys have taken the term “Pinoy Rockstars” to an all-new dimension.
 
    

                After mainstream, P.O.T put the FUNK back in Pinoy Rock, which is definitely spanking “new” to others. When P.O.T first came out, a wave of fanaticism broke out all throughout the local rock scene. With Karl Roy resurrected by a funk/rock supergroup (composed of the legendary Harly Alarcon on drums, former Tame The Tikbalang bassist Mally Paraguya and guitarist Ian Umali) from his previous outfit Advent Call, the group seemed unstoppable, influencing a new generation of rockers that incorporated many styles from the then-receding heavy metal genre. But we ego clashes, drug problems and the hard task of duplicating their achieved success proved to be the factor in the break up of what have been the next generation’s music fever. Now, Karl has involved himself with a new supergroup called Kapatid, but even if he does remain successful in his endeavor, he won’t be able to make audiences forget what P.O.T once was.

              The Pinoy Rock Scene goes on with different wavelength surpassing the so-called “mainstream”. A sardonic, brilliant and often times funny take on Pinoy culture and politics. The lead vocalist Dong questioned but he did it with a full kick-ass without fear! Yano chose a more rebellious path to call attention to traditional Filipino stupidities like politicians, brownouts, even a mortifying day with and old slippers, all the mixing humor with a dash of sarcasm and acid wit. For some reason, vocalist and chief lyricist Dong Abay pushed the right buttons for a jarring wake up call, by making Yano one of the most confrontational bands of their time. But Dong wants more. With a full load, Dong brings back the caricature of a true Pinoy. With his band, Pan. There’s nothing more than writing everything you see.

                  Before Imago bring back the new image of Indie Music, this indie folk goddess Cynthia Alexander bravely struck out on her own with the cult favorites Insomnia and Other Lullabyes and Ripping Yarns, using guitar wizardry, haunting minor-key arrangements, European-inspired images and seasoned instrumentalists to arrive at stark universal truths. Her dogged perseverance working the indie music circuit has paid off well; she now enjoys a cult following and modest mainstream success – Metropop entries she arranged had gone on to win top prizes in the competition.