what i remember most about Francis Magalona was his passion, a patriotism articulated in his music and inked into his skin (and, according to his widow, would have made him a politician if she hadn’t been against it), and his ability to cut through the bullshit and actually collaborate with other musicians, whatever their genre.
i also remember how he made a snippet of “Here, There, and Everywhere” into the popular “Kaleidoscope World,” and incorporated a bit of “Stairway to Heaven” into “Life Goes By”–and that made people realize riffing off someone else’s creativity in tribute was okay, even a precursor of the ubiquitous music sampling that’s pretty much commonplace now.
he was a little corny (“Cold Summer Nights,” anyone?), and even commercial when he had to be (admit it, you have to stop yourself from screaming “Royal Tru-Orange!” when you hear “Ito Ang Gusto Ko!”), but yep, he was an artist. and Francis M, if anything, was brave: he banged the drum, he challenged people, and he called out the BS.
so i’m glad PETA mined his songs to create something new, a speculative jukebox musical. i said as much in my review of 3 stars and a sun: a postmodern cautionary tale, which came out on BusinessWorld today. hooray for mashups and mad love.
