RETRO MUSIC IS FUN

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

Retro music, or the songs of the not so distant past, is back with a vengeance. 

In the seeming scarcity of quality contemporary music, retro music, or the sounds of the 1950s to the 1970s, has invaded the airwaves, as older generations of listeners relish old memories with nostalgia. 

Retro music fills up the ennui, which the global community appears to experience nowadays.

The Filipino audience has all the reasons to prefer retro music. 

The current hip hop sound is difficult for the Filipinos to appreciate. Whether it's Eminem's or some black rap artists', Filipinos could not relate to their inner city angst and anger. 

In contrast, retro songs have universal messages, which Filipinos find meaningful and relevant.

Whether it's Jo Stafford or Frank Sinatra, or the Beatles or the Beach Boys on the airwaves, older Filipinos could easily hum a note or two. 

They identify themselves with those old songs. 

They could easily relate to them, as they associate some memories with the songs of the yesteryears.

This is something that can not be said of contemporary music, which, despite the globalization and the emerging global culture, is paradoxically confined to the inner city ​​experiences of those rap artists. 

The insularity of their music is baffling.

Yesterday, I heard Jo Stafford singing You Belong to Me, which was a hit in the 1950s. Suddenly, old memories cascaded into my mind - the Chevrolets and Buicks that ran through the streets of Manila in the 1960s, those nameless and faceless persons, who graced through my life, the school where I spent my elementary school years I was too ... overwhelmed by those memories.

Then, I heard the Beatles' Yesterday, and I could not help but remember the things I had as a kid and a teenager. 

The girls next door, the boyhood chums and the games we played, the fistfights I had with the other kids, the nights, where we chose to sing some lullabies to while away time, and the first drinking sessions and cigarettes I had with some trusted friends. 

I remember not the momentous and historic, but the inconsequential, which we usually take for granted.

I regard the computer and Youtube as the greatest inventions in my lifetime. I always make it a point to go to Youtube to watch and listen to some videos. 

Until one day, I had discovered that a local pop group, the Electromaniacs, has regrouped once more to play some of their greatest hits in the 1960s. 

To describe them as great is an understatement; They are amazing and unbelievable.

Through YouTube, I saw how Ernie Delgado, their aging but celebrated their lead guitarist, played hits like I Miss You So, Faithful Love, Lovers' Guitar, and Perfidia. 

I could only marvel at the human genius and say: Life is beautiful, is not it?

Listening to retro music brings the good old days. 

But on the second thought, I wonder why the old days are always good. 

I do not have any explanation to this except to take the belief that things are always good, when we're young. 

Our mental processes differ as as we get older. Those youthful experiences are more prominently etched in our mind.

Retro music is fun. 

Try to break the monotony of our lives and listen to artists of yesteryears. 

Whether it's the Monkees or the Rolling Stones or the Doors, or Cream, or Tony Bennett, or Elvis Presley, or the Temptations or the Four Tops, or the Supremes, or the local artists like Nora Aunor, or Tirso Cruz III, or Vilma Santos, or grandkids, or Hotdogs, we can rediscover the freshness and beauty of life. 

Then, we heave that deep, big sigh and say: Thank God, I'm alive l. Life is beautiful.