"Ang Huling El Bimbo" ('The Last

El Bimbo Bimbo Jet was a French euro disco group led by Claude Morgan and Laurent Rossi (22 May 1948 – 20 August 2015), that gained international fame during the summers of 1974 and 1975 with the song "El Bimbo". "El Bimbo" is popular with street musician ...

') is a song composed by

Ely Buendia Ely Eleandre Basiño Buendia (born November 2, 1970), popularly known as Ely Buendia, is a Filipino musician, singer, songwriter, author and film director who gained fame as the guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the famed Fil ...

of the

Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

pop/rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band

Eraserheads Eraserheads (sometimes stylized as ERASƎRHEADS or ƎRASƎRHƎADS) are a Filipino alternative rock band formed in 1989. With a line-up comprising Ely Buendia, Buddy Zabala, Marcus Adoro, and Raimund Marasigan, the band became one of the most ...

, for their 1995 studio album ''

Cutterpillow ''Cutterpillow'' (stylized as ''CUTTƎRPILLOW'') is the third studio album by Filipino alternative rock group Eraserheads. It was released in the Philippines on December 8, 1995 by BMG Records (Pilipinas), Inc. The album became a highlight in Pi ...

''. It received extensive

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

after its release and ranked #2 on RX 93.1's "Top 20 OPM

Requests Request may refer to: * a question, a request for information * a petition, a formal document demanding something that is submitted to an authority. Request may also refer to: Computing and technology * in computer science, a message sent be ...

of 1996". It is the only Tagalog song included in the band's international

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

, '' Aloha Milkyway'' (1998). The song's

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

catapulted the band's success outside the Philippines by bagging the 'International Viewer's Choice Awards for Asia' at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards. A musical of the same name was shown last 2018 at Resorts World Manila, then again in 2019, and later made available for streaming online in May 2020 for a limited time.

Music video

The song's accompanying music video was directed by

Auraeus Solito Auraeus Solito, also known as Kanakan-Balintagos, is a Palawán-Filipino filmmaker and indigenous peoples rights advocate who comes from a lineage of shaman-kings from the Palawán tribe. He was one of the first to be born outside of his tribal la ...

and completed filming within two days at Solito's

ancestral An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...

house in

Sampaloc, Manila Sampaloc is a district of Manila, Philippines. It is referred to as the University Belt or simply called ''“U-Belt”'' for numerous colleges and universities are found within the district such as the University of Santo Tomas, the oldest exta ...

. As a

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

, Solito used several experimental shots and symbolisms in the video despite being a

literal translation Literal translation, direct translation or word-for-word translation, is a translation of a text done by translating each word separately, without looking at how the words are used together in a phrase or sentence. In Translation studies, trans ...

of the story contained in the song. According to Buendia, this was the first major production music video of the band since it involved big-budget due to

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejected ...

; and being treated as a

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

due to the song's playing time and storyline. This also marked the first time the Eraserheads produced a music video for their song. The instrumental part of the music video was omitted during its broadcast on

MTV Pinoy MTV Pinoy (formerly MTV Philippines) was a Philippine music and entertainment pay television network owned by Viacom International Media Networks Asia (a division of Viacom International Media Networks), with a partnership with Viva Entertain ...

. After the music video fades to black, the music video ends, when it originally had more scenes like the adult

Paraluman Sigrid Sophia Agatha de Torres von Giese, better known by her screen name Paraluman (December 14, 1923 – April 27, 2009), was an award-winning Filipina German actress. Her contemporaries include the likes of Fernando Poe, Sr. and Carmen Rosal ...

lookalike (Rowena Basco) rising from a pile of dried leaves. It was released through ''

GMA Supershow ''GMA Supershow'', formerly titled as ''Germside'' and ''Germspesyal'', is a Philippine television variety show broadcast by GMA Network. The show was the longest-running Sunday noontime variety show in Philippine television until 2015. Hosted ...

'' on February 25, 1996. The music video won the 'International Viewer's Choice Awards for Asia' at the 1997

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Video Music Awards held at

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The video was up against "Kirana" by

Dewa 19 Dewa 19 (pronounced in Indonesian as ''Dewa Sembilan Belas'') is an Indonesian rock band from Surabaya, East Java. Along with God Bless and Slank, they are dubbed as one of the greatest rock bands in the history of Indonesian popular music. The ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, "Fun Fun Fun" by

Joey Boy Joey Boy ( th, โจอี้ บอย; born 1975) or Apisit Opasaimlikit ( th, อภิสิทธิ์ โอภาสเอี่ยมลิขิต, ), is a Thai hip hop singer and producer known as The Godfather of Thai Hip Hop. ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, "Fanatik" by

KRU KRU was a Malaysian pop boy band formed in 1992. The group comprises three brothers, namely Datuk Norman Abdul Halim, Datuk Yusry Abdul Halim and Edry Abdul Halim'. Apart from revolutionising the Malaysian music scene with their blend of pop ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, and "Family" by

Lee Seung-hwan Lee Seung-hwan (; born December 13, 1965) is a South Korean singer and record producer known as the country's "King of Live Performances" for his frequent solo concerts. Lee debuted in 1989 as a pop ballad singer and later incorporated rock el ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. The Eraserheads accepted the award themselves. The recognition was the first Moonman award received by any

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

artist, and further made the band known in Asia which paved the way to the release of ''Aloha Milkyway''.

Covers

Rico J. Puno Enrico de Jesus Puno (; February 13, 1953 – October 30, 2018), better known as Rico J. Puno (), was a Filipino singer, television host, actor, comedian and politician. He was considered as a music icon in the Philippines. He started the tren ...

performed the song for the 2005 Eraserheads tribute album '' Ultraelectromagneticjam!: The Music of the Eraserheads''. *Philippine punk rock band

Kamikazee Kamikazee or KMKZ is a Filipino rock band formed in 2000. The band, originally known all throughout its career as a quintet, is currently composed of Jay Contreras (lead vocals), Jomal Linao (lead guitar and vocals), Led Tuyay (guitar), Puto As ...

recorded an unreleased version of the song. *Philippine group of singers The CompanY made a rendition of the song in 2008 with a music video interpreted in a different way from the song's content. *

South Border South Border is a Filipino pop and R&B band formed in the early 1990s who gained widespread recognition in the music scene in the mid 1990s to the 2000s. Origins and early years Originally formed in 1993, the band whose name is a tribute to ...

pianist

Jay Durias Jay Oliver Durias Sr. (born 26 August 1975) is a Filipino singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer known for his collaborations with South Border. Early life Durias is the frontman of South Border, a pop and R&B band that traces its roo ...

performed the song for another Eraserheads tribute album, ''The Reunion: An Eraserheads Tribute Album'', released in 2012. *Korean acoustic fingerstyle guitarist Sungha Jung performed the song during his "2013.6 Philippine Tour" concert. *

Rivermaya Rivermaya is a Filipino alternative rock band. Formed in 1994, it is one of the several bands who spearheaded the 1990s Philippine alternative rock explosion. Rivermaya is currently composed of original members Mark Escueta and Nathan Azarcon ...

lead vocalist from 2007-2011 Jason Fernandez covered the song as a Wishclusive on Wish 107.5 last 2016. *

Janine Berdin Patricia Janine Dusaran Berdin (born January 28, 2002), simply known as Janine Berdin, is a Filipino singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame when she was crowned as the Tawag ng Tanghalan (season 2), second season grand champion at ''T ...

performed the song at the SemiFinals, Season2 of Tawag ng Tanghalan in 2018.

In other media

*Buendia sang the song as a guest artist for a FilharmoniKA album, ''Kumpas: An Orchestral Celebration of Pinoy Music'', which presented some of the signature alternative rock anthems of the '90s orchestrally. *When local radio station

NU 107 Nu or NU may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Nu metal, a heavy metal fusion genre * Nu jazz, a jazz fusion genre * Nu-disco, a genre of dance music * Nu gaze, a shoegaze fusion genre * Nu prog, a subgenre of progressive rock * Nu-funk, a ...

signed off for the last time on 8 November 2010, "Ang Huling El Bimbo" played as its final song. *The song was also played in a McDonald's commercial in the Philippines in 2009.

Personnel

Marcus Adoro Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobârl� ...

Lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

Raimund Marasigan Raimund Emmanuel Parcon Marasigan (born May 22, 1971) is a Filipino rock musician and record producer. His first name is often misspelled ''Raymond'' or ''Raimond'' though he personally prefers to spell his name as Raymund. The breadth of his p ...

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Buddy Zabala Hector Avanceña Zabala (born November 13, 1971), popularly known as Buddy Zabala, is a Filipino musician and producer. He is currently the bassist of Filipino pop band Moonstar88 and indie band Cambio, and widely known as the bassist and back ...

Bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

References

{{authority control Eraserheads songs 1995 songs 1995 singles Rock ballads Songs written by Ely Buendia Tagalog-language songs