The Juan de la Cruz Band was a

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 ...

rock group A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, ...

formed in 1968, that pioneered what became known as

Pinoy rock Pinoy rock, or Filipino rock, is the brand of rock music produced in the Philippines or by Filipinos. It has become as diverse as the rock music genre itself, and bands adopting this style are now further classified under more specific genres or c ...

. Founding guitarist Wally Gonzalez credited his fellow founding member, drummer Edmund Fortuno (a.k.a. "Bosyo"), with having introduced the band's name. In December 1970, the band was lauded for headlining the first open field

rock festival A rock festival is an open-air rock concert featuring many different performers, typically spread over two or three days and having a campsite and other amenities and forms of entertainment provided at the venue. Some festivals are singular even ...

in the

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. In 1971, they released their first album as a quintet, and thereafter gained momentum when it was performed in a

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

with the Manila Symphony Orchestra, the first production of its kind in the country. Juan de la Cruz reinvented itself in 1973 as a

power trio A power trio is a rock and roll band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit (drums and cymbals), leaving out a second rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quartet ...

and rose to stardom as the premier

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band in the

History

''Up in Arms''

The original Juan de la Cruz Band, consisting of Wally Gonzalez (guitar/vocals), Sandy Tagarro (bass guitar/vocals), Edmond Fortuno (drums), Bing Labrador (keyboards) and Alex Cruz (saxophones and flute), was formed in 1968. In December 1970, they performed in the Antipolo Rock Festival (the Philippine equivalent to the

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

festival of 1969). They were subsequently tapped in September 1971 as the featured rock band in tandem with the Manila Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Redentor Romero) for the Philippine production of the rock opera by

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...

and

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

, ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'', at the

Cultural Center of the Philippines The Cultural Center of the Philippines ( fil, Sentrong Pangkultura ng Pilipinas, or CCP) is a government-owned and controlled corporation established to preserve, develop and promote arts and culture in the Philippines.Presidential Decree No. ...

. Consequent to his dramatic part as the Judas character in the rock opera production, Sandy Tagarro vacated his instrumentalist role in the group and was replaced by Clifford Ho as bassist. Upon the conclusion of the ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' production, Edmund Fortuno (aka "Bosyo"), Bing Labrador and Alex Cruz (with guitarist Vic Naldo and bassist Marlon Ilagan) formed a splinter group, Anak Bayan which, together with the Manila Symphony Orchestra, performed for another major production run at the Cultural Center, the rock opera, ''

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'' by

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

. The versatile Sandy Tagarro returned to the Juan de la Cruz Band, occupying the drummer's seat as Fortuno's replacement, and also as the band's lead vocalist; while Clifford Ho continued on bass. A musician from the Manila Symphony Orchestra (whom they had befriended in the ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' production), Romy Santos (flute/sax/clarinet), replaced Alex Cruz. Rene Sogueco (keyboards/vocal) was also recruited to replace Bing Labrador. In the wake of this major revamp, the Juan de la Cruz Band recorded its first album in 1971, entitled ''Up in Arms'', which was released by

Vicor Music Corporation Vicor Music Corporation is a Filipino record label. The name is a combination of the names of the founders, the cousins Vic del Rosario and Orly Ilacad. Initially an independent record label, it is currently owned by Viva Communications. Vicor ...

under its Sunshine Records imprint. However, complications in the band caused Sandy Tagarro to leave abruptly barely after concluding the ''Up in Arms'' recording sessions; not even to pose for the album's photography. Consequently, the group picture for the LP's album cover showed a different drummer (Bobot Guerrero), with Tagarro's name stricken off the personnel credits, with exception of a parenthetical credit of him as composer of one song ("Lady in White Satin"). Bobot Guerrero's entry as the new drummer of Juan de la Cruz continued through the promotional run of the album and into concerts and club stints. The ''Up in Arms'' album was not a commercial success and had not been reissued, by Vicor Music Corporation to date. An unauthorized compact disc translation of the LP (albeit excellently remastered and packaged) by Shadoks/Normal Music (Bonn, Germany) with spurious bonus tracks from a later edition of the band—is sold in online Internet shops. Wally Gonzales is showcased as a rock guitarist with progressive leanings in this early effort. In several months, keyboardist Rene Sugueco had also left (briefly replaced by Larry Martinez), and bassist Clifford Ho (briefly replaced by Tony Rodriguez). It was during this transition phase that Joey Smith had recently returned to the Philippines from a successful sojourn in

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, and in 1973 had accepted a cameo singing role at the Cultural Center's "Little Theater" for an abortive

rock musical A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concept ...

(produced by Carlitos Benavides) based on

Erich Segal Erich Wolf Segal (June 16, 1937January 17, 2010) was an American author, screenwriter, educator, and classicist who wrote the bestselling novel '' Love Story'' (1970) and its hit film adaptation. Early life and education Born and raised in a ...

's novel then in vogue, '' Love Story'', in which the Juan de la Cruz Band was once again called upon to perform. This was also the period when the members of Juan de la Cruz Band and Anak Bayan were freely associating and performing collectively as a "supergroup" ensemble in various concerts. Nides Aranza-Mendez, a notable rock drummer also jammed with the group and performed on the classic first live album, "Super Session".

''Himig Natin''

The state of Juan de la Cruz's flux and gradual dissolution led Wally Gonzalez to reconvene an all-new powerhouse trio, together with Joey Smith (later a.k.a. " Pepe Smith") as singer-drummer-composer; and with singer-bassist-composer

Mike Hanopol Michael Abarico Hanopol (born April 10, 1946), also known as Mike Hanopol, is a Filipino rockLosorata, YugelMike Hanopol's lyrics of praise.(Entertainment)''Manila Bulletin'', Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp., March 28, 2005

. Smith and Hanopol collaborated in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

with

ese guitarist Shinki Chen in a heavy psychedelic blues "free-rock" trio setup called

Speed, Glue & Shinki was a Japanese Heavy psych power trio supergroup formed in 1970 by guitarist Shinki Chen, and record producer Ikuzo Orita. Orita had previously produced an LP featuring Shinki Chen; who was considered the Japanese equivalent of Jimi Hendrix. T ...

, which had released two seminal albums for

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

Japan. Rock music historian

Julian Cope Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...

narrates in his book, ''

Japrocksampler ''Japrocksampler: How the Post-war Japanese Blew Their Minds on Rock 'n' Roll'' is a book written by author and musician Julian Cope and published by Bloomsbury on 3 September 2007. Overview The 304-page hardcover book is a companion piece to Co ...

'' (Bloomsbury, 2007), that Shinki Chen had recruited Joey “Pepe” Smith on drums / lead vocal (and

Masayoshi Kabe (5 November 194926 September 2020) often known by his stage name Louise Louis, was a Japanese bassist and guitarist from Yokohama, Japan. Numerous online sources present him as half-French and half-Japanese, but it's actually a marketing crea ...

on bass guitar and later Kabe’s replacement, Mike Hanopol on bass guitar) from a Filipino rock group called Zero History, which he found performing at Astro shopping mall in Yokohama, Japan. (Zero History additional members included Mike Hanopol on bass guitar & Wally Gonzalez on lead guitar.) And thus the vibe of Speed, Glue & Shinki is noteworthy in the earliest contributions of Smith and Hanopol for the Juan de la Cruz collaboration, especially in the stop-start heaviness of "Take You Home" (a song by the American heavy psych group Fields, originally released in 1969, revived from the eponymous second album of S,G&S), and the talking blues of "Blues Train". The ensuing album by the iconic trio of Gonzalez, Smith & Hanopol, unfurling its masterly title track, "Himig Natin" (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

translation: "''Our Hymn''"), went on to become the anthem of Manila's post-hippie culture and underground radio network, particularly the

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radio show, ''Pinoy Rock 'n' Rhythm''—later on shortened to "

". The song is widely known as the first example of Pinoy rock. ''Himig Natin'' rallied Pinoy rock, which swelled into a movement and provided indicators of its yet-unrealized commercial fuel. The social impact and innovations of the Juan de la Cruz Band inadvertently became the catalyst for the inception of

Original Pilipino Music The music of the Philippines ( fil, Musika ng Pilipinas) includes the musical performance arts in the Philippines and the music of Filipinos composed in various local and international genres and styles. Philippine musical compositions are ofte ...

(OPM) and the viability for diverse, originally-authored musical genres to emerge and thrive in the Philippines.

Recent

They were awarded the ''ASAP'' Pinoy Band's Special Lifetime Achievement Award on ''

ASAP Natin 'To ''All-Star Sunday Afternoon Party'' (''ASAP''; ), currently branded as ''ASAP Natin 'To'' (), is a Philippine television variety show produced by ABS-CBN Entertainment. Originally hosted by Martin Nievera, Pops Fernandez, Ariel Rivera and Day ...

'' (formerly ''ASAP'') in 2017, for their contributions to Filipino music as one of the greatest Pinoy rock bands in OPM rock history. Long time band drummer / guitarist / lead vocalist Joey "Pepe" Smith died on January 28, 2019 at the age of 71. Founding lead guitarist Wally Gonzales died on July 23, 2021 also aged 71.

Discography

Studio albums

*1971: ''Up in Arms'' (Philippines LP - Vicor/Sunshine Records / German CD - Normal Records/Shadoks Music, 2001) :Note: The Juan Dela Cruz management had issued a statement that the German CD reissue is unauthorized. The CD also contains six unverified "live" bonus tracks, which may have been lifted from ''The Super Hits of the Juan Dela Cruz Band / Live and In Concert'' album, which is also tagged as being unauthorized and spurious. *1973: ''Himig Natin'' (LP, Vicor/Sunshine Records / CD, Vicor/Sunshine, released 2004 - officially reissued on LP by Vicor 2021) *1974: ''Maskara'' (LP, Vicor/Sunshine Records / CD, Vicor/Sunshine, released 2004) *1981: ''Kahit Anong Mangyari'' (LP, Blackgold Records)

Live and other albums

*1975: ''Super Session'' (LP, Vicor/Sunshine Records) *1977: ''The Super Hits of The Juan Dela Cruz Band / Live and In Concert'' (LP, Vicor/Sunshine Records) :Note: The Juan Dela Cruz management had issued statements that this release was spurious. Tracks were implied to be original studio tracks with applause merely added artificially.

Compilations

*1980: ''The Best Of Juan Dela Cruz Band'' (LP, Vicor/Sunshine Records) *1983: ''The Best Of Pinoy Rock'' (LP, Blackgold Records) *1985: ''The Best Of Pinoy Rock Vol. 1 & 2 '' (Collectors' Edition LP, Blackgold Records) *1994: ''Himig Natin (Special Collector's Edition)'' (Vicor Music Corporation / Blackgold Records :Note: This compilation is actually a 15-track hodge-podge of selections from ''Himig Natin'', ''Maskara'', ''Super Session'' and ''Kahit Anong Mangyari''. *''Pinoy Rock'' (undated, circa 2008) (Vicor) *2014: ''Tatak: Greatest Hits'' (Poly East Records)

Band members

Former

*Sandy Tagarro *Edmund Fortuno+ *Bing Labrador *Alex Cruz *Clifford Ho *Bobot Guerrero *Larry Martinez *Tony Rodriguez * Pepe Smith (vocalist, drummer) (1947-2019; his death) * Wally Gonzalez (1949-2021; his death) *

Other members (unrecorded)

Pre-millennium (1970s and 1980s)

*Nides Aranzamendez (session drummer) *Tony Rodriguez (bass guitar) *Larry Martinez (keyboards) *Lito Guanco (keyboards)

Millennium era (reunions)

*Dondi Ledesma (bass guitar) *Wowee Posadas (keyboards) *Wendell Garcia (drums) *Gilbert Nogales (drums)

Additional historical information

A partial reunion of the original lineup of the Juan de la Cruz Band occurred in the summer of 1974, under the name Cara Y Cruz, which formed to participate in the 'National Battle of the Bands' event (sponsored by RC Cola). The ''nom de guerre'' was perhaps utilized to circumvent a technicality that only unsigned bands were eligible to participate in the competition. They made two performances: at the Araneta Center (on an improvised stage behind the

Smart Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose arena, sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. Nicknamed as "the ...

); and at 'Jam Park', a vacant lot leased for the multi-part event in the Makati area, situated alongside the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX). The nearly-reconstituted band consisted of Wally Gonzalez (guitar), Sonny Tolentino (bass guitar), Edmund Fortuno (drums), Bing Labrador (organ), Alex Cruz (saxophones & flute), with Jacqui Magno (vocals). Ironically, the group progressed only up until the semi-finals phase of the Battle of the Bands, after which they again disbanded.

Awards

*Special Lifetime Achievement Award, ASAP Pinoy 2017, ASAP Show, ABS-CBN 2

References

External links

pinoyclassicrock.com
* *

{{Authority control Filipino rock music groups Musical groups from Metro Manila 1968 establishments in the Philippines 1981 disestablishments in the Philippines 1998 establishments in the Philippines 2019 disestablishments in the Philippines Musical groups established in 1968 Musical groups disestablished in 1981 Musical groups reestablished in 1998 Musical groups disestablished in 2019