The Jerks is a rock band from the
Philippines
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 ...
formed in 1979, and perhaps, is the original
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
and
blues band
Band or BAND may refer to:
Places
*Bánd, a village in Hungary
*Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania
*Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...
in the country. The band has undergone a lot of member changes and notably a lot of the previous members of the band are now certified icons themselves in the music scene. Members like Chickoy Pura, Nitoy Adriano,
Jun Lopito, Angelo Villegas, and others have carved names in their respective niches.
Other performers who have played with the Jerks are former
Put3ska drummer Brutus Lacano as a session musician, and drummer Benjie Santos.
Despite having been formed in 1979, they only released their debut record in 1994 entitled ''The Jerks Live'', released under
Gary Granada's Backdoor Records. It was recorded live at the legendary
Mayric's
Mayric's was a concert events venue in Manila that featured new and upcoming artists in the Philippine music scene since the early 80s. It helped launch the career of many Filipino artists or, at the least, served as a regular venues for their li ...
bar and showcases the raw, passionate musicality of the band never before put into record. The Jerks also released a self-titled album in the late '90s.
By 1998,
Star Music managed to convince the band to record a major label album called ''Haligi Ng Maynila'', produced by ABS-CBN's Gabby Lopez, which gave the band the opportunity to reach a wider audience. This paved the way to the band winning the 1998 NU Rock Award for Best Album and the 1998 Katha Award for Best Rock Song, "Reklamo ng Reklamo".
On October 29, 2004, the band celebrated their 25th Anniversary at 70s Bistro. Musicians like Bayang Barrios, Cooky Chua, Angelo & Mike Villegas, Jun Lopito, Tots Tolentino, Acoustic Jive will join the anniversary.
The Jerks still perform regularly around Manila in bars like My Brother's Mustache Folk Bar near Timog Avenue, The 70s Bistro, Tiendesitas and Route 196 along Katipunan Extension.
In June 2022, the band released a seven-inch extended play, "The Jerks EP". Featuring three songs that date back to 1981 that were only played on radio and never released on any format and a reissue of "The Jerks Live" album on vinyl
Awards
References
Filipino rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1979
Musical groups from Metro Manila
Star Music artists
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