Hale

The past 10 years saw the dominance of revival music in the local music scene – a somewhat slap in the art of writing good OPM. Yet, it can’t be denied that the first decade of the new millennium did produce a handful of brilliant, hit songs penned and performed by Filipino artists.

The question is, which is the best among these tracks of great impact, counting popularity and competence on top of considerations? The Manila Bulletin Entertainment created a shortlist of the biggest hits of the era and asked some industry experts and music critics to pick for a reason that deserving top track.

Freelance record producer and musician Rhany Torres named “Pinoy Ako” of the defunct Orange & Lemons by the strength of its success as theme song of what he calls a rare phenomenon: “Pinoy Big Brother” Season 1. “I saw on TV non-Pinoy ASEAN Games participants dancing to the song. Mas anthemic ang dating sa akin nito compared to Bamboo’s ‘Noypi.’”

No question that the record made a big impression and helped reassures the Filipino pride of today’s generation. Yet it was crticized for allegedly stealing melody lines and riffs from ’80s track “Chandeliers” performed by The Care.

Artist promotion expert Espie Eusebio rather vied for Aiza Seguerra’s “Pagdating Ng Panahon,” written by The CompanY’s Moy Ortiz. She reasoned that, “This song was in the charts of top FM stations for more than a year even if there wasn’t any text brigade, groupie-power or TV program support to hype it at that time.”

Vicor Music’s Francis Liwanag has numbers to prove that the record really sold well. “‘Pagdating Ng Panahon’ went quintuple platinum when 40,000 pieces pa ang per platinum,” he pointed out.

An entertainment columnist also included Aiza’s signature hit (released in 2001) among his top three choices, together with “Pinoy Ako” and Parokya Ni Edgar’s “Mr. Suave,” penned by the band’s bassist Buwi Meneses.

On the other hand, a tabloid entertainment editor goes for that big song which propelled Kamikazee to the top of bandlandia. The single “Narda” possesses great recall it has become a common thing to hear someone sing it on karaoke. The current “Darna” TV series starring Marian Rivera features the piece in both original and piano instrumental versions.

Much than it was before, 2000s saw the emergence of Pinoy band scene. In fact, apart from “Pagdating Ng Panahon” and Kitchie Nadal’s breakthrough hit “Wag Na Wag,” the rest in the shortlist are band songs.

One credible music enthusiast voted for Hale’s “The Day You Said Goodnight” as top song of the decade because “it transcends genres and it’s beyond commercial.” Song magazine editor Jason Paor agreed, “Definitely, it’s ‘The Day You Said Goodnight’ by Hale. I’ve heard it in music countdowns and while inside convenience stores. Probably around 6x a day during its airplay run.”

Other songs in the said “top song selection” are Sugarfree’s “Hari Ng Sablay,” Sandwich’s “Sugod,” Bamboo’s “Hallelujah,” and Rivermaya’s “You’ll Be Safe Here.”