(My musician friends told me some time ago that the Pinoy novelty singer and songwriter Ivor B passed on when Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) devastated my home province, Leyte in November 8, 2013. Many friends and acquaintances lost their lives due to the deadly storm surge that came with the typhoon.)
The first time I met Ivor he was a nobody. He was tall, dark and determined. He was wearing a white shirt and cargo shorts and sandals. This was sometime in 2003. I was working as the Production Chief and head Disc Jockey in MOR 94.3 Tacloban, a regional radio station of ABS-CBN. Our security guard barged into the DJ’s booth and said that there was a guy outside wanting to speak to me about his music. I took a glance at Ivor from the glass window as I stood up from the deejay’s chair, then went out to the lobby to meet him.
I remember him handing over a cassette tape to me. He said he is a struggling songwriter and he composed a song with his electronic keyboard. He asked if it was okay to play his song on our radio station. I was a bit skeptical of his creation since it was on tape. At that time cassette tapes were getting obsolete. I politely told him that I would have to review the quality of the song first and see if it was up to certain standards. I asked Ivor to wait in the lobby and took the tape to the radio station’s recording room where there was a professional cassette player. I played and listened to it with headphones on and cringed.
I cringed because during that time, I was also a musician in the struggling but active local ïndie music scene in our city, a bassist for some alternative rock bands that consisted of close friends, and we would often get together and support our colleagues in the city by patronizing local rock concerts and events. So I would recognize some people in the local music scene, but Ivor wasn’t one of them. Also during that time, many us local musicians were already producing our own music by going to Cebu and having our songs recorded in semi-professional (and affordable) recording studios. Tacloban had no known recording studio then. Recording was already digital and we had our original songs burned on CD.
Ivor’s song was not the type of music that I liked, I must admit, but in the “service of the Filipino” I had to at least try to help the guy out because I knew that he was serious about his song. The song that was on the tape was “Tahong ni Karla,” (Karla’s Mussel) a funny novelty song with some sexual innuendoes, with a Karla and not Carla, as I remember it was handwritten on the cassette tape label. It was rough and heavy on the static noise. I surmised that he played his keyboard and sang and recorded his performance DIY style using a tape recorder. It was in mono, not stereo. I am sure his first recording was homemade with love, but back then when I first listened to it, it was absolutely horrible and not of broadcast quality, and also not my type of music. So I cringed.
After listening to it for a couple minutes, I went back to him, returned his tape and told him the truth about his creation, but kept my musical preference to myself of course. I told him that it needed to be of good and clear quality for it to be approved by our station manager for airing and he is welcome to come back so I can review it again. I saw how disappointed Ivor was as he left. I thought to myself, that he wouldn’t come back and that he would go to other radio stations and most likely also get rejected and then probably give up after that.
I was so wrong.
A few weeks later, I arrived at the station and saw Ivor waiting at the lobby. I greeted him and asked what he did to improve his song. He said he recorded it again and made sure the quality is better and the tape was already being previewed by our station manager. I was amazed at his response and went in the station only to find out it was actually being previewed in the recording room by the late Mano Waway (Ad Roel Alcober), our local TV Patrol News Department head. I can never forget the smile on Mano Way’s face as he played the song on speaker and he swayed his upper body to the music as he sat on the chair. I spoke to him about how Ivor initially came to me with his song. Mano Waway said he liked the song and the lyrics but doubted it would pass our Station Manager’s approval to have it aired. It still was a home recording, and the quality was still bad despite a few improvements with the clarity. I told Mano Waway that I felt uneasy if I was to reject Ivor the second time. So he said he would bring Ivor to the Station Manager’s office to show at least that we are trying to help.
So Ivor met our Station Manager, spoke with him and Mano Waway. I asked not to be involved because I had to go on duty for my radio program. It took only less than ten minutes, when I saw Ivor going out of the Station Manager’s office, heading back to the lobby. He sat down with his face showing disappointment. I went to him and asked how his talk with our boss went, and he said that his song was not approved for airing.
I explained to him about recording studios, and how my band was able to record songs in Cebu for a price. Ivor was interested but he said he could not afford to travel and pay for recording in Cebu. This is when I remembered Jean Paul.
Jean-Paul Verona, one of my closest buddies in high school was the guitarist of one of my bands, Wattsleft, and we recorded our songs in Cebu in 2002. After that recording, he became quite interested in audio recording software. He would visit me at the station sometimes and we would try out some software I downloaded off the internet. I used Cool Edit Pro (Now known as Adobe Audition) to produce our radio stations’ commercials and IDs. But we tried finding a multi-track recording software better than Cool Edit and he ended up using a software he found on his own. With just an assembled PC and home stereo equipment, he was able to set up a mini recording studio in his own bedroom. With his talent and ear for music, he developed great skill for producing and recording music. Today he is a professional Sound Engineer and Producer (Ben & Ben!). Back in 2003, he was already recording and producing music for election campaign jingles.
So I told Ivor about my buddy Jean Paul. I gave him his number and said that Jean Paul might be able to help him with getting his song recorded in broadcast standard probably for an affordable price.
I bade him good luck and that was the last time I spoke with him.
Fast forward a few months later, I hear Ivor’s song blasting on the radio of a jeepney I was riding on, for the first time. It was a clear, catchy and appealing version recorded and produced by Jean Paul in his home studio. Jean Paul did an awesome job and gave Ivor’s song some justice. But this was being aired on Love Radio, not on the radio station I worked for. I guess Ivor probably got so disappointed with the rejection by our radio station, that he went to another one instead with the new and improved recording of his song.
I was not at all disappointed by that, in fact I was happy that I was able to help by referring him to a friend. Little did I know that the song would become a hit on the radio which eventually landed him a recording deal, allowing him to rerecord the song again in a professional studio.
Today, Ivor’s song lives on beyond its creator and is covered, remixed and played in radio stations and dance clubs all over the country. Whenever I hear it, I would always remember Ivor’s determination as struggling musician.
The Youtube video below contains Ivor B’s original Tahong ni Carla song recorded in Jean Paul’s home studio in 2003.