Even as they helped change the sound of local pop music with their cavalcade of Filipino hits (where would the Eraserheads be without the Apo?), Jim, Buboy and Danny also dabbled in the occasional English song, e.g., Anna and Just a Smile Away. Then there was Jose Mari Chan, who was responsible for Deep In My Heart, Can We Just Stop and Talk Awhile, etc.
In the '80s, arguably the golden age of OPM, songwriters such as Odette Quesada led the way with now-classic ditties such as Don't Know What to Do, Don't Know What to Say, popularized by Ric Segreto, and Till I Met To You, which Kuh Ledesma sung to a first-prize finish at the Metropop Music Festival. Willy Cruz had a massive hit in Never Ever Say Goodbye, while Ryan Cayabyab churned out the challenging pop melodies How Can I, Once Upon a Life, Sometime, Somewhere.
And how can we forget composer Louie Ocampo and songstress Joey Albert, their partnership spawning the likes of Tell Me, Points of View, Without You. And the list goes on.
Anyway--the trigger for this reminiscin'? A video I found in my baul, of Martin Nievera, Roselle Nava (in peak voice here--where is she now?), Geneva Cruz and The Company singing songs from the the Great (English-language) OPM Songbook, at the Kulturang Handog sa Bayan concert many moons ago. [Mickey Munoz, thank you as always!]
Ah, those were the days. You've heard the medley. Now, if you were to do your own mash-up, what favorite OPM songs in English would you put in?