from GABY MANALAC

Hey hey Tony: You are out of this world. Always have known that, of course, and this is not fake news. I can back it up with testimonial evidence from Fr. Reuter who will surely come back from wherever the angels have delivered him  if the evidence needs validation. In any event, just for starters, how can anyone with all kinds of life-threatening ailments continue to keep travelling all over the world with all kinds of life sustaining machines like dialysis machines while sailing the Danube on a tourist vessel. and at the drop of a hat picking up your topcoat and taking off for fancied destinations anywhere and everywhere.  And more than that, you just flew all the way to Australia for a family reunion, a flying distance that most anyone our age may not survive. How can all that happen. And from the looks of it, there are still lots more coming. But wouldn’t one know it. Of course there is a very simple answer to such an  impossible query - GOD, CHITA, AND FAMILY. But why were you the chosen one. Only they can answer that. All I can remember is that Tony Joaquin vintage “48 liked doing what he liked to do – music in any form or language. An indelible image in my memory is a gangly Tony crooning ala Sinatra while ever so smoothly flipping his legs around dancing the boogie Astaire style to the delight of st. scholasltica  closeted high schoolers. Still more, equally incredible.  You have now gifted your friends with two renditions from an album you recorded last year – Nearness of You and Unforgettable (duet with daughter Lizza). Your rendition of Nearness is noticeably lovable, but Unforgettable  with Lizza is a reincarnation of Tony vintage “48. I daresay it is even better. Lizza has brought out something very professional in your rendition. Lizza’s youthful talent seems to have magically rubbed off on you. I couldn’t believe what I listened to. Your voice was vibrant, round, and your delivery perfect.  Hey, keep Lizza primed for more of those duets. How truly blessed you are to have Chita and the kds, and vice versa of course. If there is any downside to your performance, it is that it makes me envious of how you can so very much enjoy your musical talent at this stage of our lives. As far back as grade school at the the Ateneo in Intramuros, I looked forward so very much to very rehearsal. Mr. Tiongco (I think he might eventually sired the Tiongco brothers who mimicked the Four Aces, or the Lettermen, or was it one or the other of several of the popular quartets at the time) was our choir master and I (along with a guy I remember only as Palarca) was a soloist and had my first performance at the Padre Faura auditorium (big deal then) when I was in grade IV. I remember Mr.Tiongco had several more performances lined up for us but as fate would have it, September 8, 1941 happened. During the II War years when I was in La Salle, I was ready to take daily piano lessons since my mom”s brother was a piano teacher and was in our home quite often that it made sense for him to spend time with me as a budding classical pianist. Again, as fate would have it, the Americans started their “I will return” bombing sorties. Again, I got the chance to get back into the musical stream by joining the Ateneo high school choir which Fr. Candelaria would be geared to performing abroad (which I later found out was Guam and Wake island. I thought that was pretty weird. So when Fr. Candy started costed the expenses for his venture, it came up to a fantastic total of a hundred thousand or something around that figure. We all had a good laugh when it turned out that mathematics (even only multiplication) was not exactly his strong point. So off again I was, this time to picking a ukele that my sister bought for me (our house burned down along with our piano during the liberation of Manila). But that never really got me into full time piano studies, although I was beginning to enjoy learning how play the Uke but never really got serious about even that although I thought it was truly a lovable instrument. For your enjoyment, I printing the Utube address of Kris Fuchigami - "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"- Ukulele Instrumental. I am certain you will enjoy it. His utube address also opens up a few other incredible ukele performances. To sum it all up, my ill-fated musical career was doomed when I got a journalism scholarship, along with Tony Manuud, to Marquette University.   I contented myself with harmonizing  old American favorites  with Tony who just loved singing these oldies particularly: Heart Of My Heart", I love that melody "Heart Of My Heart" brings back a memory When we were kids on the corner of the street We were rough and ready guys But Oh! How we could harmonize "Heart Of My Heart" Meant friends were dearer then Too bad we had to part I know a tear would glisten if once more I could listen To that gang that sang "Heart Of My Heart" ​