i already wrote this on the Hale e-group… but i have to put it here, sort of a year-ender special… focusing on 2005’s music phenomenon that you guys dearly call "Hale"…
for a 33 year-old who does his living as a tutor to teeners and kids alike, i can’t help but be exposed to what they rave about… include the fact that i am a rabid music fan as well, i can’t help but be exposed to Hale, too…
i first heard of the band last March…the song on the radio: Broken Sonnet… sabi ko, wow, that song’s deep… and i liked it so much i started surfing 4 pop radio stations during week-ends just to hear it… during that time, Gwen Stefani, Black Eyed Peas, Mariah Carey and other RnB acts dominate the airwaves, but the song insistently found more airplay… and topped countdowns as well… by that time, i suspect the band is bound to explode soon…
then, The Day You Said Goodnight came… it blew everyone away… for a whole period of 3 months, it was the song on every one’s lips… so, Hale has arrived… big time!!!
two more songs followed… from a platinum-selling album! so, why does Hale sell so much?… why do most people scream at the mention of the name?… i cannot answer this one, as each person may have his own reason… but this much, i can tell…
to those priveleged enough to see them live, you may have felt the charisma of the four guys on stage… you may have felt the passion that each, especially Champ, put to each song so that everyone in the audience can feel the pain, sorrow or whatever emotions there is in that song… and you may have cried or fell silent, if only you weren’t screaming so loud (",)…. but for those who had this chance, you felt the melodrama and, if only for that, i envy you…
to those who can only listen on the radio, like me… i can only say that the electricity can flow through the speakers… when they covered a Coldplay song on Tunog Kalye (now known as Local Vocal), man, was i dumbstruck! … it almost felt the same way as listening to a Chris Martin live recording… the same passion broke through beyond the barrier of the audio equipment…
so, how does Hale affect every one? the tangibles first: i listen to 7 radio stations and look how you guys fared on the year-enders of 5 of them:
Broken Sonnet - #45 over-all, # 27 OPM at NU 107
- #18 over-all, # 18 OPM at Magic 89.9
- # 4 over-all, # 2 OPM at RX 93.1
- #73 over-all, # 20 OPM at 99.5 RT
- not listed at WLS-FM, but spent two weeks at #1
The Day You Said Goodnight - # 2 over-all, # 1 OPM at Magic 89.9
- # 2 over-all, # 1 OPM at RX 93.1
- # 1 OPM at 97.1 WLS-FM
- # 3 over-all, # 2 OPM at 99.5 RT
—-> did you guys know that on the week-end of June 19-21, The Day You Said Goodnight is the no#1 song at these 4 radio stations??? no other OPM song has done that…! it stayed #1 at Magic for 2 weeks, at RX93.1 for 7 weeks, at 97.1 WLS-FM for 2 weeks and a week at 99.5RT!
Kahit Pa - #11 over-all, # 5 OPM at Magic 89.9 (5 weeks at #1)
- #14 over-all, # 5 OPM at RX 93.1 (one week at #1)
- #59 over-all, # 15 OPM at 99.5RT (2 weeks at #1)
- not listed at WLS-FM, but spent 3 weeks at #1
Kung Wala Ka - # 38 over-all, # 10 OPM at RX 93.1
- peaked at #8 at Magic 89.9, #5 at RX 93.1, #4 at 97.1 WLS-FM and #18 at 99.5 RT…..
BUT THESE ARE JUST NUMBERS….
yet you cannot a put number to the screams that you hear each time the band goes onstage… you can never put a number to the giggles of school girls each time they see them live on TV… you cannot put a number to the sighs each time these same girls see their pictures on magazines…
and me? you cannot put a number each time i fall silent when i hear Broken Sonnet… you cannot put a number for every moment i feel hopeful when i hear Blue Sky… you cannot put a number each time i remember someone when i hear Kung Wala Ka… that’s how the band affect me… through their songs… call it melodramatic… i’d rather call it… Hale’s music…
1. Akin Ka Na Lang - Itchyworms
2. Una - Sponge Cola
3. Nobela - Join The Club