Push Admin

DisCorp: The life, times and death of an independent record company

Article (news)

Rick Olivares

<div class="media-content"><div class="slider-for"><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tvpatrol/06/02/photo1.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tvpatrol/06/02/photo2.jpg"/></div><div><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tvpatrol/06/02/photo3.jpg"/></div></div><div class="media-content slider-desc"><div class="item-desc">The Rainmakers receiving the Gold Record from Disc Corporation &amp; PARI president Danny Olivares. Alex Aison (from left), Jojo Grospe, Luke Gaston, Ramon Villanueva, Joel Macanaya, &amp; Danny Olivares. <cite>Handout</cite></div><div class="item-desc">Awarding of a Gold Record on “Student Canteen”: Coney Reyes (from left), Bobby Ledesma, Donna Summer, PARI and DisCorp president Danny Olivares, and Helen Vela. <cite>Handout</cite></div><div class="item-desc">The years 1977 to 1979 were the wildest, most eventful, and perhaps infamous for the great yet largely forgotten Philippine record company, DisCorp.</div></div></div>From 1977-79, the local airwaves were inundated by music from disco artists Donna Summer, Roberta Kelly, Teri DeSario, the Village People, Paul Jabara, and Giorgio Moroder, among others And for the rock and roll crowd, there was hard rock band Kiss who gave Led Zeppelin, Queen, and Aerosmith a run for their money. All this was from local record company, Disc Corporation (or DisCorp for short), which was the local licensee of American label Casablanca Records. The years of 1977 to 1979 were the wildest, most eventful and impactful, and perhaps, infamous for the late great and yet largely forgotten Philippine record company, DisCorp. In 1977, the other face of disco music outside the Bee Gees, Donna Summer, flew into Manila for a pair of sold-out shows at Araneta Coliseum and a couple more at Cultural Center of the Philippines while making the rounds of television (“Student Canteen” and “Two for the Road”, the late Elvira Manahan’s talk show), radio, and the odd record store. Summer was the first big, in-their-prime-recording-artist to perform in Manila after the Beatles. By 1978, Casablanca released their own version of “Saturday Night Fever” in “Thank God It’s Friday”. While it was a critical flop, it raked in $7.3 million (on a $2.2-million budget) at the box office. “Thank God It’s Friday” was an early film by Jeff Goldblum and the first appearance of Debra Winger. Also featured was Terri Nunn who later resurfaced with New Wave band, Berlin. The soundtrack won two awards – an Oscar Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for Summer’s “Last Dance” that was written by singer Paul Jabara, who also contributed one of the best known songs from the soundtrack, “Trapped in a Stairway.” While the film is forgettable, aside from the award-winning song, its lasting contribution to culture at large is the expression, “Thank God It’s Friday.” Locally, it did reasonably well both film-wise and to the benefit of DisCorp, they had another hit on their hands. By the next two years, local discotheques, radio stations, and television dance shows such as Archie Lacson’s Penthouse 7 would often play music that DisCorp released locally – Teri DeSario, Donna Summer, Paul Jabara, and Giorgio Moroder. They defied payola to help rule the airwaves and record stores. “We didn’t have the budget to compete with the payola the major labels were handing out to radio stations,” shared Alex Aison, DisCorp’s executive producer for Original Pilipino Music. “So we were lucky that our artists were very popular so people were requesting them all the time. So the radio stations that played pop music had no choice but to play them or else the listeners would tune in elsewhere.” Sales-wise, Cely Cruz, executive assistant to DisCorp president Danny Olivares, shared: “During that time, we had no stocks of records in our stockroom. They went straight from the pressing plant to the record bars.” Not to mention the movie theaters. By summer of 1979, DisCorp rented one of the theaters at the new Ali Mall in Cubao to exclusively show “Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park” for members of the local Kiss Army, as the fans of the rock band were known. The film was cheesy and campy to say the least, but local Kiss fans led by its sergeant at arms, the late Dominic Gamboa (later of punk band Betrayed and known more popularly as “Papadom” of Tropical Depression fame), packed and crammed the theater for the entire weekend in kabuki make-up, torn jeans and leather. Kiss was just if not more popular than Led Zeppelin despite not even getting any radio airplay, not even from DZRJ. Even local band Abracadabra was inspired by Kiss and wore kabuki-style make up. Quite a few jeepneys plying the Antipolo-Divisoria route had Kiss’ logo or members painted on their sides. And playing a large part in the popularity of Kiss in the Philippines was the local affiliation of the Kiss Army that held periodic meetings to watch special concerts of the band (that was sent over by Casablanca Records), listening parties, or art contests. And this was initiated by DisCorp. What local record company engaged its fan base at this point in time? Nobody, save for DisCorp. In 1975, DisCorp arose from the ashes of the old Villar Records and Mareco Records that was owned by the Villar family. Luis Villar was its chief executive officer while Danny Olivares was its president. Rene Palma, husband of broadcast journalist Tina Monzon-Palma, handled the A&amp;R duties along with its publicity. Also joining the small record label were popular disc jockey, songwriter, and producer Alex Aison; print publicist Danny Yson; and broadcast publicist Alex Atienza among others. DisCorp rode on Casablanca’s roster of disco artists as it was when disco was king. Donna Summer was a bonafide star and chart-topper with every album a super seller. When her song “Love to Love You Baby” was released, the Kapisanan ng Broadkaster ng Pilipinas sought to ban the song for its suggesting cooing and moaning. No such luck. The song became even more popular. Roberta Kelly’s “Zodiac” also ruled the charts, record sales, dance floor and the airwaves. Then, Teri DeSario swung into town with the hit “Ain’t Nothing Gonna Keep Me From You” that was penned by Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees. DisCorp also acquired American label Salsoul Records that featured Filipino-American soul singer Joe Bataan, and Spanish actress and singer Charo, whose debut album sold more than a few records for its risqué cover. The album was no slouch as it scored a hit with the song “Cuchi Cuchi.” Quipped Olivares several years ago: “The standees and posters of Charo were always stolen in record bars. And we did sell a lot of her records.” The year 1979 started out well with Donna Summer ruling the American charts with “Bad Girls” the album and the song. The album spawned three massive hits singles in the title track, “Hot Stuff,” and “Dim All the Lights.” Then Kiss’ seventh album, “Dynasty” was released to monster sales. The worm turned around July of 1979 when the anti-disco movement in the United States was in full swing beginning with the Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park. And that spread all over the world. The DisCorp brain trust foreseeing the decline of disco sought to sign Filipino talents. Kuh Ledesma walked in and while Olivares and Aison liked her music, the former felt that with the Jukebox Queens in Imelda Papin, Eva Eugenio, and Claire dela Fuente reigning, Ledesma’s music might not shine. They asked her if she didn’t mind waiting a year. She did and went to Blackgold Records. Aison then approached the Rainmakers who were out of a contract with Blackgold and they recorded a pair of singles that did very well. The first single they cut for DisCorp was a Tavares-inspired song “Oh Baby” that sold over 20,000 copies. The label also put out singles by Noel Trinidad and Subas Herrero, Dan Henry, Kathryn Jones, Lex Amores, and Clarina who was their bet to crack the Jukebox Queen dominance. “In 1979, we were scouting around for a fresh young voice to fit into the ‘Manila Sound’ category who could blend in to the disco category like Hotdog singer, Ella del Rosario, who incidentally was under my management at that time,” related Aison. “Lo and behold, the late actress Nida Blanca walked into DisCorp to introduce and recommend her daughter, Kaye Torres, for a recording contract.”“We took her in and released her single “Awit Ko Para sa Iyo” using the name ‘Kathryn Jones’, which was a combination of her given name and maternal surname.” And they also signed a young Nonoy Zuniga. However, soon after, Zuniga figured in a horrific bombing incident where he lost one of his legs. It was an omen of sorts. The next year, the Asian distributor Casablanca Records was stripped of their rights to put out music in the Philippines. Losing Casablanca was a huge blow. As good as the young stable of OPM talent was, DisCorp did not have the money to shell out for all these album recordings. The company was sold to Home Industries Development Corp. (Hidcor). And in this tense time, Clarina who had cut her initial single, along with the new talents were not promoted. The artists were released and DisCorp folded. The four years – from 1975 to 79 – Disc Corporation was like this shining star in a cosmos of stars, a David taking on the Goliaths of the industry. And yet, it was so brief that one wonders what could have happened had they continued. Olivares, president of the Philippine Association of the Record Industry, in 1979, was asked to hold the position full time. And he held the position for 27 years. Aison worked on and off with Olivares on a variety of projects while Yson and Cely Cruz joined PARI. By 1980, Casablanca Records found a new home in Dyna Records. But by then, Donna Summer and Kiss’ popularity vastly declined. DeSario scored one last hit in 1979 with “Yes, I’m Ready,” a duet with her old Florida high school classmate, Harry Wayne Casey of KC and the Sunshine Band. Lipps Inc. scored one big hit in 1983 with “Funky Town” while Irene Cara also was a one-hit wonder with “Flashdance.”

The years 1977 to 1979 were the wildest, most eventful, and perhaps infamous for the great yet largely forgotten Philippine record company, DisCorp.