Manila sound

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Manila Sound is a musical genre based in the Philippines that flourished in the early to middle 1970s. Originated by a pop-rock band called Hotdog with their hits, "Ikaw Ang Miss Universe Ng Buhay Ko" (transliterated, "You Are the Miss Universe Of My Life"), "'Manila'" and "Beh Buti Nga", it was characterized by catchy melodic "hooks" (almost like advertising jingles) and romantic novelty lyrics. Alternately descibed as " the marshmallow sound", the Manila Sound ushered a succession of radio hits other bands such as Cinderella, VST & Co., Apolinario Mabini Hiking Society and Rico J. Puno. Its meteoric appeal provided viability and a distinguishing character to a Philippine recording industry that until then had relied on cover versions and imitative adaptations of foreign hits to entice consumer acceptance. However, inevitably, the formula-addled lyrical bias towards camp humor and parody caused the Manila Sound to devolve into an explicitly theatrical, if not pre-teen, sub-genre as exemplified by Hagibis (a parody of the Village People) and The Boy Friends until it was gradually eclipsed by a wave of disco and dance-oriented Hollywood movie hits from "Saturday Night Fever", "Grease" and "Footloose".

The Manila Sound phenomenon was replaced by a more competitive and festival-oriented genre known as OPM (Original Pilipino Music) that dominated popular Philippine music for the remainder of the 1970s through the middle 1990s. Renewed interest in the Manila Sound, however, has resurfaced in recent years with bands such as Kala and Orange And Lemons.