APO Hiking Society

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Apo Hiking Society
Background information
Origin	Quezon City, Philippines
Genre(s)	Pop
Years active	1974-Present
Label(s)	Vicor Music, JEM Recording, Universal Records (Philippines)
Website	Official Website
Members
Jim Paredes Danny Javier Boboy Garrovillo
Former members
Lito de Joya

The APO Hiking Society is a musical group/band in the Philippines.

1 History
2 Achievements
3 Trivia
4 Discography
5 References
6 External Links

[edit] History

The APO Hiking Society first gained recognition in 1973 when they gave a farewell concert at the plush Meralco Auditorium in Metro Manila. Just out of college, the group was the talk of the Ateneo University and adjoining campuses for their music and humor.

It was only when two of its four members were about to retire from the field of amateur music, however, that the APO, then known as the Apolinario Mabini Hiking Society, finally had a city-wide audience. One of them was scheduled to leave for Turkey as an exchange student. The other had a position waiting for him in his father's advertising firm.

Why a talented young man of 21 would want to go to Turkey, every young man in the early seventies would probably understand. But what the APO could not understand was their fourth member's decision to leave the irresponsibility of being unemployed to join the ranks of the corporate world.

The trip to Turkey did not materialize and the APO, now a tentative trio, pushed on steadily towards fame and fortune.

Looking back, the APO members Danny Javier, Boboy Garrovillo, and Jim Paredes do not regret never having been regular wage earners. Their farewell concert, which had SRO audiences for two stormy nights, not unexpectedly became a hit record the following year.

[edit] Achievements

In the three decades since that "farewell" concert, the APO has made 22 record albums; hosted several television shows including their own noontime Sunday show "Sa Linggo nAPO Sila"; and launched hugely successful major solo concerts and countless provincial, dinner, and corporate shows. They have performed in over 50 cities in the United States, in Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Japan to bring Original Pilipino Music to Filipinos the world over.

In October of 1987, during their annual US tour, the APO became the first Filipino pop artists to perform at the Main Hall of New York's prestigious Carnegie Hall. They also performed at the equally prestigious Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada's music capital. Both concerts, as well as the other shows held during that particular concert tour, were sold out. The APO were also the first Filipino artists to perform in a public concert in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 1987, they were one of the first Filipino artists to be recorded on compact disc. And in 1994, they were awarded the first Dangal ng Musikang Pilipino by Awit Awards - the Filipino equivalent of the Grammy. They have also been conferred the Tanglaw Ng Lahi Award, the highest accolade given by Jesuits in the field of culture and arts.

The APO also earned international recognition for Jim Paredes' anthem on the bloodless Philippine revolution in 1986. "Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo" was recorded by 15 Filipino artists in April 1986. A few months later, the English version "A New and Better Way" was launched in Australia. In February 1987, the first anniversary of the Philippines' People Power revolution, the song was released in London, England. The lyrics of the song are embedded on a wall of Our Lady of Edsa Shrine, the center of the revolution.

They became such a legend that various Filipino Artists made an album dedicated to them entitled Kami nAPO Muna.

[edit] Trivia

The band's original name was Apolinario Mabini Hiking Society, a play on the initials of the band's school, Ateneo de Manila High School. It is also a rather ironic reference to Apolinario Mabini, the paralysed prime minister of the First Republic of the Philippines. Other, equally ironic names were used (Jose Rizal Bulletproof Vest Company, referring to the fact that Rizal, their home country's national hero, was shot). The name Apolinario Mabini Hiking Society was censored by the Ferdinand Marcos government, forcing the group to shorten the name to Apolinario Hiking Society and later Apo Hiking Society. Incidentally, Mt. Apo is the tallest mountain in the Philippines, though the group never had anything to do with hiking or mountaineering.
The "fourth Apo", Lito de Joya can only be heard on the In Concert: #$%?! album. He subsequently left the band after the farewell concert-turned debut album, and is credited as a panggulo (annoyance). de Joya is also mentioned in the liner notes of the Collector's Item album.
After the first EtonAPOsila! concert (released as The Worst of Apo Hiking Society), the group was banned by the Marcos regime.[1] The performance was highly critical of the government at the time. EtonAPOsila! ("Eto na po sila!", literally meaning "Here they are!") itself is actually a pun, referring to the phrase "eto na, pusila!" shouted by a person during the assassination of opposition senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. "Eto na, pusila!" is Visayan for "Here he is, shoot him (Aquino)!". The title (especially the word nAPO, itself being a pun of the phrase na po) became highly identified with the group, and would later be used in concerts and albums, even long after the collapse of the Marcos regime.