Juan de la Cruz Band

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In 1970, the Pinoy rock band known as the Juan de la Cruz Band was born. Though many musicians had crossed the band's path, its heart and soul consisted of Joey "Pepe" Smith, Wally Gonzalez, and Mike Hanopol.

1 Timeline
2 Discography
- 2.1 Albums
- 2.2 Singles
3 Notable members
4 External link

[edit] Timeline

According to PinoyClassicRock.com: "The original members were Wally Gonzalez - lead guitar, Bosyo - drums, Alex Cruz - sax/flute, Bing Labrador - keyboard and Sandy Tagarro - bass guitar. Bosyo, Alex & Bing left JDLC band & formed Anakbayan."

In 1971, the Juan de la Cruz Band released its first album, titled Up in Arms. The album, which was released by Vicor Music, had the following musicians:

Wally Gonzales (lead guitar/vocal)
Rene Segueco (organ/piano/vocal)
Clifford Ho (bass/vocal)
Romy Santos (flute/sax/clarinet)
Bobot Guerrero (drums)
Sandy Tagarro, although not included on the album cover or credits (except for the writer of "Lady in White Satin", was the drummer and lead singer on the album. Bobot Guerrero stepped up to the drums after Sandy left the band.

After Up in Arms, Joey "Pepe" Smith and Mike Hanopol joined the band. Along with remaining member Wally Gonzalez, the trio arguably started the "Pinoy rock" movement with the song "Himig Natin" (English "Our Music"). Although it wasn't the first song to be sung in Tagalog, it was the first song of its kind that was sung in the country's native tongue.