State of the Nation

“State of the Nation” by Industry (read about them here Overview )))” href=”http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:risxlfke5cqo”>allmusic ((( Trio > Overview )))) which reminds me of being 12 and following the herd in school wearing “baston” pants and Saucony sneakers…

Ah, New Wave (allmusic). A musician friend once explained it to me as an offshoot of English folk music, but that doesn’t appear in the explanation linked above. Also, the period seems so brief, for Filipinos it seems to have been most of the 80s, or was that just part of the cultural slowness of the country? What’s interesting is how for much of that period, the country seemed oriented, musically, to Europe and not America. I recall, studying in the States from 83 to 87, that much of the music I’d bring to the States from visits home was familiar to European classmates, but totally unknown to the Americans -who picked up on it, however (remember the song “Asia”? Who sang it? My American classmates liked it and were, incidentally, fascinated by the phenomenon of singles on tape).

Fascinating site, there’s info on Sigue Sigue Sputnik (

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Manuel L. Quezon III.

7 thoughts on “State of the Nation

  1. I quite agree that industrialization is what will create a strong Filipino middle class. Going by historical examples, a strong middle class is the key to the creation of an electoroate which makes democracy a reality instead of a farce.

  2. fyi…the song “asia” (asssiiiiaa…you’ve never been so close to me…) is by a group called “mo”…

  3. Michael Sutton is a Fil-Am who grew up in the Philippines. 🙂 He’s now back in the US with his own record label promoting Alt Pinoy music.

    As a New Wave (and the sequestered radio station WXB 102) groupie, my theory is that “new wave” was made popular by stations like WXB and BM 105, if any of you still remember. The DJ’s (also mobile spinners) and program directors got their records from Hong Kong (a Brit colony)where the “never-heard” viz. non-Top 40 records were purchased.

    In the US these artists were getting air time too but only from “college radios” — hope that helps.

    I’m still stuck in the 80’s and listen to old tapes hehehe.

  4. Hello MLQ,

    Whoever this Michael Sutton from Allmusic is, he’s done his research: if you look up the entries for Fra Lippo Lippi or the Lotus Eaters, their popularity in the Philippines is mentioned. (He also wrote the entry for the Dawn, as in “Enveloped Ideas” Dawn.)

  5. I always thought sigue sigue sputnik was named after some local gang that was always at war with bahala na gang.

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