(9/1/09: I moved the Mike Hanopol tracks off the MySpace page, but you can still hear them here: http://www.hughjhitchcock.com/articles/pinoy-favorites.aspx)

In the late 1980s I was privileged to meet a remarkable man named Mike Hanopol, who invited me to play a few gigs with his pickup band at the time, and eventually asked me to do some recording for him. I didn't know when I met him, that in fact he was one of the most influential international musicians that ever walked the planet. Ultimately I produced what turned out to be his "comeback" album. Mike Hanopol is considered as big as the Beatles in his home county of Phillipines. If you don't believe that, just do a google search on his name. You'll see... he is considered the "father of Pinoy Rock". Pinoy Rock was a breakout genre of rebellious, balls-to-the-wall rock that was sparked by a concert considered to be Phillipines' "Woodstock", where Mike and his fellow musicians in Juan de la Cruz became rock icons in their part of the world, especially. But since so many filipinos have migrated all over the world, Mike is literally known the world over. Anyway for this week I've uploaded one or two songs from the album I produced for Mike... I think it's great stuff. The song BULKAN is about the volcano on Mount Pinatubo, which had devastated their country right when Mike was producing this album. The language is Tagalog which is one of the many filipino dialects. Actually that's not entirely correct - Mike is Warai which means he's from a different province and speaks a different dialect! The song Warai Huag Kang Sumuko is a cheer song for Warai people. I envision the song as kind of ZZ Top of the orient. Anyway, enjoy :)