http://www.mindanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5477&Itemid=70

WAYWARD AND FANCIFUL: Primal Scream.
By Gail Ilagan
Gail Ilagan/MindaNews

Monday, 17 November 2008 23:28

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/17 Nov) -- “We were young. Heartache to heartache… Love is a fantasy.”
Lost and loving the sound of my voice as I belted that out to for the heavens to hear, it took me a while to register that my girls were rolling around in laughter.

“Battlefield, Mom. Love is a battlefield,” Sage corrected me.

“No, it’s not,” I disagreed, casting a fond – if a bit lascivious – look at my love. He was hunched over the wheel and doing his best not to go off the road as I took a break from assaulting the eardrums off me and mine. Sage’s edit provided me with the opportunity to do the mother thing: “Love, my daughter, is a fantasy – and don’t you forget it.”

An editor edits, right?

An editor belts out the words, too, when she’s had enough.

I’ve been eating, sleeping, waking the final edits on the 25th volume of the university journal for the last two weeks, and the work is far from over. My brain has just about turned to mush. Writers should take a leaf from Jojo Abinales and tell me when to stop – email me “send me the copy edit,” would you? Let’s get a move on here.

Times like these, I need to do a primal scream. Again and again and again.

My love understands. He also understands that I’d feel more comfortable belting out where it won’t qualify as assault with intent to injure – like in the car with our daughters or where the scream would get drowned out by someone who does it for a living. Toto, they said, was coming to town.

Friday night was nostalgia night. Hubby and I lined up outside the concert hall to get tickets. The last time we did this was when we were dating. Lately, we’d find ourselves in possession of concert tickets some days before the event. Stuck in the midst of the perfumed throng Friday night, we belatedly realized why we had found it advisable to skip this step. I should have remembered also how someone tried to cop a feel so many years back as hubby and I lined up to get into a Gary Valenciano concert at the San Agustin Gym in Iloilo City.

Guess that would have been okay, too. It’s been too long since I used my phoenix punch to draw nosebleed. I could use the exercise right about now.

Especially when we finally got the tickets. It was quite a letdown to be expecting Toto when obviously the band wasn’t getting up the stage in toto. Refund? Never mind. Oh, well, Bobby Kimball can belt it out, so maybe I can still scream all I want.

We had an hour before the concert so we decided to go to dinner. On the sidewalk outside UP Anda, we bumped into Bobby Ramos and Rene Estremera.

“I saw your mom on TV. Wow, it’s been a year since the Batasan bombing. How is she?” Bobby asked.

“Thanks for asking,” replied my love. “Mom is… well, after the amputation…” Tito trailed off.

“What? What amputation?” exclaimed Bobby.

“Don’t mind him,” I reassured the man.

“Mom is doing okay, thank you,” Tito echoed with a chuckle.

Kimball was a hoot. He was an hour late getting up that stage and he couldn’t scream well enough anymore to bring me to catharsis. He jumped onstage looking like he was all set to do a friendly round of billiards in the family room. And every time he’d wail, he’d drink a gallon of water and rush back to the wings. That wasn’t stage presence. That was the exact opposite. Don’t you just hate it to see how the mighty have fallen? Damn thing is they land in our backyard.

His backup band was off, too. The only time I got a bit high on that gig was when someone at the back said “Ala una sa beinte pesos!”

Haaah… that almost got me reminiscing of the baylehan sa barrio and the traditional customs for socially approved interactions among eligible young gentlemen and the dalagang Pilipina. Gone. All gone. My daughters know where to find Queensland. And they’re not even eligible yet.

Let’s not go there. Queensland is where, according to three taxi drivers I talked to recently, teenagers do ala una sa tres cientos cincuenta pesos these days. They even record their orgies and pass them around come exam time. Scary. That just gives me more reason to want to wail until Sage’s familiar starts climbing up walls – literally.

I’m cheap that way. No karaoke needed. And I do my wailing at midday, too. Well, most of the time anyway.

I said as much Sunday after lunch. Ever the understanding man, my love urged me to do Africa. Oh, bless the rains – it’s coming down anytime now. I said I hadn’t liked Kimball’s take on that Robert Plant classic either. Hubby wanted to hear how Stairway to Heaven ought to be done so I didn’t disappoint him there, too. See, you got to work in those interesting asides when you sing “…and the forest will echo with laughter (Does anyone remember laughter?)” That is the way to do it.

Liane got out of the bathroom wanting to do the soldier song.

Now, Liane here wants to be a rock star tomorrow. In the last year, she taught herself to play the piano and the guitar, and every time she feels she needs to be kind to me, she begs me to sing Unchained Melody. That usually happens past midnight. My daughter apologizes quite politely too when she can’t find on the keyboard the particular note I’m hitting.

She comes down and wails along for Mr. Lonely/ who has nobody/ to call his own.// I am a soldier/ a lonely soldier/ so far from home/… She surreptitiously records our rendition, probably to remind her someday how lucky she is – and how far – her vocal chords have evolved from the mother tree. I wish that I could/ go back home//. (Hoo-wah-ooh-ooh-wohoo!).

With one last baleful glare in our direction, Sage’s familiar slinks off to parts unknown. So do Liane and Sagey. Hubby is snoring. I’m all alone.

Outside the rain begins. The heavens heard.

I feel good. You know that I would now.

(Wayward and Fanciful is Gail Ilagan's column for MindaViews, the opinion section of MindaNews. Ilagan teaches Social Justice, Family Sociology, Theories of Socialization and Psychology at the Ateneo de Davao University where she is also the associate editor of Tambara. You may send comments to gail.ilagan@gmail.com. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it "Send at the risk of a reply," she says.)

Ex-Toto Bobby Kimball now on his own

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=goodLife5_nov22_2008
By Neil Ray Ramos

Many die-hard fans were quite surprised, when, early this year, legendary songwriter/guitarist Steve Lukather announced the dissolution of Toto, after 13 studio albums and three decades of touring and performing.

Although the band, which made a name in the ’80s with a string of hits, like “Hold the Line,” “Rosanna,” “Africa,” is not exactly landing the charts, yet many fans still remain loyal to the group.

Bobby Kimball, singer for the group, did not agree with Lukather’s decision.

“It’s like everyone’s gotta do what they gotta do. I love Steve. I love him to death. But it’s his decision and really I’m okay with that but if it were up to me, I’d rather that we keep going. I was all for keeping it together.”

Kimball is doing the next best thing: touring on his own and singing some of Toto’s biggest hits.

“My biggest reason for this is the fans. I’ve received so many requests and invites that it’s hard to just go and turn everybody down.”

Kimball was recently in town for Toto’s Greatest Hits featuring Bobby Kimball at the Aliw Theatre last night.

The singer says the Philippines occupy a special place in his heart.

“I love it here. The audience is like they’re always warm and friendly. One thing I always remember is that the fans here, they’d always sing louder than the band was playing and that they could not give me a better gift as a performer you want the audience to really go into it the music and the Filipinos when they do that, they always make my heart beat a little faster.”

Some of the fans were a bit disappointed with Toto’s concert last April because they did some of the popular songs in medley-style. Kimball was apologetic. “I’m really sorry to hear that but it was a band decision. We thought it best to do all if not most of the hits and you could just include so much in so limited a time, so I thought it went down well, but now that you’ve mentioned it, I apologize.”

Kimball played, in his concert here,with a local group called RX80s.

As much as he enjoys touring and playing for the crowd, Kimball admits, the job is not a bed of roses.

“This is a tiring job. Especially when you go at it alone… like what I’m doing now. You travel a lot… you talk to so many people, you do rehearsals, but… most of the time you’re in a hotel room, alone and… well, it gets lonely.”

Kimball says he already misses being with the group.

“It’s fun to tour with the guys from Toto, Like I told you I really didn’t want it to end. We’re good buddies. We had so much fun.”

Apart from doing the tour and singing Toto songs for fans all over the world, Kimball will also restart his solo career, which he says is what excites him most nowadays.

“I’m working on my solo album now, and purposefully what I’m gunning for is sort of an ’80s sounding record, which, as a musician, is where I’m at. I’m not for trends. I stick to what I know best.”

But isn’t he afraid that people would simply dismiss the album as old hat?

“It’s what I’m comfortable doing. I’m not interested with what’s on the charts nowadays, and besides I believe people are buying what’s out there because it’s available, so I’m going to make my music available.”

Despite all his plans as a solo artist, Kimball still wants to see Toto reunite.

New clips have been added to YouTube from one of Bobby's live shows. I'm not going to upload them here as I don't want to get into trouble...

If you try to ignore the voice of the person who film these clips who is singing along out of tune, I hope you'll hear that the standard of the performance is much superior than the TV spot. Of course, the quality of a cellphone recording is poor so also bear this mind when watching the clips.

And to confirm, I am taking no stance on the politics of this debate, as I can see valid points to both sides of the argument.

Because it goes the wrong way. I was shocked too by this youtube clip. But it is a very bad recording wich is not Bobby's mistake. And why should we, the totonetworkers, disqualify somebody for a bad recording. OK I was shocked too at first, but reading all the opinions. If we visit youtube we can all see and hear bad recordings from every artist. I agree with Eddy that we shouldn't judge about weight and getting older, etc. It's a fact we are all getting older untill we die sooner or later. Most people increase weight too when getting older and some start early with that. I enjoyed and still enjoy everything about Toto and their music involvement. There is a lot of shitty people around the famous musicians and also in sports. We all have to realize that and sometimes the "mistakes" isn't the fault of the person itself but created by the negative people around who are making money out of it too. Respect to Bobby, Luke and the other Toto guys'.

Yeah, I also think Bobby is getting a bad rap, but unfortunately from so-called “loyal fans” of TOTO. What is sad is how quickly friends or fans will turn on you when the chips are down, or life circumstances evolve. Bobby deserves his props because he is the original voice of TOTO, helped establish the band’s sound, and is most definitely a key to the band’s legacy. Of course he’s not the only key to TOTO’s sound, but he is and has been an outstanding member for a long time, regardless of his age or his physique. And if he had NOT been, I doubt he would have been given a second opportunity to be part of the band. Although I enjoyed Steve’s lead vocal work during Bobby’s 16-year absence, I was quite pleased when Bobby returned to the band in ‘98. It seemed right somehow.

Now that TOTO is no longer, Bobby now has to deal with the unfortunate reality that many solo singers find themselves in being able to sustain a singing career enjoying the same or hopefully higher quality of music and musicianship they had quickly become accustomed to. TOTO was surely one of the best collectives of outstanding rock musicians to ever grace the stage. Great music, great musicians, great sound! In my opinion, they were the best! As difficult as it may be to find all these qualities in one entity, it’s even more difficult to emulate that experience without seeming like a cheaper version of the original. This is where Bobby is, I think. Regardless of who’s on his future projects, the comparison with the music and the musicians of TOTO is inevitable. That’s just human nature (no pun intended). And where as Bobby may not be as prolific in his creation of original music as Paich or Luke might be, he still must maintain his integrity and career by continuing what he knows and does best. That happens to be the music of TOTO. That’s what he’s known best for and what fans will remember him for. To deny him even this shot (i.e. reliving the TOTO experience without the genuine item) is condemning him to virtual obscurity in the music realm or full retirement from it. Take your pick, naysayer.

I say let Bobby work as he must, otherwise he’s dying on his feet. If he has a fan base - and I’m sure he does - we shouldn’t ruin that for him by condescension and mocking his efforts. Think positively, folks & fans. Consider Bobby’s efforts an “homage” to TOTO rather than a mortal blow against them. If Bobby had no love left for the band, I doubt that he’d be promoting their music and legacy.

The personal attacks? Completely uncalled for. Keep on rockin’, Bobby! Somee of us still appreciate what you do.

There now!

it's out of tune, ok, the man's gotta make a living, fair enough, but do some original things instead Bobby !

Regards
Bjarne