Jose Mari Chan: 60s Music Man, Filipino Singer, Composer, Business Man, Philanthropist (Pt I)

In 1974 he was honoured with one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) titles from the Philippines. It was a Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Philippines Association Recording Industry and The Metro Pop Foundation. And it's not Freddie Aguilar.

Jose Mari Chan can be categorised as a mid-60s music man. He came into show biz in 1966 when he hosted and sang on a TV show called, 9 Teeners.

His first single Afterglow was released in 1967 and his first LP (long play vinyl) album Deep in My Heart was issued in 1969. In 1973 he represented the Philippines in the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo with his song Can We Just Stop and Talk A While.

From 1970 to 1975, he composed more than 20 theme songs for movies and some earned him nominations at the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Award. He wrote commercial jingles and the well known ones were the Philippine Air Lines Love At Thirty Thousand Feet and the Alaska Milk jingle. He was also at his peak with a series of TV network specials spotlighting his lyrics and music.

 Just as popular in the US, and with his degree in Economics, he moved to America and concentrated on his own business and remained there for 11 years. When he came back to the Philippines in 1986, he recorded Tell Me Your Name. This 60s musician had connected himself to the younger generation.

In 1989 he recorded, Constant Change and it was named Album of the Year by the Awit Awards (Philippines), equivalent to the American Grammy Awards. Chan is an international star and has appeared in the big cities in the US including Vegas and Carnegie Hall. He won the hearts and ears of UK and European fans and most of Asia.

Followers have found this philanthropist's love songs refreshing, captivating, heart-warming and lyrical. A Love To Last A Lifetime, Can We Stop To Talk Awhile, Afraid For Love To Fade, Deep In My Heart, Is She Thinking About Me and the 2005 South East Asian Games theme song are just some of the many compositions he penned.

I am thinking about Aguilar (Anak) and Chan... Two totally different personalities but both touched the hearts of people around the world with their hauntingly beautiful songs.

To read about Freddie Aguilar, click Labels below.

Information: Wikipedia, http://www.josemarichan.net/