Gary Valenciano has never treated his biggest songs as museum pieces in Filipino pop music. In the latest Rolling Stone Philippines Greatest Hits episode, the singer, dancer, and producer revisits key moments in his catalog that came together through curiosity, circumstance, and a lot of trial and error.
Valenciano begins with 1987’s “Di Bale Na Lang,” a song that broke through from what Filipino pop sounded like at the time moving from its disco beginnings of the 70s to the more synth driven ballads of the 80s. Valenciano traces its origins to his early fascination with Western soft rock, name-checking Michael McDonald and the Doobie Brothers as unlikely reference points.
In the video, he revealed that he wasn’t fluent with the instruments, that were synonymous with soft rock, he was playing at the time.
“At that time, to be able to tinker around with the instruments that I had because I’’m not a master when it comes to using the software to make music,” Valenciano tells Rolling Stone Philippines. “ I’m not even a keyboardist, but I like toying around with sound, finding out what can fit, what would sound good.”
“Di Bale Na Lang”’s signature intro, stitched together through experimentation, became its calling card. Valenciano admits he still keeps that opening intact whenever he performs it, knowing exactly what listeners wait for.
Life Changing Performances
“Shout for Joy” followed around 1991, was shaped by both national anxiety Post-EDSA revolution by political instability and natural disasters such as the Mt. Pinatubo eruption, the song was written to rouse communal optimism among Filipinos rather than escapism.
Overseas, Valenciano recalls performing it at an international crusade in Amsterdam, where deaf attendees responded physically to the vibration of the music. That moment, he says, confirmed what the song was meant to inspire in thousands of listeners.
The Rolling Stone Philippines’ Greatest Hits episode also spends significant time on “Take Me Out of the Dark,” which Valenciano calls his biggest professional risk. Recorded in 1986 during sessions for a Christmas album, the song came together at the last possible moment after a period of doubt and delay. Decades later, a stripped-down pandemic-era performance reintroduced the song to a younger audience through reaction videos and social media clips.
“The most amazing thing was to see [YouTube channels,] to hear them talk about the technicalities of how I sing and all,” he says. “But then later, they’re drawn, they’re brought to tears because they go, ‘What is it with this song? Why am I getting so affected by it?’ But it was the time, the pandemic and all. So it was a risk for ‘Take Me Out of the Dark,’ but it’s a risk I’m really happy I did take.”
Other songs surface with similar acclaim. “Could You Be Messiah?” remains one of the few tracks he recorded with just piano and his voice, written alongside the late Freddy Santos. “Gaya ng Dati” stands out as a rare moment where Valenciano says the song spoke directly to him. Even “Growing Up” and “Sana Maulit Muli” are career highlights of how adaptable his voice has always been in different phases of pop music.
You can watch Gary Valenciano’s episode of the Rolling Stone Philippines Greatest Hits now exclusively on our YouTube channel.
