singing someone else's songs

i've always believed that pinoys are some of the best singers in the whole world. we all know that. we have boundless musicality that comes naturally. but for artists, it's not enough that people buy their records. they have to "own" some songs to be truly immortalized as an artists.

with this in mind, i am glad that this favorite acoustic group, MYMP - with chin and juris - are starting to concentrate on originals. last month, they were promoting "now" (although i'd have chosen a different original song from their latest cd). the compilation has an enjoyable lineup of covers - madonna's "cherish", "make it easy on me", etc. but in 20 years' time, when new artists cover these tracks, people won't look back to these songs as mymp's - but the originbal artists'. let's take the case of lani misalucha. world class chanteuse. sparkling vegas diva. but ask people what original lani misalucha songs do they know. and the answer would be short. none.

that's why it is important to pepper an artist's recording with originals along with the easy recall of covers. itis an artist's road to musical immortality.