Universal Records (defunct record label)

Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group. The label has been dormant since 2005, due to Universal Motown and Universal Republic Records being formed and taking all of the artists from the label.

History

Founded in 1995 as Rising Tide Records, the label would ultimately begin to thrive the following year when its name was changed to Universal Records to complement the branding overhaul of the Universal Studios structure since MCA Inc. was purchased from Matsushita Electric by The Seagram Company Ltd.. The label, which is actually the second incarnation (the first one was a short-lived underground imprint of MCA Records that existed from 1988 to 1989) was created by former Universal Music Group chairman Doug Morris (who now heads Sony Music Entertainment) and Daniel Glass, who became its president.

Universal Records had success in breaking new artists, including the multi-platinum debut of Erykah Badu, Billie Myers, Goldfinger, Akon and the Lost Boyz. Glass formed relationships with independent record labels as Kedar Entertainment and Mojo Records.

Regine Velasquez

Regine Velasquez-Alcasid (born April 22, 1970), is a Filipina recording artist and actress, and is widely known for possessing an extensive vocal range. She was hailed by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) as the Philippines' Best-Selling Artist of All Time, with more than 7 million albums sold in the Philippines and 1.5 million albums in Asia.

Velasquez won the Grand Prize at the 1989 Asia Pacific Singing Contest in Hong Kong. In 1994, Polygram Records produced her first Asia-released album, Listen Without Prejudice. It is considered as Velasquez' most successful album to date, selling more than 700,000 copies in Asia. The album has sold over 100,000 units in the Philippines, 300,000 units in China and 20,000 in Thailand.

In 2000, Velasquez' music video "In Love With You", a duet with Jacky Cheung, landed the #1 spot in MTV Asia's Top 20 Asian Videos. On the eve of the new millennium, as part of BBC's Millennium Special 2000 Today, Velasquez, together with some 2,000 Filipino youths, sang the Philippine millennium theme, "Written in the Sand". This was broadcast by BBC to 67 countries reaching to almost a billion people.

Sam Concepcion

Samuel Lawrence Lopez Concepcion (born October 17, 1992 in Manila, Philippines) is a Filipino singer, dancer, actor, VJ and host. Concepcion emerged as the winner for the Big Division of Little Big Star`s Season 1 in April 2006. Concepcion currently has a contract under STAGES and ABS-CBN's Star Magic. Concepcion began with a total of 12 theater roles and participated in various plays even at a young age, including the role of Edmund Pevensie in the local stage adaptation of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and Mr. Noah’s Big Boat. He has been in the role of Peter Pan from 2002 to 2012. Aside from theater roles, he has acted in movies including Way Back Home and Shake, Rattle & Roll 13. He acted in his first lead role on 2012 in the first Filipino musical-film entitled, I Do Bidoo Bidoo: Heto nAPO Sila!. He had his first role in television in ABS-CBN's Mga Anghel na Walang Langit, and his major break as Boy Bawang in the fantasy series Super Inggo.

In 2007, Concepcion launched his self-titled album under Universal Records, which was certified Gold by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry. He also launched two other albums Pop Class (2010), and Forever Young (2011). The latter was his biggest hit, hitting the charts at Number 1 for seven weeks in a row. In 2008, Concepcion was chosen by Dreamworks to sing the theme song of the animated movie Kung Fu Panda, entitled, "Kung Fu Fighting" which was included in the Asian soundtrack album. With this project, Concepcion is the first Filipino artist to have collaborated with Dreamworks.

Parokya ni Edgar

Parokya ni Edgar (English: Edgar's Parish) is a multi-award winning Filipino band formed in 1993. The band is famous for its original rock novelty songs and often satirical covers of popular songs both foreign and local. The band is adept at playing in various musical genres.

Parokya ni Edgar has been referred to by local media as "Pambansang Banda ng Pilipinas" (The National Band of the Philippines).

Despite having "Edgar" in the band's name, none of the members are named Edgar.

History

Formation and early years

Originally named Comic Relief, the band's initial members were a group of high school students composed of vocalists Chito Miranda, Jeric Estaco, and Vinci Montaner, along with guitarists Mikko Yap and Gab Chee Kee, all hailing from Ateneo de Manila University. They were regulars in after-school jam sessions, before performing an opening number for an Eraserheads concert. This served as their break in the music industry and prompted them to add a drummer and bassist – schoolmate Dindin Moreno and Buwi Meneses, respectively. Around the same time they changed the band's name to Parokya ni Edgar. After high school, Mikko and Jeric withdrew from the band to pursue other interests. Soon after, the remaining band members invited their friend Darius Semaña to take the role of lead guitar.

Sponge Cola

Sponge Cola (sometimes spelled Spongecola) is a Filipino rock band formed in 1998. One of the most popular rock bands in the Philippines, the band produced many hit songs including Jeepney, KLSP, Gemini, Bitiw, Tuliro, Di Na Mababawi, Tambay, Kay Tagal Kitang Hinintay, and XGF.

Formation and early years

The band formed between 1998 to 2002, Ysmael "Yael" Yuzon and Reynaldo "Gosh" Dilay (both from Ateneo de Manila High School) met through the school's theatre guild, Teatro Baguntao. Yuzon decided to form a band with Dilay and two other members of Teatro Baguntao. They named the group Sponge after R.S. Surtees' Mr. Sponge Sporting Tour, and the band won in several high school competitions boosting their popularity on campuses and in other schools.

After a couple of lineup changes, drummer Christopher "Chris" Cantada and Rampqueen guitarist Erwin "Armo" Armovit joined the band permanently. Later on, they heard of a Detroit grunge band already using the name Sponge. "But we wanted to keep the word Sponge in our band name because people have already associated us with that name...so we decided to add 'Cola', since it's an easy enough word to remember," Yuzon said. Sponge Cola was officially formed in summer of 2003. In the midst of touring the healthy local gig circuit during their senior year in high school, they released a 5-track, all original, self-titled EP in 2003. It is from here that critics and music aficionados immediately took note of the songs "Lunes (trans: Monday)" and "Jeepney", slowly creating buzz in the underground music scene. In the same year, the band performed a cover of Madonna's seminal classic "Crazy for You", a bootlegged copy of which was shared and downloaded immensely via peer-to-peer networks. This, along with the EP, helped the band break into mainstream consciousness and popularity, gaining extensive airplay from several local pop and rock radio stations.