Punk rock pioneers spotted in Manila
Two pioneers of punk rock were spotted in Manila last weekend.
David Byrne, who fronted Talking Heads, the seminal band that was part of the New York punk scene in the 70s before it blazed the new wave trail, was in town for the auditions of his Imelda Marcos musical “Here Lies Love.”
Terry Chimes, the original drummer of the Clash, formed in 1976 to become the greatest punk band of all time, was in Manila with his Filipina wife Rowena for their second honeymoon. Crimes recorded the groundbreaking first album of the Clash under the name Tory Crimes.
David Byrne drops in on local auditions for Imelda musical
According to a report in the Philippine Star, auditions for the London production of Byrne’s Imelda musical scheduled for January 2015, were held on July 5 and 6 at the Opera Haus in Buendia, Makati.
Tour guide and activist Carlos Celdran told Yahoo he bumped into Byrne during a party held at North Syquia Apartments in Ermita. Byrne, he added, was in Manila to check out the local auditions.
Asked if he took photos of the encounter, Celdran said, "I didn't know it was him he. I didn't selfie." On his Facebook, Celdran said it was Byrne who approached him. "He greeted me. He remembered me from six years ago when he did research here."
The first time Byrne was in the Philippines, he brought along his bicycle which he rode around Manila. He also visited Ilocos Norte in the course of researching “Here Lies Love,” a phrase Imelda was said to have wanted engraved on her tombstone.
The disco musical, co-written with Fatboy Slim, will run in London from September 30, 2014 to January 8, 2015, according to Broadway World.
Clash drummer takes tea at the Manila Hotel
In the meantime, Terry Chimes, took time from his personal trip to meet with Par Sallan, a Manila DJ and longtime Clash fan.
Sallan said a mutual friend had alerted him to Chimes’s Manila visit and encouraged him to call the former drummer of The Clash.
Sallan and Chimes had tea at the Manila Hotel on Sunday, June 6. The meeting, which was supposed to last for 30 minutes stretched to an hour, said Sallan.
“We talked about his latest book, (the autobiographical) ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Terry & Mr. Chimes,’ which is available now, his new band The Crunch, his post-Clash group Cowboys International,” he said.
Sallan added that Chimes first visited the Philippines 20 years ago.
The former drummer also told Sallan that the real reason he left the Clash in 1977—after the music press speculated he was keen on getting himself a Lamborghini—was “because he hated the politics and the violence going on during late 70s.”
After the Clash, Chimes went on to play with Billy Idol’s Gen X and Black Sabbath, among other bands. He told Sallan he is friends with Topper Headon, who replaced him in The Clash.
Chimes later became interested in alternative healing before deciding to become a chiropractor, which remains his profession to date.
