8 OPM Songs They Should Stop Remaking

8 OPM Songs They Should Stop Remaking

OPM is an acronym that stands for for “Original Pinoy Music,” and was a term coined by the APO Hiking Society (Ask Jim Paredes about that story, if you want.) way back in the ‘70s. Oddly enough, at the rate classic OPM songs get remade, why do we insist on calling the remake “OPM” as well, knowing what the acronym actually means? It baffles me sometimes, although we have definitely seen a good deal of great remakes over the years.

How many versions of “Anak” are there, done in other languages? How about “Ngayon at Kailanman,” even if nearly all the covers of that song have been spectacular? Remakes are a dime a dozen, but some songs fortunately lend themselves to amazing new spins on a regular basis.

These 8 songs, on the other hand, absolutely need to be put on the backburner for the next decade or two. People, please cut it out with atrocious remakes of…

Sa-Kanya-8

Originally Done By: Ogie Alcasid

Remade By: Martin Nievera, MYMP, Jay R, Piolo Pascual

After four different attempts, all four versions are strictly inferior to the Ogie Alcasid original. Martin Nievera is the most egregious of the bunch, because for a guy with immortal ballads like “Be My Lady” and “Ikaw ang Lahat Sa Akin,” you’d think that any ballad he would deign to cover would turn into gold, but this song and “Gaya Ng Dati” beg to disagree.

7Prinsesa

Originally Done By: Teeth

Remade By: Daniel Padilla and 6 Cycle Mind

We already covered Denyel Pedelle in an earlier list. So let’s talk about 6 Cycle Mind here instead. Bossa?!? Really? The dated references to Friendster in the video also didn’t help their cause one bit, either. Unless your name is Sarah McLachlan, this is a song that, no matter the treatment to it, needed grit and rough edges to pull off. It did not need a pretty boy karaoke version or a Bossafied castration. Bossa!

Have I mentioned yet how much I hate Bossa? Bossa! Sheesh!

Bikining-Itim-6

Originally Done By: Bert Dominic

Remade By: Blakdyak (As Modelong Charing) and Eddie Gil (As Pelukang Itim)

It was cute when Blakdyak did his own take on this song that has been covered by mostly unknowns for years upon years, owing much of its lasting fame to the 1990 Joey Marquez film of the same name. The minute we had to put up with Eddie Gil’s ugly mug and even uglier singing well after his failed presidential election bid (Y’know, the one where he was disqualified for being a nuisance candidate?), though, people quickly realized that they needed to kill Eddie’s “Pelukang Itim.” Kill it with fire.

7Prinsesa

Originally Done By: Joey Albert

Remade By: Regine Velasquez, Side A, Juris, and Jovit Baldovino

This song has been remade to death, but you can’t deny it was especially powerful the first time it was covered by Side A. Each successive remake just continually reduced this classic’s potency, until finally, Jovit Baldovino covered the song much in the same way you would hear any half-drunk crooner in a karaoke party would. Even if you take his oft-ridiculed diction out of the equation, there was nothing remarkable about the way he covered this song. At all.

However, the Wondergirls version of Tell Me absolutely rocks. Too bad it’s not the same song, but was I going to pass up any excuse to bring up the ladies who gave us this?

Himala-4

Originally Done By: Rivermaya

Covered By: Chaldeen Lacdo-o, KZ Tandingan, Jay R, Yeng Constantino and Jay-R Siaboc

I find it amusing that Jay R and Jay-R Siaboc covered the same song. While the Siaboc-Constantino (both products of Pinoy Dream Academy) version does justice to Himala, the song is, for some reason, a go-to choice among contestants from other reality shows, too. Those versions do nothing to impress. Walang Himala (yeah, I said it).

Bakit-Ba-Ganyan-3

Originally Done By: Dina Bonnevie

Remade By: 4 Bytes, Melissa Gibbs, Imago, Julie Anne San Jose, and Nyoy Volante

Bakit ba ganyan? Everyone and their mother seems to have a version of this song, and guess what? With the exception of Nyoy’s version (I’d say the same about 4 Bytes, but their video disappeared from the face of the internet.), they all sound almost exactly alike.

Bakit ba ganyan? Why even bother covering the song if you’d be virtually indistinguishable from Dina Bonnevie’s classic? Yes, I’m including the great Imago in that sentiment, which is too bad, because their cover of “Spoliarium” is arguably even better than the Eraserheads original.

Obviously, the only thing that made Nyoy’s cover different was the fact that he is male. Bakit ba ganyan?

P.S. 4 Bytes was a short-lived band in the early 2000s, fronted by my COMM 101 professor, Mr. Ryan Ortiz.

Nandito-Ako-2

Originally Done By: Ogie Alcasid (Again)

Remade By: Lea Salonga, Nyoy Volante, Thalia, and David Archuleta

Riddle me this: why is it that the first Tagalog song foreign acts are requested to cover happens to always be “Nandito Ako?” A generous number of Ogie Alcasid’s songs are indisputable, immortal parts of OPM lore, but the only reason I can assume this is the default song for foreign acts to sing as their first Filipino song would be the possibility that it’s an easy tune to carry for someone who’s not used to our language.

Tell that to Ako Si Chris and Uchusentai Noiz.

Harana-1

Originally Done By: First released commercially by Tony Lambino, composed by Eric Yaptangco and made popular in Ateneo, but immortalized by Parokya Ni Edgar. Take your pick who you consider the original among the three. (Thanks, Bea, for the mind-blowing information! – Editor)

Remade By: 1:43 and Chicser

Chito Miranda probably willingly laid in a coffin, got buried alive, rolled around for a few hours, then was promptly exhumed just so he could say he was turning in his grave the minute he heard these “talents” murder this PnE standby. How anyone could possibly eff up the one song that’s arguably easier to sing than “Nandito Ako” boggles my mind, but never underestimate the ability of 1:43 and Chicser to turn anything they touch into cow dung.

(Yes, I know APO Hiking Society had a version of the song, too. But including them in the lineup above meant I couldn’t write the paragraph immediately below it, and would have left me with a dirty, dirty feeling. Sort of the same feeling you get when you accidentally walk in on your grandparents.)

Supposedly, the likes of 1:43 and Chicser are ushering in the new breed of OPM: P-Pop, a fusion of Pinoy music and Asian or Western Influences, but still “undeniably OPM.” Let’s investigate that claim for a minute.

What they have to offer is anything but Original.

Look once, and you’ll see that they’re trying to look anything but Pinoy.

Whatever they’re doing is probably the complete opposite of Music.

So… where do they get off calling themselves “OPM?!?”