By Yahoo! Southeast Asia Editors – November 23rd, 2010
Written by: Cyrus L. Fernandez
For Yahoo! Southeast Asia
“So, let’s do this for the last time. It’s a minute before twelve. NU107 is DWNU-FM at 107.5 megahertz in Pasig, once the loudest and proudest member of the KBP, this has been NU107, the Philippines’ one and only Home of New Rock. NU107. We are signing off.”
Those were the last words uttered on NU107. We all agreed that the station’s network operations head Cris “Cris Cruise” Hermosisima was the best person to lead the proverbial burial. He was, after all, the same man who, at exactly 4 p.m. on October 31, 1987, first spoke on-air to declare the genesis of the station that rocked the nation for more than two decades.
Then, The Eraserheads’ “Ang Huling El Bimbo” rang through the airwaves. When the song ended, the recorded sign-off followed, then the Philippine national anthem, and, finally, radio silence.
The last goodbye
Inside the broadcast booth, DJs, members of the various departments of the station, NU107 alumni, and friends exchanged comforting words amidst tears, laughter, and temporary goodbyes. Outside, a multitude of supporters cheered and chanted the letters “N” and “U” at the top of their lungs with the glow of the 107 lighted candles reflected in their eyes.
November 7, 2010 was a dark day for Filipino music. NU107, the last bastion of rock music on Philippine radio, signed off for good after 23 years that night. But if one looks at the photographs and videos taken by fans to record the historic last day of the station, it didn’t look a bit like a day of mourning. It was the exact opposite. People were smiling, drinking to good times, and singing along to ditties blaring from the speakers set up by sound equipment store, The Music Source, outside the station that day.
It wasn’t a sight of mourning, oh no. It was a sight of celebration – a celebration of the life of an institution that has provided countless anthems to people and changed many lives through music. Call it cliché, but it’s true. The sea of supporters outside suite 102 of AIC Gold Tower is a testament to that old adage that says music brings people together.
Family reunion
A little over a week after that night, another similar scenario took place somewhere in Manila. It was almost the same thing—boisterous laughter every so often from those in attendance, drinking to good times, happy recollections about the past —it was revelry. However, compared to the events that transpired at the station itself, the gathering was more intimate.
There was no big crowd—just a dozen or so people who used to work together, enjoying the company of those whom they used to see on an almost daily basis. But this was no staff party. It felt more like a family reunion. I’m part of that family.
“No one else does this,” I remember one of our DJs, Trish, saying while we were seated around a small table that night. “Other stations have closed, but no one else has the bond that we have. We’re the only station [whose staff] aren’t just co-workers.”
Trish’s observation wasn’t blurted out of self-glorification. It was true. Our being there at our erstwhile head announcer Francis Brew’s and his girlfriend, photographer Niña Sandejas’ house was a good example. Truth is, that wasn’t something put together out of impulse just because we wanted to hang out. We were actually there to commemorate our station’s ninth day, the way one does when a loved one dies.
Radio diaries
I don’t have too many stories about NU107. You see, I joined the station just last year. But I do have some stories that will stay with me forever.
Since college, I’ve had a huge crush on DJ Dylan. (Who doesn’t?) So, she came to the station to visit (I was already a jock by then), all I was able to say upon seeing her was an abrupt “Ah.”
Training under DJs Kim and Monica during “Two Girls, One Show” when I was new was otherworldly, to say the least. We all thought our boss, Sir Cris, was the coolest boss anyone could have.
Last year was the very first time I’ve ever attended a Rock Awards. It was also the first time I hosted part of it (the pre-show, with fellow DJ Shannen) and presented awards.
If you passed by the station late last year and wondered why there was a huge plank blocking the entryway instead of a glass door, it’s because the door was destroyed by gusts of wind from typhoon Santi. I should know. I was beside the door when it shattered.
I also pestered people at the station when I was in one of my hyperactive moods. I’d sometimes report for work in the morning and leave the station in the wee hours of the following day.
Mad about music
For me though, the best thing about our job—aside from our camaraderie—was that we were always meeting different kinds of people. Listeners, musicians, stalkers, you name it, we’ve met them. The best thing about this is we’ve become friends with many of them. What bound us all? Above everything else, it was the music.
That was the reason why everyone who showed up during the last day did so. And that was the reason why, a week later, we went online on Ustream.tv on the ninth day. We wanted to stay connected to the people who share our love for music. That webcast was touching, because many of our listeners took time off to see it.
Now, many are asking the same question I asked myself while I was on a bus headed back to Laguna the morning after November 7. “What’s next?”
As far as we jocks are concerned, and based from my conversations with many of them, we’re all going to attend to our other activities for the meantime. We are, after all, normal people, too. We need to earn our keep. But we’re still going to involve ourselves in endeavors related to music.
What about the music itself? What’s next after NU107? Just like what our youngest jock, Evee, and Francis Brew said during the final hours of the home of new rock, music was there before NU107, and music will be there after NU107. What we must do is keep on playing music, and keep on supporting music because we know we love it.
It’s only the station that closed shop. The ideals NU107 upheld throughout its lifetime will always be in us.
Here’s to better days ahead. We’ll be seeing each other around. Definitely.
Photo courtesy of Niña Sandejas
