Rey Valera shared stories about some of his songs
Veteran singer-songwriter Rey Valera revealed the reason why he left It’s Showtime’s Tawag Ng Tanghalan.
Throughout the years, Rey’s songs became legends in the Philippine music industry. New generation of artists are reviving his songs, and with this, the legacy of what he created continues.
In a recent interview, on the YouTube channel of seasoned journalist Bernadette Sembrano, the veteran singer-songwriter shared stories about some of his songs.
Rey Valera mentioned that back then, his boss was former Senate President Tito Sotto. One time, he was told to create a song for a young girl, and that was Megastar Sharon Cuneta.
Back then, Sharon was just 12 years old. Rey said that he was trying to escape that job because it was not easy creating a song for that kind of age. Sharon was too young at that time to have a love song while it was already inappropriate for her to sing a nursery song.
Going home to Bulacan from the studio, Rey was riding at the back of the jeepney and since it rained, he sat on the vehicle’s “estribo.” While he was looking at the road while it was raining, a melody came into his mind. That melody was used for the song Mr. DJ.
He remembered Tito saying to him that he wanted to write a song about DJs or disc jockeys. After hearing the song, Tito said that it was a “gold mine.” Rey shared that he did not imagine that the song would have that impact and would eventually create the Megastar.
He also gave the song Kahit Maputi Na Ang Buhok Ko to Sharon and this has become an icon in the OPM scene until now. “Hindi ko alam na magtatagal hanggang ngayon yan, panahon na ‘to,” he said.
Rey Valera also shared why he decided to leave Tawag Ng Tanghalan in which he was the Punong Hurado or the head judge who has the power to “gong” a contestant.
The veteran musician revealed that because of that job, he was hospitalized twice. It is because every time he would eliminate a contestant who was out of tune or did a major error in the performance, he got stressed.
Rey Valera does not want to be the reason why a contestant would lose his or her job, just like a vocal coach who was eliminated because of a bad performance during the contest. In the same interview, Rey also recalled the comment that he had for The Voice champion Sofronio Vasquez.