The Eraserheads

The Eraserheads Bio

Eraserheads was one of the most popular Pinoy rock bands in the Philippines during the alternative rock explosion of the early 1990s. The Eraserheads was also regarded as the band that opened the commercial doors for other aspiring Filipino Rock bands, like Rivermaya, Parokya ni Edgar, and Yano. Their fans affectionately call them "E-heads."

The band's debut album, Ultraelectromagneticpop, released in 1993 by BMG Records, was a commercial success. The album also brought the underground "college rock" scene into public awareness.

Their influence and contribution to Philippines music today is so great that they have often been called the "The Beatles of the Philippines."

In 1997, they won an award in the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, USA and the song "Ang Huling El Bimbo", won the Asian Viewer's Choice Award the previous year.

Band Members

Original members (1989-2002)
Ely Buendia - lead vocals, rhythm guitars
Raimund Marasigan - drums, samples, percussions, back-up vocals
Marcus Adoro - lead guitar, back-up vocals
Buddy Zabala - bass guitar, back-up vocals

Last line-up (2002-2003)
Kris Dancel - lead vocals, rhythm guitars (joined after Buendia left the band)
Raimund Marasigan - drums, samples, percussions, back-up vocals
Marcus Adoro - lead guitar, back-up vocals
Buddy Zabala - bass guitar, back-up vocals

History
Eraserheads was formed in 1989 by four University of the Philippines students namely Ely Buendia, Raimund Marasigan, Marcus Adoro and Buddy Zabala, taking its name after the David Lynch movie Eraserhead. The group performed regularly at campus gigs and at the Club Dredd on Timog Avenue, Quezon City, Metro Manila, a now-defunct club popular in the 1990s which served as a breeding ground for many Filipino Alternative Rock acts. The group submitted a demo to RJFM but were immediately turned down as their music did not fit the classic pop-rock format of the station. Fortunately, BMG Records-Pilipinas snatched them up and released their debut affort UltraElectroMagneticPop! under their newly formed "Musiko" label. Their debut album was comprised mainly of ska-tinged pop hooks laid down on a traditional guitar-bass-drums foundation. Buendia's catchy melodies and witty caustic lyrics helped fuel the album's success.

Split-up
In 2002, while driving in his car, bassist Buddy Zabala received a text message from their vocalist. According to some fans, Ely said (through the text message) that he wanted to quit the band (the exact reason/s behind this remains unknown except to those directly involved). Zabala stopped his car and all four band members met up. After leaving the band, Buendia was later replaced by Kris Gorra-Dancel (of the Fatal Posporos). The "new" Eraserheads shocked fans in a Hard Rock Cafe gig when the new vocalist showed up instead of Buendia.

After the Eraserheads disbanded, the band members formed other bands, such as Pedicab, Cambio, Surfernando, Sandwich, The Mongols, and Pupil.

Discography

The following are major releases. It does not include the indie-released album Pop U!.

Album Album Cover Date of release Title
1st 1993 BMG Music
UltraElectroMagneticPop! - The name of the album is a play on the technique "Ultra Electro Magnetic Top!" from the Japanese 1970's cartoon cult classic, Voltes V (Voltes Five). This album is the only one where the songs are the result of jamming sessions. Famous songs include "Toyang", "Pare Ko", "Tindahan Ni ALing Nena" and "Ligaya".
2nd 1994 BMG Music
Circus- One of the most popular albums they ever recorded 2nd to Cutterpillow. This album is known for the controversial "Alapaap" and as well as their famous love song, "With A Smile".
3rd 1995 BMG Music
Cutterpillow- One of the biggest albums in the history of Philippine Music. Churned out one of their biggest hits, "Ang Huling El Bimbo", which won them the Best Video Award in the MTV Asian Music Awards.
4th 1996 BMG Music
Fruitcake - a Christmas album
1996 BMG Music
Fruitcake(EP)- This album contains the country's well-known Rock-Christmas song composed by the band... "Fruitcake"
5th 1995 BMG Music
Bananatype(EP)-This album contains the song "Harana"
6th 1997 BMG Music
Sticker Happy - This album was notable for the heavy usage of samples and synthesizers, which the members of the band purchased in the United States during a concert tour. The songs in this album tend to be surreal in nature; two of them alluded to artworks: Spoliarium was named after the Juan Luna painting; however, the song was about alcoholism. Another song, Andalusian Dog, alluded to the film Un Chien Andalou by the Spanish surrealist director Luis Bu�uel.
7th 1998 BMG Music
Aloha Milkyway (1998) - This album was the Eraserheads' first international release, in response to their success in the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards in New York. Composed mostly of previously-released English tracks, it also featured the Tagalog song "Ang Huling El Bimbo", the video to which won the group the Asian Viewer's Choice Award the previous year.
8th 1999 BMG Music
Natin99- The band's 8th album contains the song "Huwag Kang Matakot"
9th 2001 BMG Music
Carbon Stereoxide - This happens to be the last Eraserheads album with Ely Buendia on vocals before Kris Dancel took his place.
10th 2003 BMG Music
Please Transpose (EP) - The last official recording of the Eraserheads. Features Kris Dancel (of the all-girl group "Fatal Posporos") on vocals, replacing Buendia who abruptly left the group. A few months later, due to legal issues surrounding their name, the group adopted the monicker "Cambio".
11th 2004 BMG Music
The Eraserheads Anthology- A 2-disc compilation of the group's complete hits in the past... all the way from 1993 up to 2001
12th 2005 Sony-BMG Entertainment
Ultraelectromagneticjam- This is not an official Eraserhead album, this album is actually a tribute for the band with some of Philippine's top-leading artists covering some Eraserheads songs. One of the 2005's top-selling album in the Philippines.
13th 2006 Sony-BMG Entertainment
Ultraelectromagneticjam: Vol.2- The sequel to the popular album "Ultraelectromagneticjam". Soon out by this year.

Copyright Citations

This article is licensed under the GNU License
Click here for original article: The Eraserheads

The Eraserheads Biography

The Eraserheads Bio

Band Members

Discography

Copyright Citations

Similar Music...