Who would have thought…I’ve always had this notion that he was going to live forever but on Monday, Jan. 28 word came out on social media that the biggest icon of Pinoy Rock, Joey “Pepe” Smith, passed away. The man was 71 years old.
For sure some people would disagree with me but whether we agree or not we have to admit that Joey “Pepe” Smith is the face of Pinoy Rock perhaps in the same level as Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison to the genre we now know as Classic Rock.
Of course we are just referring to Joey “Pepe” Smith in the same level with Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison in terms of being the most recognizable symbol of Pinoy Rock. But as far as playing the guitar he’s no Jimi Hendrix, neither a Jim Morrison with his chops.
For sure the attitude, lifestyle and fashion sense of style definitely rock and roll.
As a tribute to the late Joey “Pepe” Smith today we are all about music, classic rock particularly, the origins of Pinoy Rock. Without these guys there would be no Eraserheads or Wolfgang. These guys also inspired the “Original Pilipino Music” or OPM movement which has become commonplace today.
Remember guys, this was during the early ’70s. Back then all you could hear in the airwaves were foreign music, particularly pop/rock music from the US and England. Rremember the Beatles, Rolling Stones or Jimi Hendrix? If you have no idea what they are or can’t tell the difference between Jimi Hendrix and a fig tree, then you’re culturally challenged.
But back to the pioneers of Pinoy Rock, these guys today are like moi, senior citizens. But in those days they could probably give “Jumpin Jack Flash” a.k.a Mick Jagger a run for his money prancing around the stage during a live concert. Ladies and gentlemen, on drums and vocals, Joey “Pepe’” Smith; on bass guitar, keyboards and vocals, Mike Hanopol; and on lead guitar, Wally Gonzales collectively known as the “Juan dela Cruz” band. These guys are now pushing 70 but are still quite active in the music scene.
Would you believe it guys, but they started their musical careers not in the Philippines but in Japan and were actually quite famous in the rock music scene there. In Japan they were known as the rock band “Speed, Glue and Shinki”. This band gained a cult following and were icons of the psychedelic era in Japan.
In an Artist Biography by Eduardo Rivadavia:
One of Japan’s most iconic purveyors of early-‘70s heavy/blues/psych rock, Speed, Glue & Shinki was composed of three uncommonly talented, freakishly tall (six-foot-plus!), and exceptionally wasted longhairs of mixed descent; Shinki was half Chinese, “Glue” half-French, “Speed” a Filipino, and, yes, their drugs of choice inspired the group’s moniker. As is often the case, the group’s legend was established primarily posthumously, but the improbable nature of their very existence and the retrospectively appreciated uniqueness of their spare musical output totally warrant it.
Speed, Glue & Shinki started out as the brainchild of Atlantic Records impresario Ikuzo Orita and guitar hero Shinki Chen, who was just 21 but already deemed the “Japanese Hendrix,” , highly respected bassist Masayoshi “Glue” Kabe — and the comparatively inexperienced, Filipino-born singing drummer Joey “Speed” Smith (aka Pepe), whose larger-than-life persona, pharmaceutical fixations, and songs to match helped define the group’s radical musical vision. Ironically, their debut album flopped commercially and the group disbanded. The far more driven Joey did manage to coax a chronically unmotivated Shinki back into the studio, alongside former Zero History bassist Mike Hanopol, but the band’s sprawling eponymous sophomore double album, literally lost the plot in a maze of proto-metal/art-rock chaos and indulgence. The LP was pretty much dead on arrival upon release in early 1972, and it wasn’t long before Joey and Hanopol both gave up the fight and moved back to Manila, where they founded a new power trio named, oddly, Juan de la Cruz.
The ensuing album by the iconic trio of Gonzalez, Smith & Hanopol, unfurling its masterly title track, “Himig Natin” (English translation: “Our Hymn”), went on to become the anthem of Manila’s post-hippie culture and underground radio network, particularly the DZRJ-AM radio show, Pinoy Rock ‘n’ Rhythm—later on shortened to “Pinoy Rock“. Himig Natin famously rallied Pinoy Rock, which swelled into a movement and provided indicators of its yet-unrealized commercial fuel. The social impact and innovations of the Juan de la Cruz Band inadvertently became the catalyst for the inception of Original Pilipino Music (OPM) and the viability for diverse, originally-authored musical genres to emerge and thrive in the Philippines.
The last time I bumped into Joey “Pepe” Smith was early 2000 in Café by the Ruins in Baguio. We had a lovely chat over cups of strong Highland Coffee and the café’s famous Cinnamon Raisins rolls.
God speed and thank you for the music, brother. As Rolling Stone’s Keith Richards says…“It’s only Rock and Roll but I like it.”/PN
