DAN Hill was a love-struck teenager at 19 years old when he composed one of the most romantic ballads this world ever heard. Little did he know, his ode to a quite unrequited love would zoom in popularity and become a timeless and emotionally stirring song which the world would know as Sometimes When We Touch.
“I was so in love with this older woman and I thought I’d get her if I composed a song dedicated to her. I sang the song to her over the phone and you know what she told me? ‘You are just way too intense for a 19 year-old. I’m taking off with the football player’,” Hill told the Asian Journal in a phone interview.
Co-written with Barry Mann, Grammy Award-winning Hill’s signature song reached No. 3 on the Billboard charts upon its release. This ubiquitous ballad has been translated into many languages and has been covered endlessly by artists—from Rod Stewart to Donny Osmond to Barry Manilow to Tina Turner.
Now, boxing great and Philippine congressman Manny Pacquiao is joining that list as he recently recorded a duet with Hill himself, singing the famous song. Hill caught an episode of The Jimmy Kimmel Show in November 2010 where Pacquiao was a guest and performed the song.
“I was really, really touched by how sincere and honest Manny’s performance of Sometimes When We Touch was. My original producers and I contacted Manny’s people and arranged to have a meeting with him,” the 55-year-old Hill shared.
The meeting happened in New York and they discussed the possibility of Pacquiao and Hill recording a duet. Before Pacquiao fought Antonio Margarito last November, he met again with Hill and the producers at the Capitol Records studios in Hollywood to record the song.
“He did such an amazing job. We are releasing a 22-minute documentary about it within the month. It would show Manny and I getting to know each other, talking about each other and us singing the song. I’m a huge fan of Manny’s, not just the boxer—obviously he is an amazing boxer—but even more so as a human being,” Hill said.
Indeed, the song which catapulted Hill to international success as a singer/songwriter is getting a second wind, and Pacquiao seems to be excited with his newfound career as a recording artist.
“I’m nervous, but I’m happy. He is my idol,” Pacquiao said of Hill, during the song’s recording in Hollywood.
Hill returned the compliment.
“He’s a better singer than any of the boxers I have heard. He really has this pleasing voice. I have produced Celine Dion and I work with singers all the time but I got to tell you, Manny has this incredible focus, the same focus that makes him the greatest boxer in the world,” Hill said.
This is also the same focus that Hill believes catapulted Pacquiao to winning a congressional seat in the Philippines. The songwriting great also said that despite the presence of about a hundred people in the studio taking pictures, Pacquiao was intensely focused on the song.
“He has tremendous ear. If I sing to him a different melody and he only needs to hear it once and he will sing it back perfectly. He is really a gifted singer,” he adds.
Hill performed before huge audiences at the Araneta Coliseum last February. He said he loves performing in Manila and he hopes to be back there by August or September.
“I was really touched, surprised and humbled by the adulation of the fans there. I know that in general, music plays a huge part in Filipino culture and singing is embraced in a greater way than any other country I have ever seen,” he enthused.
Not only was he touched, amazed and flattered that Filipinos were aware of his songs.
“But even more so, what moved me was how much the Filipino culture embraces music as a way of life, survival or as a way of propping themselves up. It was an extraordinary experience for me and I loved every second that I was in Manila. I kept saying, ‘I want to move here, I want to move here’,” Hill adds.
Aside from the phenomenal hit Sometimes When We Touch, Hill is also famous for his other self-penned hits such as Can’t We Try with Vonda Sheppard, Never Thought (That I Could Love) and Unborn Heart. He is likewise known for the chart-topping songs he composed for other artists such as 98 Degrees I Do (Cherish You), Celine Dion (Seduces Me) and Backstreet Boys (This I Promise You).
For his fans in the East Coast, Dan Hill will be performing live at Feinstein’s at the Lowes Regency on April 28, 29 and 30.
“I call it a show of singing and story-telling. I go from piano to guitar and sing a whole range of songs. I sing my own songs, some songs that I composed for other singers like Celine Dion or 98 Degrees. In between these songs, I tell stories about how those songs came about,” Hill shared.
Of course, he is going to sing the song that launched his career, which now spans more than three decades.
“Sometimes When We Touch is a very hard song to sing, it is very range-y. You have to be careful not to oversing it. What makes Manny’s version so great is its honesty. You know that he believes everything that he’s singing. It’s all about a singer’s personality and believability, and Manny has that,” he says.
Pacquiao’s recording of Sometimes When We Touch will be released globally before his May 7 fight against Shane Mosley. The recording will include his duet with Hill and other versions of the song, ranging from dance, hip-hop to Hill’s classic version, which was released in 1977.
For the multi-awarded singer, getting Manny Pacquiao to sing his song is an achievement in itself. Finding out that the boxer used to sing most of his songs while he was growing up in General Santos City, Philippines—is a major bonus.
“I love him dearly and I am thrilled to be in this project with him,” he says.
(Dan Hill will be performing his greatest hits at Feinstein’s at Lowes Regency from April 28 to 30. Check www.danhill.com for more details.)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(NYNJ April 22-28, 2011 LifeEastyle pg.2)
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
