NOW HAPPENING: The iconic Jingle Chordbook Magazine’s documentary is having a free viewing online until Friday night.
Lauded for its informative to irreverent content, Jingle Magazine has taught two generations of Filipino kids to play the guitar. Jingle Magazine was more than just a how-to chord and song guide. The magazine was also rife with jokes, album reviews, subtle commentary about the government, and poetry.
In the martial law years, the musical magazine reportedly caught the eye of the government for being ‘too subversive’. In an effort to appease the administration, the magazine decided to change its name from ‘Jingle’ to ‘Twinkle’. The publication later retained its original name after five or six issues, recalls Eric Guillermo, a relative of its founder.
Gilbert Guillermo, the iconic magazine’s founder, passed away on July 21, 2020. In honor of his passing, a documentary directed by Chuck Escasa called “Jingle Lang Ang Pahina” was made available for free streaming on Vimeo.
In the documentary, viewers are treated to the beginnings of Jingle magazine, censure under Marcos’ dictatorship, and the legendary rock magazine’s role as an important part of Philippine musical Journalism.
Noteworthy musicians of the time, such as Raymund Marasigan of Eraserheads fame and Sandwich’s frontman, fondly looks back on how strongly it impacted his boyhood years and the musical scene.
Sandwich’s musical hit, ‘Betamax’, in 2008 brought back nostalgia with the words “sa Jingle Magazine natuto mag gitara.”
“Betamax is my tribute to all the artists I grew up listening to. I learned to play their songs and read about all about them in Jingle Magazine,” Raymund Marasigan explains.
Founded in the early 1970s, Gilbert Guillermo convinced his mother to use a family property to finance the launch of the chord book.
In the middle of the documentary, Director Lav Diaz expressed his disappointment with the apparent erasure of Jingle Magazine’s P. Tuazon office. Diaz, the magazine’s prominent alumnus, added: “Ang hina natin sa cultural perspective. ‘Yung examination ng past halos zero. The kids ngayon… p**a hindi nila kilala si Ninoy, si Rizal, Bonifacio, Lean Alejandro. Maliliit na kwento lang ang alam nila. ‘Yung amoy nun pagbukas mo, ‘yung nakabalot na cellophane.
“Yung amoy pa lang ng Jingle magazine parang may transcendence. Parang ‘pag nanood ka ng film, paglabas mo ng sinehan may iba ka nang pananaw, iba ka nag tao. The same with Jingle, everytime na nabasa mo, nagbabago ka. Binabago ka nya, pinapalaya ka nya.”
The free viewing of “Jingle Lang ang Pahina” runs until July 24, 2020, at 11:59 pm on the Vimeo platform.
Viewers need only enter the password “kwentongcubao” to watch the documentary in this link.
More iconic symbols of Philippine culture are being celebrated including the Rebisco Cans and the Philippine jeepney.
TELL US in the comments below, what are your favorite memories of Jingle Magazine?
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