In the early aughts, ‘Acoustic’ had become a fixture of OPM. But by 2004, it was solo singers that were thrust into the spotlight, but that would change with the arrival of M.Y.M.P.

Initially, Make Your Momma Proud was a band playing the showband circuit. Somewhere, they reduced and switched as an acoustic trio with vocalist Juris Fernandez, guitarist Chin Alcantara, and singer-percussionist Mike Manahan. This lineup would eventually shake up the ‘acoustic’ scene so to speak. As Adprom head of Ivory Music at the time, I saw how M.Y.M.P. came to be one of the biggest names in Pinoy pop, and it started, as it always does, with one song.

Flashback to 2004, the heads of Ivory Music saw M.Y.M.P. ‘s first set at the Ipanema bar in Eastwood, QC. Ivory’s Tony Ocampo had come as a favor for Raymund Santes, who recommended the group to Vicor’s MG Mozo, who in turn recommended it back to Ivory. It was just us and a handful of people catching the first set. But there was the voice, and the soothing way a guitar and some percussion framed it. Insider tidbit: Ivory had been checking M.Y.M.P. years before because of Juris Fernandez. So, the Ipanema set wasn’t exactly a blind audition. Ivory came half-convinced, but by the end of M.Y.M.P. 's set, agreed to sign them moving forward.

But that’s not to take away from M.Y.M.P. 's ace in the hole who came in the person of Raymund Santes a.k.a. ‘Raymund Ryan,’ a popular radio personality in 93.1 I-FM at the time, who was also a song lyricist. Besides giving Ivory the tip, Santes had a song on-hand called “A Little Bit,” which started as a demo that Santes made, singing the music and lyrics onto a cassette. But from this all-vocal demo, Chin Alcantara coaxed out an acoustic guitar arrangement which included (to the latter’s credit) the descending chord lick which became as memorable as the song itself. Of course there’s Juris’ mellifluous voice singing the hook chorus of ‘I’m a little bit of crazy, a little bit of a fool / I'm a little bit of lonely, I’m a little bit of all oh, I need a cure.’ When the finished recording came, everybody who heard it knew: it’s going to be a hit.

Released in 2004, the song was part of a double-play single push that included “Paalam Na.” It wasn’t an instant hit for M.Y.M.P., and I remember pushing the music on TV and having one of the shows commenting, “uso pa ba acoustic?” Which was correct in part, what with “acoustic” getting saturated. But “A Little Bit” only needed to be heard on the radio, or seen as M.Y.M.P. played it live, to be convinced that the song transcended fads. “A Little Bit” eventually reached the Gold record status (eventually Platinum) after a few months, making ”Soulful Acoustic” one of the best-selling debut albums by an acoustic band.

Today, “A Little Bit” is reimagined as part of the “SWABE” album with none other than young hit singer Earl Agustin taking on this classic. Earl Agusin did it right, reinterpreting this pop gem into an R&B-laced love song as he croons the song’s head-over-heels sentiments.

Total Recall part 1 erratum: It was producer Margot Gallardo who pulled a favor for Vicor Music’s VP to catch Aiza Seguerra at one of her gigs, which eventually led to the label signing Seguerra.