I remember being 12 and yearning to discover as much music as possible. In 1986, I was just two years removed from what I consider the most significant year in pop. 1984 saw the biggest and splashiest pop acts from the UK and the US dominate the local pop scene. But even back then, music styles moved fast, so my taste for pop would morph into something more brooding as New Wave captured my imagination. 

I was a full into New Wave by 1986 and was looking for more bands to latch onto. Then I heard a particular song on the radio that struck me as different from all I’d listened to. An operatic singer intoning the following words with aplomb: “Singing out my enveloped ideas / doesn’t seem all too bad.” By the time the keyboard riff took center stage, I was transfixed. 

It would take me a couple more months (1987) to discover that said song was from a band called The Dawn. If it wasn’t for my best bud’s brother who was into vinyl (the Villarino brothers Rommel and Derick), I wouldn’t have found out that The Dawn is a local band who’s just released their debut and whose first single, “Enveloped Ideas,” was already starting to blow up. 

Decked in dark clothes and makeup, I could make out the faces of the band that included Jett Pangan on vocals, Teddy Diaz on lead guitar, Carlos Ballcells on bass, and Junboy ‘JB’ Leonor on drums.  And with songs such as “Dreams,” “Susi,” “Give Me The Night,” and “Mad Game,” to accompany “Enveloped Ideas,” The Dawn would capture my imagination and, in my book, would be the quintessential Pinoy new wave band. 

The first time I saw them live was at the Araneta for the Oktober Storm concert in which they top-billed alongside The Rage Band and Identity Crisis. Teddy Diaz would be my first guitar hero. The man was, like that “Almost Famous” line: incendiary! And that unforgettable guitar solo spot of his at said concert is to this day, seared into my brain. 

The Dawn would be my true north. “I Stand With You” in particular was a sonic expansion for me to go along with “Love (Will Set Us Free).” I was bummed out when Teddy Diaz tragically died in a senseless murder. I was impressed that a masked guitarist was picking up after him (Noel Mendez), and then eventually, Atsushi Matsuura would replace Diaz when the album “Beyond The Bend” came out. By the time “Iisang Bangka” came sailing by, Francis Reyes would be the main guitarist and, for the longest time, be with Jett, JB, and Carlos for the band configuration everyone would know. 

Fast forward to 2025, The Dawn is in celebratory mode with a new single to boot with “Missing Hearts.” The sound could be The Dawn picking up where they left circa ‘87. Jett singing “Calling all missing hearts” could reference former members lost and a clarion call for every fan still with them to come together as it’s happening. 

And what’s cooking is “The Dawn: Almost Forty” show on Feb. 22 at the Music Museum. It could’ve been a bigger venue, but that’s not what matters. We should be thankful that The Dawn–Jett, JB, Kiko, Romel ‘Sancho’ Sanchez, and Bim Yance– one of the finest Pinoy bands- is still rockin’ almost four decades on. 

Everyone who called themselves a fan should not miss this. 

Heck, this should be a Gen X holiday.