Yoyoy and Max

There were those inspired times when he wrote Tagalog classics such as Ang Tao ay Marupok(Man Is a Weakling), and the familiar Cebuano lover’s farewell, Saksi and mga Kabulakan (The Flowers Were Witness). Still, on not a few occasions, the lyrics of his songs can turn raunchy and thus, along with Villame’s songs, place the listener in a state of wonder. Is this a trend or a trade-off: one raunchy song for every masterpiece?

These two leading Wonderboys who have recorded songs in the Cebuano toungue have sailed into the 1990s with undiminished popularity. There were times, though, when other comics - the duos called Doble Cara (Two-Faced) and Dos Pulgadas (Two Inches), and a quintet called Cinco Litros (Five Liters) specializing in a feel-good songs celebrating friendship - could have given stiff competition. But with years of recording plus stage and radio exposure behind them, Villame and Surban may have been challenged, but not dislodged.

Though never a pair, the two finally had a taste of ensemble work through a concert that pitted the musical comic talents against each other. The sold-out performance at the Cebu Coliseum spawned numerous other “squabbles” between the two, performed on the community stages of many remote town in the Visayas and Mindanao. This was in the late 1980s, when their sold-out performances made it clear that Villame and Surban may not be big news, but they were nonetheless well-loved comedians.

Villame’s incursion into comedy flicks did little to expand his audience, as it did little to alter the assessment of his contribution to Cebuano music. Surban’s later albums likewise break no new ground. Their best works are those in the field of the novelty song, in which they wed the naughty lyric to a trite melody. Perhaps without meaning to, they have managed to share the same crown, use the same material, the same techniques of allusion and satire, the use of recognizable melodies, and even the use of risqué lines that ruffle pretensions and challenge the demarcations of taste.

Ever since Legazpi’s decision to move the nation’s capital from Cebu to Manila, Cebuanos have been at home with their “second city” status. By and large difficult to please as a consumer of either good, service or entertainment, they reserve no special awe for any stage, screen or recording personality who come from out of town.