Villar Records is a record label owned by Mareco, Inc. that also owns the Mabuhay Records label. It was launched in 1950 by the late Manuel P. Villar who is known as the “Father of Philippine Recording” for pioneering industry in the recording of original Pilipino music or OPM. He was also the first president of the Record Industry Association of the Philippines (RIAP).
Mareco, Inc. bought original compositions from various Filipino artists and commercially produced recordings of numerous folk songs, kundimans, balitaw and other traditional music from different regions of the Philippines, keeping indigenous music alive in the 1950s and 1960s in the face of American and British imports. It also produced ethnic sounds of the Ilocos, Cebu, Iloilo, Cordillera, Tausug, and Maranao tribes. All these indigenous music recordings were marketed under the labels Mabuhay Records and Villar Records. The company was first to produce a recording of the Philippine National Anthem.
Dionne Warwick (/ˈdiːɒn ˈwɔːrwɪk/) (born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress and television show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health.
DIONNE has performed in the Philippines over 40 years of sold out concerts and many times through VILLAR RECORDS..the picture was taken at the HYATT RYGENCY WAIKIKI circa 1983.
Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest hit makers of the entire rock era, based on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Charts. She is second only to Aretha Franklin as the most-charted female vocalist of all time, with 56 of Warwick’s singles making the Billboard Hot 100 between 1962 and 1998 and 80 singles making all Billboard charts combined.
PILITA CORRALES …OPM’S first female SUPERSTAR…..Through the personal invitation of Sammy Davis Jr., Pilita became the first Filipino to sing in Caesars Palace. In her concert in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas during the late 70s, Pilita sang Spanish, English, Cebuano and Tagalog songs, all conducted and arranged by Ryan Cayabyab.
After receiving a 1965 Philippine Citizen’s Award for TV as Best TV Female Performer, Pilita went on to receive Cecil, Aliw, Tinig and Awit and several other awards for her performances and lifetime achievement. In 1990, she received a Merit Award from the FAMAS Awards. In 1991, she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) for bringing Filipino musical artistry to international audience. She also holds the distinction of being the first Filipino to win in an international music festival by bagging the Best Performer Award during the 1st Tokyo Music Festival (1972) where she bested numerous international artists including the highly regarded Olivia Newton-John.
She operates Pilita, a restaurant-bar in Greenhills named: PILITA’S, in one of Manila’s prime commercial districts. She is a highly acclaimed host and comedy actress on Philippine television with over 135 albums to her credit and an international profile and appearances in Asia, the Middle East, Australia and North America.
In 2006, Corrales was selected by Associated Broadcasting Company (ABC Channel 5) and FremantleMedia to be one of the celebrity-judges for the first-ever nationwide search for the Philippine Idol together with composer Ryan Cayabyab and rapper Francis Magalona. She was a judge in the first Asian Idol held in Indonesia, representing Philippine Idol.
University of the Philippines Alumni Association of Sacramento & Vicinities 