BEST MUSIC GROUPS OF ALL TIME

The music industry has witnessed the rise and fall of different music groups, may it be rock bands, boy bands, all-girls group, among others. But there are just groups that became legends, due to their music or their styles. So right now, I'm gonna be revealing the best music groups (in my opinion) that ever graced the music scene, from the 50's to the present day.

(Note: This is in random order, for each group mentioned here works with different music genres and became great artists in different decades).

1.THE BEATLES

John Lennon. Paul McCartney. George Harrison, Ringo Starr. Who would forget this quartet when we talk about great music?

The Beatles was an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. They were considered the "most successful act in the history" and has popularized a myriad of songs. The period, form 1960 to 1970 was the decade of " Beatlemania".

The Beatles worked on different genres, which was evidenced in their songs. They have the most number 1's on the Billboard's Top 100 with 20 and has won many music awards, including 7 Grammy's and 15 from the Ivor Novello Awards.Some of their most famous songs include Hey Jude, She Loves You, Hard Days' Night, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts' Club, Come Together, Blackbird, Yellow Submarine, The Long and Winding Road, Let it Be, and many others that we can't include for the list is VERY VERY VERY LONG.

After the breakup of the band in 1970, each member pursued solo careers, with John Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney as the most successful. At present, the only living member of the band is McCartney.

The Beatles, though not active anymore, still continues to influence our music preferences until today. They are immortalized by their songs, and the group is one of the true legends of the music industry.

2. ABBA

ABBA is a Swedish pop-rock band that started their stint in 1972. The unique tone and color of their music swept the world of music for a decade. The group is composed of  Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's career started to prosper after winning the Eurovision contest in 1974 with the song, Ring, Ring.

ABBA gained prestige mainly in Europe and other countries, such as South Africa and Australia, but failed really to establish a foothold in the US. Nevertheless, their songs became popular hits throughout the world.

Famous ABBA songs? Who won't know the lyrics of Dancing Queen? Dancing Queen was the trademark of this group. People of all ages know the lyrics of this song by heart. For me, Dancing Queen was ABBA's one way ticket to being legends in the music industry. But that's not all. ABBA was no one-hit wonder. They were also the ones who popularized Fernando, The Winner Takes It All,  Chiquitita, and many more.

ABBA decided to disband in 1982, after a successful 10-year career. However, the disbandment could not hide the fact that they already have carved a huge monument in the music industry. The unique vocals of Agnetha and Anni, and the songwriting geniuses, Bjorn and Benny made a good combination that has made us say, "Thank You For Your Music!".

3. AIR SUPPLY

Now and Forever. This is how I will describe Air Supply and their songs. Formed in 1975, this group had different members, but the solid duo of Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock was the cornerstone of the success of this group.

The unique vocals of Hitchcock is the main attraction of this group. The very high range of his voice really makes their songs catchy and pleasing to the ears. Though the height of their career was during the 80's and early 90's, music afficionados still knows every Air Supply song and though not all can reach the notes of their songs, they are a favorite to be sang in karaokes and videokes around the corner.

If asked what Air Supply songs are very popular, you will never fail to include the following: Making Love Out of Nothing At All, Lost in Love, All Out of Love, The One That You Love, Here I Am, Two Less Lonely People In the World, Come What May, Even The Nights Are Better, Now and Forever, Without You (which Mariah Carey revived), I Can Wait Forever, and Just As I Am.

The main genre of Air Supply's songs is LOVE, love which withstands the test of time, love which we can hope for and a love that is forever and true. I think this is the reason why the songs clicked and remained a hit until now, and made Air Supply a very famous group worldwide.

4. THE CORRS

Sibling rivalry? That's not present in The Corrs.

The Corrs is an Irish group composed of Andrea, Sharon, Caroline, and Jim Corr. The group was formed in 1996, and they are one of the reasons why the 90's is considered the Age of Pop Music.

What you will love with this group is the fact that they are musical geniuses; prolific songwriters and great instrument players. You could identify who's who by just looking at the instrument he/she plays. Andrea plays the tin whistle, Sharon, the violin, Caroline the drums, and Jim, the guitar.

Some of the famous songs of this group are the following: Breathless, So Young, I Never Really Loved You, Forgiven, Not Forgotten, Angel (which is about their mother's death), What Can I Do, Radio, Summer Sunshine, All the Love In The World, Irresistible, and their most famous song, Runaway.

The group is currently on hiatus, but their infusion of the Celtic culture and Gaelic flavor in their songs jived in with the picky taste of listeners worldwide and gained them a seat as one of the most successful European bands in history.

5. SPICE GIRLS

Talking about an all-girl group, you can't miss to mention the Spice Girls.

A British all-female group, Spice Girls is composed of five women, namely, Victoria (Posh Spice), Melanie (Scary Spice), another Melanie (Sporty Spice), Emma (Baby Spice) and Geri (Ginger Spice).

Spice Girls infused music with dance, and their hit single Wannabe, caused a worldwide craze that will make them the most successful female group in the music industry. Their other songs include 2 Become 1, Viva Forever and Mama.

Spice Girls' rose to fame later on will inspire other female groups to rise to stardom like Destiny's Child, but their success will remain unsurpassed throughout the years.

6. BOYZONE

If we have a dancing female group previously, now we give way to an all-male singing group. Presenting, Boyzone!

In my opinion, the group of Keith Duffy, Stephen Gately, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating, and Shane Lynch started the "boy band craze" that paved the way for other boy band group to become famous. Their soulful ballads and charming aura did not fail to melt every girls heart.

The most famous song of Boyzone, in my opinion, is the revival of The Osmonds' hit Love Me For A Reason. Other revivals include Words, Baby Can I Hold You, and Father and Son.

The boyband decided to take an hiatus in 2000 and decided to pursue solo careers. Ronan Keating became the groups most famous member. They decided to reform last 2007, but in 2009, Stephen Gately passed away, leaving only four living members until now.

7. TAKE THAT

Take That could be described as a bridge of the 80's and 90's music. Composed of five members, (Gary Barlow, Robbie Williams, Jason Orange, Howard Donald, and Mark Owen), this group started on making pop songs, but in the later years decided to focus more on ballads.

If your a 90's kid, the only song you can associate with this group is Back For Good (which I consider to be the spark plug of their fame), but the group has done quite a number of famous songs including Could It be Magic, Sure, Pray, and the most recent Rule The World.

This group can also be considered as one of the most controversial groups in history, for the internal strife between Robbie Williams and the other members was considered the main contributor of the decline of the group's popularity in 1995 after the success of Back For Good, which eventually lead to Williams leaving the group. The last popular act of this group before the separation of the remaining members in 1996 was their cover of the Bee Gees' song How Deep Is Your Love.

I consider this group one of the greatest because this group has Barlow, and Williams, which are considered to be two of the best singer-songwriters in UK. I also believe this is the reason why the two could not be in the same group for a long time. Both of them are better off as solo artists and the rivalry really exist between them that it's really awkward to see them both perform together.

Take That's music maybe are not as popular as the songs of the other groups I mentioned but their songs presented the evolution of the music from the 80's to the 90's.

So that's it. To the ones that might read this, I know you may agree or disagree with my list, but one thing is clear: THIS IS JUST MY PERSONAL OPINION AND EACH PERSON HAS ITS OWN PREFERENCES ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO MUSIC.

Once a Potterhead, Always a Potterhead

I never thought a melancholic feeling would hit me after watching the last Harry Potter installment, the Part 2 of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. When I saw all avid fans of this series on TV, on the very first day it was showing here in the Philippines, I thought if they have gotten insane or what. But after watching the film, a deep sense of understanding filled me, for it was like an old friend departing at a late stage of your life.

I first encountered the first Harry Potter book when I was in Grade 6, during our visit to my bestfriend's house (which is Aura, of course). She kept on letting me read some words that were found on the book and corrects me everytime I commit a error in pronunciation (the most unforgettable word she let me read was the name, HERMIONE). She was more of a avid fan than me at that time, until we reach high school. I only grew interest in the series when I have watched the first film of the series (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). I got officially hooked with it when I have read the series until the 6th book.

At first, I thought the books were a waste of time to be read. It had, for me, a very shallow plot and very fictitious aura in it. What hooked me to be a fan of the series is the inexplicable effect on the reader after you have read it. It got a magic touch on it that drives your imagination to its limits (and beyond, i guess). J.K. Rowling's style of narrating it seems shallow, but how she manages to drive the story makes you crave for more.

I never have thought that this series would have a huge impact on me that I almost was into tears at the end of the Deathly Hallows Part 2 movie. I reminisced the days that I was begging my bestfriend to let me read it, spending study time to finish it, to a point of skipping meals for you don't want to abruptly end the motion picture conjured in your head while reading it, and the days I look forward to seeing the movie, only to be dumbfounded a bit for it was not like in the book. It was a part of my growing up years, having read the books and watched the movies while I was in high school and college.

If I was to look at the Mirror of Erised, I would see myself reading the 8th book of the series, but since its just up to the 7th, we just have to accept it for "all things, good or bad, come to an end".

I am a POTTERHEAD, and I WILL ALWAYS BE.

A 7/10 REFLECTION PAPER FOR GIVING NEGATIVE COMMENTS

I really laugh my heart out when I remember getting a 7 over 10 with this reflection. This is my reflection on our activity on our Assessment of Student Learning 2 class. I learned a lesson here and that is to never rant on a reflection paper for the teacher will give you a low grade. Anyway, so here it is.

Designing an Authentic Assessment: Reflection

                Authentic Assessment is a type of a performance – based assessment that involves a task that envelops certain real life skills. It involves both process and product. It has five dimensions, namely: the task, physical context, social context, assessment result or form, and assessment criteria. This assessment may take several meetings to be accomplished by students.

                Never in my wildest dreams did I expect that I will plan such assessment. It seems very elusive and ambitious for a college student like me with no experience whatsoever in planning such assessment. Luckily, we were equipped with the needed inputs that helped us achieve the best plan we could make. Let me share some of my experiences and insights during our planning for such assessment how during our defense of our plan.

                In the planning stage, we have come up with the topic and task in an instant, which is to let our prospective students design a wiring plan for a two floor house. We were jubilant at first since we thought that it will be a smooth ride for us. We wrote our tentative plan. But as we processed this proposed plan, we realized that it was very unrealistic since our prospective students are not equipped with the skills needed to come up with a plan (since it needs Kirchhoff’s rule). So we simplified it into an office room. Here, we realized that it needs very critical and in depth analysis of the task to be given to our future students in an authentic assessment. Next obstacles are the physical and social task. These two are quite the easiest to come up. We just need a realistic setting, group and time frame and voila!-we’re done with it. Next is the assessment result or form. You can determine this only if you have visualized your task. If you have determined your main product, the other forms will come up. In our task, a schematic diagram is the main product. By visualizing this, we thought of transforming it into a layout design, then letting them defend it by using visual aids and submitting also a proposal on paper of their diagram. Each product involves certain processes. The last and most grueling to come up is the assessment criteria. In this dimension, you have to come up with your own assessment tools (rubric, rating scale, checklist, etc.). Coming up with a rubric is the most demanding part. It needs very long period of time to process and needs a pool of ideas from each member of the group. It also has to be that no standards overlap and that is the hardest part. To come up with each standard is very hard.

                Another thing, this activity is so tedious. It consumes a lot of time and energy. Also, in the preparation for the defense, we spent time on planning and perfecting it to meet the expectations specified on the rubric given to us. I felt also a bit disappointed during the defense since I feel it was unfair that we are the only group scrutinized by 2 experts. Also, I think the expectations were too high for the defense and that gave us the jitters rather than confidence. But above all, that was a learning experience for all of us future teachers.

Tatsulok: Social Stratification Put into Melody

“Habang may tatsulok at sila ang nasa tuktok
Di matatapos itong gulo”

Tatsulok. If you hear this word in passing, you will think it’s just a Tagalog translation of a shape with 3 sides. But if someone will put the word BAMBOO to it, side by side, then you will think that it’s one of the most influential and immortalized hits in the Philippine music industry. This song is originally written and performed by a Folk-rock group Buklod in 1989, now revived by the now disbanded rock band, Bamboo.

The lyrics of this song are highly symbolic. Totoy, for instance, represent the common people or the masses. Red and Yellow (Pula’t Dilaw in the song) represents the Leftist New People’s Army, who carries red banners with them and the ever famous administration of the late Cory Aquino who regards yellow as a trademark of hers. When this song was written, it was also the height of the Total War Policy of the then Defense Secretary Fidel V. Ramos against the New People’s Army, but the clash between the military and the NPA have taken lives of ordinary citizens. However, this is not really the main message of the song.

Tatsulok presents the even more apparent reality in the Philippines’ social status: the disparity between the rich and the poor. This has been the thorn that hinders the economic progress of the country. The social stratification here is seen even in the streets we pass by. This may seem not to be rigid in nature but those who are rich becomes richer while the poorest of the poor becomes poorer. The rich has easy access to JUSTICE. They can easily sue someone who in their viewpoint has committed crime and also can manipulate the outcome of a case while the poor has to seek for city/municipal lawyers and sometimes are subjected to delaying tactics that will discourage them to pursue the case because of lack of funds. As the song goes, “at ang hustisya ay para lang sa mayaman.”

Finally, the song encourages us to overturn this so called “tatsulok”. It encourages us to do all the best we can in diminishing the great disparity among our social classes. We must strive hard in order to reach balance in our current situation. And also, we must help the government in whatever means they have pushed to diminish poverty and help in ways that are within the scope of our resources and abilities. And also, the role of educators plays a major role in realizing this advocacy that until now is not evident in our country.

(I just happen to stumble down on this essay of mine for our SoSci 1 class while finding one file on our computer. Then I remembered that I intend to put this here but just forgot about it due to my busy schedule. So now, I have put it here and I hope this would be an eye-opener to all of us.)

Korea's Glee?

Tomorrow will be the first day of summer classes in our school. During the 2-week hiatus, I did really NOTHING. Well, if you could count surfing the net and reading novels as worthwhile activities, then that are the two things I did during the break.

One night, my brother was searching for a Korean drama to watch. Eventually, he stumbled upon a trending Drama Series, entitled "Dream High". Since I had nothing to do, I watched it with him and in an instant, I was hooked with it. It reminded me with America's hit comedy-variety series, Glee. But, this I will tell you, Dream High is way much better than it.

Good points of this show:

• I really like the plot. The story was captivating, especially the teacher's part. Mr. Kang Oh Hyuk will be my inspiration form now on.
• The vision of dreaming and pursuing what you really want is one thing that caught my attention. They presented this concept very vividly and creatively.
• Value of friendship and the possibility of changing a bad attitude to a good one.

Negative points? There's only one for me and that is, the love story is for the tweens and early teens. They are the only ones who can relate to that part really...hahaha

This drama pumped up my summer break and hope that Korea will produce more of this dramas from now on.

(only two Korean series really caught my very picky taste during the period 2010 - 2011. Dream High is one. The other one is High Kick Through The Roof)

Last Summer and Last 2 Semesters

Finally!!!!!!!!!! I'll be in my fourth year as a college student in the coming semester. It seems that it was only yesterday that I graduated in high school.

My thoughts for the coming school year (hopefully my last year, I can't afford to fail) :

• IP will be a burden
• minors will be burdens
• everything will be a burden!!!!! hahaha!!!!

Joking aside, I hope this final year will be a fruitful and memorable year for me. I also hope that I can pass this year with flying colors.

REQUEST GRANTED!!!!!

Review on Personal God:


When this book was given to me, I was intrigued by the title. How can God be referred to as PERSONAL? But as I read the first few pages and skimmed through the whole book (right, SKIMMED.....I'll read it thoroughly in the next few days) I did understand something.

It is important that we have a personal relationship with God. Though He is the Supreme Being, this doesn't restrict us in establishing a personal relationship with Him. We can regard Him as our bestfriend or our confidante. I love how the author really showed how to make a personal relationship with God through this book.

One comment I could give about the book is that it became draggy somewhere in the middle. The good piont though is that this book pushed through the boundary of the common belief that we can't have a personal relationship with Him.

(Aura, sorry if this not satisfactory enough, hehehe, I will read the book thoroughly next time.....:D)