LITTLE RITA FAYE-not so little anymore

	Little Rita Faye - I Fell Out Of A Christmas Tree .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

MORE CHRISTMAS MEMORIES FROM ASINGAN

When I was still barely out of my short pants in the late '40s, some Xmas music were the harbringers of the upcoming holidays. I listened to this small tube radio. It ran on several D sized cells which costed a lot because electricity was still many light years away from Asingan.

One of them is the above I FELL OUT OF A CHRISTMAS TREE..by ( Little ) Rita Faye. Other titles were: Twinkle Toe, Dance Mr. Snow man Dance by the Crewcuts, PASKO AY SUMAPIT version by Ruben Tagalog ( I do not think this version exists today ) and the usual ones like MERRY CHRISTMAS POLKA. YOUR ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS and those perky Christmas Carols by my favorite group THE FOUR ACES. O Holy Night, Silent Night, The Christmas Song, etc.

the misa de gallo

During the time of Fr. Jose Estrada, when Dec. 16 rolled around he woke up the sleeping Asingan populace at 3:00 am with his strong PA system rigged up the top of the church. The bell tower was just a low building then. The new tower was built by Fr. Joe Ferrer who arrived in Asingan much later.

But man o man, while sleeping on December when the weather gets cold is so heavenly, here came the Diana band playing the unforgettable Diana music. I still remember the tune which will be with me even if I have already forgotten my name..

The DIANA music was played by a 4 piece group consisted of Messrs. Badua, Guillermo, Malalang, and Sison...Each one, except Mr. Sison who was the bass drummer, played a wind instrument. Each one played the Sax, the Bones ( trombone ) the stick ( oboe ). When Xmas time is over, or even if it is not, they also played for funerals until the age of the modern funeral entourage arrived.

the christmas church music of old

I remember listening to the choir trained by Mr. Juan ( Bong ) Salinda, one time Principal of the Rizal Junior College. Their singing sounded best when heard from the choir loft of the old church. The big earthquake of 1990 toppled it down and it was never reconstructed anymore. I envied then those singers and organists before and I wished I would be able to join them. Their singing sounded like a heavenly choir which would really lift your spirits up to heaven. I joined the choir years later but not with the RJC group anymore who have already graduated and left Asingan.

The finale song then was always one Ilocano ditty entitled RAMBAKAN TAY APADAPADA ( Let us rejoice altogether ) and it is another of the local folk yuletide songs which I will never ever forget.

Christmas Present is in Toronto, Canada but my heart will always dwell with Christmas past which all took place in Asingan several years ago.

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO!!!!