“In the ’70s Emy Munji played the piano for several albums as Ian Hero. It was a time when original Filipino music and artists were just beginning to win acceptance among the colonial-minded masses but there was still no way for a record company to market a Filipino pianist performing foreign top 40 material. So the then management of Vicor Music Corporation decided to create this guy “Ian Hero” who shall be faceless and identity-less but because of his skill on the ivories and the all-hit line-up of cuts, he will surely sell a lot of albums. And Ian Hero did sell a lot of records and about four of them were arranged and performed by Emy Munji. ”

“It still seems unfortunate that a talent like Munji, a musician who can dance circles around some big name figures from abroad was made to hide behind a fictitious foreign-sounding name. But such were the times. Although Pinoy Rock had already begun to make itself heard, everything else about music then had to be foreign. Sure, he did record some albums with his own name featured on the cover but these were mostly native compositions that catered to older listeners and to Filipinos living abroad. ”

Here we have a version of Van McCoys 1975 Disco hit with the vocals being provided by The Hi-Pertensions, a Filipino female disco trio of Carina Afable, Norma Ledesma and Linda Magno…