VANCOUVER, CANADA—Hers was the voice that rocked the country. Before there was Aegis and Asin. And Asin had Lolita Carbon.
In 1976, the folk-duo of Mike “Nonoy” Pillora Jr. and Cesar “Saro” Banares Jr. invited Lolita to join them. They were later named Salt of the Earth and would later beknown as the Peter, Paul, and Mary of the Philippines.
Lolita recalls singing with Nonoy and Saro in Bodega, a premier folk venue in the 70s. In 1977, Vicor Music Corporation signed up the trio as Asin and a year later released their first solo album titled Masdan Mo Ang Kapaligiran.
Lolita’s song “Pagbabalik,” included in the first album, won the 1978 Aliw Awards Best Folk Song of the Year. The group’s second album, Himig ng Pag-ibig, contained favorite Pinoy love songs of all time. It was also memorable for Lolita when she did the Japanese version of Freddie Aguilar’s phenomenal hit “Anak.”
In 1981, she released her own vinyl single under the name “Lolita and the Boys.” The song “Usok” is considered the first song to adapt the reggae style in Philippine music history. On the flip side was the blues song “Ganyan Lang.”
Lolita joined other bands from 1981 to 1983 – Sulabama, the first reggae band that became a big hit in Mindanao, and Holy Smoke Band, which was her back-up band when she lived in Davao City.
Asin had a reunion, went on tour, and released their reunion album Himig ng Lahi, which became Awit Awards’ and Jingle Magazine’s Best Album of the Year in 1984. After that, Asin released more albums containing traditional Filipino songs with contemporary arrangements. Lolita herself produced the “Sinta” album in 1987, a collection of Filipino love songs.
Asin disbanded in 1990 but shortly afterwards became part of the experimental “supergroup” of musicians called Lokal Brown, which sang “This Is Not Amerika.” A year later, Lolita formed the band Nene with a group of session musicians and released her first full-length solo album with the hit song “Biyaheng Langit.” “Paraisong Liku-liko,” also in the album, was awarded as Best Rock Recording in the 1991 Awit Awards.
Three decades after Asin’s foundation, in 2000, Lolita regrouped with the fourth member of the band, Pendong Aban Jr. and released the album Pag-ibig, Pagbabago, Pagpapatuloy, with the first cut “Dalawang Dekada ng ASIN” winning Best Musical Arrangement in the 2002 Awit Awards. Asin is the only Filipino artist awarded as one of the 2004 Environmental Champions by the DENR-World Bank Publication-Environmental Monitor 2004.
Lolita grew up with music around her. Their Malate home was filled with musical instruments and her father had many musician-friends in the neighborhood. At a young age, Lolita already showed her singing prowess. She was 10 when she won in Tita Betty Children’s Show, with “The Impossible Dream.” She was 13 when she joined the Philippine Navy Band N2 Division, singing numbers by Shirley Bassey.
She became a professional singer with One Way Up Band in 1975 and her first stint as a folksinger was at Kola House in Ermita in 1976.
Now in her 50s, the “Voice of the Earth” still rocks the world as she goes on concert tours bringing her timeless music and unique singing style.
In all these, Lolita is happy and has no regrets – only that she wishes to be with her children.
“If ever God will give me the chance to be with my children, that will be a great gift. I know I have never been a good mother but it’s not an excuse. I love them so much,” she says.
Lolita was only 17 when she gave birth to her firstborn.
“I was able to see my son briefly but the lola took the baby. I was traumatized,” she recalls.
Lolita has four children with three different fathers, and she prays that someday, her children will see her perform in front of them.
Lolita promises to continue performing as long as people still like her music. She is currently doing the Himig ng Pag-ibig Canadian Concert Tour that kicked at the R’s Bar Turd Hotel.
The concert tour will go around Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Ontario, particularly Calgary, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Red Deer, Banff, Grande Prairie, Vancouver, Saskatoon, Regina, and Edmonton.