Family of composers cashes in on campaign jingles

DAGUPAN CITY — When election fever heats up, the airwaves blare with political ads.

And a radio personality from Sta. Barbara town, Pangasinan province, is beaming with pride. After all, he and his family are behind most of the catchy campaign jingles of candidates here and in nearby towns.

“Candidates are identified with a jingle and it makes it easier for voters to recall their names,” said Gildo “Gusting” Tamayo, whose family has been hired to compose jingles for two senatorial bets and 20 other local candidates in the province.

Tamayo’s wife, Lanie, helps in writing the lyrics while their daughters, Erica and Monica, lend their voices.

Barker

“I am the barker in the jingles, the one yelling ‘vote for’ before and after the songs,” said the 62-year-old Tamayo, who had been writing jingles since the 1992 presidential elections.

His first client, a town council candidate in his hometown, asked him to join the sorties and sing the jingle while playing a guitar.

In 1995, he had two clients — one who was running for vice mayor in his town and another for mayor in an adjoining town.

But for Tamayo, a catchy campaign jingle does not always guarantee success as his clients’ rivals could twist his choice of words.

He said coming up with a jingle required him to know his clients’ advocacy and platforms of government to help him craft the lyrics.

“I am careful now that the lyrics, including syllabication and rhyming, can’t be twisted into something negative,” he said.

Original music

Tamayo composes original music but usually charges higher for it than for adaptation of songs. The charges are for arrangement and production and talent fees of the singers.

The language or dialect he uses for the songs depends on where the candidate is running. “The tunes and the lyrics must be catchy and should resonate even with young voters,” Tamayo said.