Expert: Bong Santos - 11/23/2006

Question
hello po mr. bong,

i'm venice and i'm from cebu but i'm here in the US now...actually i'm just 24 but i'm a real diehard fan of oldies song maybe because i was influenced by my older sisters who were fanatics of the 70s and 80s music so i kinda grew up listening to these genres in the house...

i really like norman saleet..i've been looking for normal saleet songs in limewire but all  i can find are "this time i know it's real" and "here i am"... i can't find "falling in love with you tonight" and "let's stop before we fall in love"...do you have any idea where i can download these...

i also like a particular song which goes like " i...never saw it happening to me... i was blinded by my dreams of being free... free from love... there are two versions i think...one sung by a male and the other one is a duet but i like the duet more... the girl in the duet sounds like deniece williams

i also like a another 80's song which goes like " there's just something haunting about you... i can't explain it but there's just something different about you...never before has anyone affected me this way coz i just cant stop thinking about you... i want you, i need you, but i'm afraid to show you.. why can't i just tell you that way i feel about you...---well, i thought the singer is stacy lattisaw but when i searched it, i couldn't find it too... was it stacy who really sang this?

and that song by matthew fisher(not sure of the spelling), which goes like "can't stop loving you now, don't even know how, it's just a fantasy"... what's the title?

who sang the song.. "this is it"? yung "this is it...oh, this time i know it's the real thing... i can't explain what im feeling... ---i think this was performed by diana degarmo in american idol but i don't know who the original artist is..

im also desperately looking for that rare rita coolidge song "i cant afford that feeling anymore"... until now, no luck...

i hope you can help me with some of these... thanks po!

Answer
Dear Venice,

I don't have any idea right now where to find that song. But I will be glad help to you when I find one. I'll ask some friends if they have it.

Your next question is none other than LOVE by BILLY PRESTON & SYREETA. It is from their 1980 album BILLY & SYREETA which also contains the original and duet version of A LONG AND LASTING LOVE (later popularized here by CRYSTAL GAYLE). BILLY & SYREETA also gave us the favorite wedding song WITH YOU I'M BORN AGAIN. SYREETA used to be married to STEVIE WONDER. Unfortunately, BILLY & SYREETA are no longer with us. BILLY died on June 6, 2006 of kidney disease after being in coma for nearly seven months while SYREETA died on July 6, 2004 from congestive heart failure which she got from the chemotherapy she was receiving from battling breast cancer.

You are right, STACY LATTISAW did CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT YOU from her 1985 album I'M NOT THE SAME GIRL.

CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU NOW is by singer-songwriter and organist MATTHEW FISHER. From his 1981 album STRANGE DAYS which also spawned the hit SHE MAKES ME FEEL. If you know the group PROCOL HARUM, he used to be a member of that band and was responsible for the organ sound in 1967's A WHITER SHADE OF PALE.

THIS IS IT was originally done by MELBA MOORE from her 1976 album THIS IS IT. A minor hit, it peaked a lowly #91 on the Hot 100 Chart on May 22, 1976. It was remade in 1998 by DANNII MINOGUE from her album GET INTO YOU.

I have a copy of I CAN'T AFFORD THAT FEELING ANYMORE by RITA COOLIDGE. It was sent to me by a letter sender. E-mail me at bong_santos_jbl11@yahoo.com so I can send it to you.

Maraming salamat po!

BONG M. SANTOS
Manila, Philippines