The NU Rock Awards was an annual accolade presented from 1994 to 2010 by the

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

-based radio station

NU 107 DWNU, a radio station in Mega Manila, was broadcasting from 1987 to 2010 as NU 107 that played mainly rock music. It was owned by Progressive Broadcasting Corporation. The station's last studio was located at the ground floor of AIC Gold Tower, F ...

, known for prominent performances by the most influential

pinoy rock Pinoy rock, or Filipino rock, is the brand of rock music produced in the Philippines or by Filipino people, Filipinos. It has become as diverse as the rock music genre itself, and bands adopting this style are now further classified under more s ...

artists of each year.

History

The first NU 107 Rock Awards was held at The Music Hall in Annapolis St., Greenhills on November 15, 1994. Originally meant to be a small gathering to give recognition to the rock community, it slowly became a much anticipated annual event. Pepe Smith won the Rock Legend Award. and the Dawn won the Rock Achievement Award. The first "Song of the Year Award" was given to Alamid for "Your Love". The song went on to heavy airplay and was the first NU 107 exclusive to cross over to other formats.

Afterimage An afterimage, or after-image, is an image that continues to appear in the eyes after a period of exposure to the original image. An afterimage may be a normal phenomenon (physiological afterimage) or may be pathological (palinopsia). Illusory ...

was very first winner of the Artist of the Year award. The first Album of the Year award was presented to the

Eraserheads Eraserheads (sometimes stylized as ƎRASERHEADS or ƎRASƎRHƎADS) are a Filipino rock band formed in Quezon City in 1989. The band consists of lead singer and primary songwriter Ely Buendia, guitarist Marcus Adoro, bassist Buddy Zabala, and dr ...

' first album ''

Ultraelectromagneticpop! ''Ultraelectromagneticpop!'' is the debut studio album by the Philippine alternative rock band Eraserheads, first released on July 1, 1993 by BMG Records (Pilipinas) Inc. It was produced by the band (credited as “Dem”) and Ed Formoso. Era ...

''. The Eraserheads received the Album of the Year award in the following two years with their albums ''

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

'' (1995) and ''

Cutterpillow ''Cutterpillow'' is the third studio album by the Philippine alternative rock band Eraserheads, released on December 8, 1995 through BMG Records (Pilipinas), Inc. It became the band’s most commercially successful album in the Philippines. T ...

'' (1996), making them the only artist to win in the same category three years in a row. Pambansang Banda ng Pilipinas Parokya Ni Edgar also won their "Best New Artists" in 1996 and also won 8 times overall years later. "Producer of the Year" category The Dawn has performed in the Rock Awards eleven times. The first "Video of the Year" awardwas given to "

Ang Huling El Bimbo "Ang Huling El Bimbo" (English: "The Last El Bimbo") is a song by the Philippine alternative rock band Eraserheads from their third album ''Cutterpillow'' (1995). Composition The song is described as a bittersweet "mini-epic" inspired by the Be ...

" by the Eraserheads. In 1997, they added a new category "Producer of the Year". There has only been one tie in the history of the Rock Awards, in 1999, when the judges made Wolfgang's '' Serve in Silence'' and

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's ''

Grip Stand Throw ''Grip Stand Throw'' is the debut studio album released by the Filipino alternative rock band Sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between sl ...

'' joint Albums of the Year.

Raimund Marasigan Raimund Emmanuel Parcon Marasigan (born May 22, 1971) is a Filipino musician and record producer. He is best known as the drummer of the alternative rock band Eraserheads. Marasigan has been described as "the busiest man in the Pinoy music scen ...

has the most awards, for his work as a member of Eraserheads and Sandwich, and as an album producer for other bands. The first band to win the Rock Awards’ "Raw Award" was Fatal Posporos. The Raw Award is given to the best unsigned artist of the year. In 2000, Punk's Not Dead, an all-star tribute band made up of Myra Ruaro (Brownbeat All Stars), Louie Talan (Razorback), Diego Castillo (Sandwich), Raimund Marasigan (Sandwich), Zach Lucero and Aia de Leon (

Imago In biology, the imago (Latin for "image") is the last stage an insect attains during its metamorphosis, its process of growth and development; it is also called the ''imaginal'' stage ("imaginal" being "imago" in adjective form), the stage in wh ...

), performed a medley of past Song of the Year winners in the style of The Ramones. In 2004, NU 107, acknowledging the growing role of women in the local rock scene, made the first Female Rock Icon Award to

Cynthia Alexander Cynthia Alexander (b. ''Cynthia Veronica Ayala'', 1971) is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist originally from the Philippines. She has performed on local and international stages including the Rainforest World Music Festival in Malays ...

. Before it became a rock anthem of sorts,

Bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

's "Noypi" was first performed at the 2003 NU 107 Rock Awards, before their album ''As The Music Plays'' was released. Despite being held during a typhoon, the 2004 Rock Awards ceremony was the best attended, with over 4,000 rock fans filling the World Trade Center. In 2005, there were a record twelve nominees for the Song Of The Year Award. The 17th and final Rock Awards was held on October 29, 2010.

History

List of winners

Best New Artist

Artist of the Year

Song of the Year

Album of the Year

Best Live Act

Listener's Choice

Best Album Packaging

Vocalist Of The Year

Guitarist Of The Year

Bassists Of The Year

Drummer Of The Year

Keyboardist of the Year

Best Male

Best Female

In The Raw Awards

Rising Sun Awards

Producer of the Year

Music Video of the Year

Hall of Famer

References

See also