Jonathan Potenciano

[hpooch]

I know, I never heard of him either.....but I accidently found him on "You Tube".......Check him out!!
He sounds very much like Matt with his kareoke version of "You're Closer to Me" (His LP Title) and "I Think of You".
Also the song "Life's Been Good to Me". Karl & Eman....Give this a listen & you'll be surprised!

[Eman]

Henry, I'll look him up and let you know what I think. Thanks for the recomendation.

UPDATE: Henry, wow I am surprised, and more suprised that he is a fellow Filipino. I asked my folks about him and they said they've never heard of him. I guess he wasn't that popular, I'll ask some of my cousins who are there if they heard of him. When I lived in the Philippines from 77-84, I never heard of him. Although I do like what I hear and he is really influenced by our Matt, even sometimes eerily sounding like him. I know back then there was even a Karen Carpenter sound-a-like named Claire DelaFuente who sang Carpenter covers mixed with Tagalog lyrics.

[karl]

There's definite shades of Matt in his voice but there are no records available and nothing comes up on google.

[Eman]

Henry, just did a check with some of my friends who grew up in the Philippines during that time and they said they don't remember him? Maybe he wasn't a big star. As for the records, I don't believe there is anything in print in the Philippines anymore.

[ROBERT M.]

He definitely listened to Matts version of You're Closer to Me before hand..............everything is the same

[Eman]

Robert, that's exactly what I said. I've noticed this about Filipino singers, when they listen to someone's style they study it note by note, phrase by phrase until it almost sounds exactly like the original artist.

[hpooch]

EMan, after checking thru the internet about Jonathan Potenciano is that he still lives in Las Vegas9At age 59).
As late as Nov 2011 he was performing at Bally's appearing with his band JAMM (Jonathan & Music Magic).
From the videos an various web sites, JAMM is more a rock'n'roll band playing all types of music.
Jonathan has a Facebook page & also Twitter & My Space, so I just sent him messages on various sites
& hopefully he'll reply promptly as he recorded 5 LP album, the best being "You're Closer to Me" title from 1972.

[Eman]

Henry that's great. Keep us posted about it. How's the weather out there? It's pretty hot down in S.D.