The man behind the classic ballad "Sometimes When We Touch," thinks Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao is "a really, really good singer."
Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Hill says the Filipino champion boxer turned Sarangani Province congressman has the personality to be an effective pop singer.
"I think Manny's a really, really good singer. I think he has a really, really good musical ear. As you know, he's not a professional singer," the 57-year-old Grammy Award-winning artist tells PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) in his phone interview this morning.
"I think pop singing is all about personality. You have to believe what the singer's saying. You believe his emotion to be true. Or, are they honest?
"With Manny, I believe everything's the same and for me he's a very effective singer," adds Hill about the 8-division champion boxer's style of singing.
Dan recently released his 14th album titled Intimate Dan Hill: The Platinum Collection. The album contains songs written and recorded by Dan.
"It is a combination of old and new songs that I recorded," he says. "Some of these records, no one has ever heard me sing before."
Hill released his first album in 1975 and had his first U.S. Billboard Top 10 hit (climbing as high as number three in the music charts) in 1977 with "Sometimes When We Touch," which was released as single and as part of Hill's third album Longer Fuse.
Dan also found success in writing songs for other artists.
"Some of them [songs in Intimate Dan Hill] are songs that I wrote, that were hit songs by other artists. It is the first time that I recorded it.
"For example, 'I Do (Cherish You),' it's a hit song by 98 Degrees. 'I Promise You (With Everything I Am)' was a big song by The Backstreet Boys, or 'Seduces Me' is a big song by Celine Dion. So, it's a combination of new songs, plus hit songs that I wrote for other artists."
"SOMETIMES WHEN WE TOUCH." Recently, Dan's monster '70s hit, "Sometimes When We Touch," made it to two music charts.
Abs-cbnNEWS.com reported last June that Hill's duet with the number one pound-for-pound boxer made it to the 19th spot of the Billboard Adult Contemporary Top 20 list, while USA Today reported last August that Manny's solo take on Dan's iconic '70s ballad made it to the number 7 spot of the Secondary Adult Contemporary Chart.
Was he thrilled to know that "Sometimes When We Touch" is one of the Pacman's favorite songs?
"Yeah. I was very honored. Because I'm a huge, huge fan of Manny Pacquiao.
