Problem: Regine Velasquez was born in Tondo, Manila, on April 22, 1970. Her father, Gerardo Velasquez, was a construction estimator, and her mother, Teresita (nee Ansong), was a homemaker. The singer has three younger sisters, Cacai, Diane and Deca, and a younger brother, Jojo. The family moved to Hinundayan, Southern Leyte where Velasquez spent the early years of her life.

After winning Ang Bagong Kampeon, Velasquez was signed to OctoArts International (now PolyEast Records). She was introduced as 'Chona' Velasquez--her nickname--and recorded the single "Love Me Again", which was released in early 1986. However, the single was commercially unsuccessful. On February 16, 1986, at the behest of another OctoArts recording artist, Pops Fernandez, Velasquez was invited to appear on her live late night musical television show, The Penthouse Live!  While she was rehearsing for the live show, the producer and talent manager Ronnie Henares showed interest and signed her. At the suggestion of Fernandez's husband and the show's co-host, Martin Nievera, Velasquez adopted the stage name "Regine".  Under Henares' management, Velasquez was introduced to the head of VIVA Records, Vicente del Rosario Jr., who signed her and started production of her debut album. Del Rosario enlisted top songwriters, including Joaquin Francisco Sanchez, Vehnee Saturno and Christine Bendebel. He and Henares, who were both serving as executive producers, planned to market Velasquez as one of their main female pop artists, hoping to attain commercial success as they had done with Nora Aunor and Sharon Cuneta. After Velasquez completed her debut album, Regine, VIVA released the lead single "Kung Maibabalik Ko Lang" in 1987. Despite a weak start, the album gained mainstream appeal after Velasquez's promotional appearances on the ABS-CBN television variety shows Triple Treat and Teen Pan Alley. The album produced two more singles--"Urong Sulong" and "Isang Lahi".  Two years after the release of her debut album, Velasquez represented the Philippines in the 1989 Asia Pacific Singing Contest. She was initially apprehensive and skeptical of the idea of participating in another competition at that stage in her career. At Henares' urging she agreed to compete and won the contest in Hong Kong, performing the songs "You'll Never Walk Alone" from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel and "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from the musical Dreamgirls.

What was her first work with OctoArts?

Answer with quotes: She was introduced as 'Chona' Velasquez--her nickname--and recorded the single "Love Me Again", which was released in early 1986.


Problem: The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most influential music band. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock and roll, the Beatles later experimented with several musical styles, ranging from pop ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock, often incorporating classical elements and unconventional recording techniques in innovative ways. In 1963 their enormous popularity first emerged as "Beatlemania"; as the group's music grew in sophistication, led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, the band were integral to pop music's evolution into an art form and to the development of the counterculture of the 1960s.

Touring internationally in June and July, the Beatles staged 37 shows over 27 days in Denmark, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. In August and September they returned to the US, with a 30-concert tour of 23 cities. Generating intense interest once again, the month-long tour attracted between 10,000 and 20,000 fans to each 30-minute performance in cities from San Francisco to New York.  In August, journalist Al Aronowitz arranged for the Beatles to meet Bob Dylan. Visiting the band in their New York hotel suite, Dylan introduced them to cannabis. Gould points out the musical and cultural significance of this meeting, before which the musicians' respective fanbases were "perceived as inhabiting two separate subcultural worlds": Dylan's audience of "college kids with artistic or intellectual leanings, a dawning political and social idealism, and a mildly bohemian style" contrasted with their fans, "veritable 'teenyboppers' - kids in high school or grade school whose lives were totally wrapped up in the commercialised popular culture of television, radio, pop records, fan magazines, and teen fashion. To many of Dylan's followers in the folk music scene, the Beatles were seen as idolaters, not idealists." Within six months of the meeting, according to Gould, "Lennon would be making records on which he openly imitated Dylan's nasal drone, brittle strum, and introspective vocal persona"; and six months after that, Dylan began performing with a backing band and electric instrumentation, and "dressed in the height of Mod fashion". As a result, Gould continues, the traditional division between folk and rock enthusiasts "nearly evaporated", as the Beatles' fans began to mature in their outlook and Dylan's audience embraced the new, youth-driven pop culture.  During the 1964 US tour, the group were confronted with the reality of racial segregation in the country at the time, particularly in the South. When informed that the 11 September show at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida was to be held at a segregated venue, the Beatles expressed astonishment and announced that they would refuse to perform unless the show become integrated. Lennon stated: "We never play to segregated audiences and we aren't going to start now ... I'd sooner lose our appearance money." The group's stand drew controversy in the local media, but city officials relented and agreed to allow an integrated show. On the tour the group also refused to stay in segregated hotels. Documents reveal that for their subsequent US tours in 1965 and 1966, the Beatles included clauses in contracts stipulating that shows be integrated.

Who did they meet apart from Bob?

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