Singing The Play Liszt Blues

It's a Classical solution. Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.

Payola is the name given to a radio scandal in which the major record labels were paying bribes to usually program directors in order to make sure their songs became hits by virtue of repeated play. I miss the good old days. (SARCASM ALERT). At least someone profited from creating a bland programming day. Now, through playlist radio and the elimination of the human element, we do the same thing for free.

Take some time to listen to your local Christian Radio station. If you can avoid lapsing into a coma, you will find that you will have a virtually commercial free, certainly announcer free music period of 60-90 minutes in length, which will repeat. If you don't know the song or artist you won't be told, because there is no DJ. Wouldn't any record company exec live to know he is GUARANTEED 24 plays of his hit song per day. And with an average of 3 minutes per song you really only get about 15 songs per hour after you add in about the song intros, devotionals, and the ever present push to pledge money to keep the station afloat because selling ads is unchristian .

Let's scrap the whole system and start fresh. Sell ads, ditch the playlist, hire DJs, and play a wide swath of genres throughout the day. At first it will sound like the Wild Wild West, but people will discover new artists which will lead to more sales which will lead to more artists sticking with it for the long term. A better product all around.

Well my rant is over for now. I may take on the record industry at some point. Because they are a coconspirator in the problem as is the music store  But that is a whole new series. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Resistance is not futile: The Vinyl Virus

DJ. The term means different things. Saying that you are a DJ will mean something entirely different depending upon the hearer. To the rap crowd it is the person who used the turntables to add scratches. Based upon my listening to rap today, I would say it is practically extinct. In the EDM world the DJ is the person who uses turntables, synthesizers and various switches and buttons to create the music at a rave.

For me a DJ was the person at a radio station responsible for announcing and playing the music. The letters stood for Disc Jockey. They jockeyed or moved around the discs or vinyl records on the turntables to play over the air. He or she also took requests from the listeners and hosted giveaways.

There is one other job of the DJ and that is keeping a proper flow to the show. It was the DJ'S responsibility to keep a proper mix to the show and avoid overplay. You would think that a computerized playlist would fix the problem, but it actually increased after WENC went to computer. The program kept picking the same artists over and over and needed to be overridden on a regular basis. That was the job of the DJ. He was needed to make sure, in our case, that an artist was played only once an hour, and as we had 2 hour shows, if you did repeat an artist, you could not repeat a song. You know happens with a policy like that? You discover a whole lot more music, that's what. And that's something sorely lacking in Christian Radio these days.

And that brings us to our final post in this series. The playlist was created to make sure a DJ wasn't playing his favorite artists over and over. A noble goal. But it has resulted in exactly what it wanted to avoid. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Embracing Entropy in DiverseCity

Or is TobyMac trapped in a Circle of Dust. Sorry for the Rocky and Bullwinkle dual titles. I think I am fairly certain that the two will not be doing a single together anytime soon.

I do have a method to my madness. While Industrial Strength hip hop may not be appealing my point is. As I mentioned in my first post on the subject, there are many genres represented in Christian music. Now some of them may not release enough to fill a program director's playlist needs, others could possibly fill multiple years without a single repeat. But why should it have to be that way. The sin is that approximately 90% of Christian Music will never be played on over the air Christian Radio. The internet is a different tune altogether, as genre specific radio stations abound. OTA is an Adult Contemporary wasteland. How about we mix it up. We could have the AC/Worship going from 11pm to 9am and the rest of the time have music for people with a pulse. Just half kidding there. As a lot of Worship music has moved into the EDM zone it has offended the pillars (who are stiff as one), and that is fine with me.

Christian music is as diverse as the mainstream, and we should embrace it in all its glory. Musically definitely, but also theologically. If the musician says they're a Christian that's good enough for me. And I'm not going to throw them out if they sin. Only Jesus was perfect.

And maybe even some ethnic diversity. There is only one race, and that is human. There really isn't a reason why the same station couldn't play Southern and Urban Gospel music. Well maybe I should say a good reason. Why humiliate our Southern Gospel stick in the muds. White boys got no rhythm. I'm of Polish descent. I know of what I speak.

Until now I have stuck to the tunes. Beginning with my next post I will be meddling with Radio Station personnel. Preparing to defend against incoming missiles.  Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

There's just something about that name dropping

The 1960's are usually portrayed by "Christians" as being nothing more than a bunch of dope smoking long haired hippie freak Vietnam war protesters. Actually none of that really happened until 1968, so we defined a decade by 2 years. Woodstock occurred in the Summer of 69, but God was at work among them behind the scenes.

The saved hippie freaks turned into Jesus Freaks and gave rise to what has been called the Jesus Music Era. Officially given a twenty year life of 1969-1989, but it probably ended around 1985 with the release of Amy Grant's Unguarded. Of course some say it could have ended in 1977 when the first issue of CCM Magazine came out. I am going to give a date of 1981 when Petra came out with Never Say Die. Still that's 12 years.

A joke about the era was that they took a secular song and put Jesus words to it so they all went "Jesus Jesus Wo Wo Wo." That wasn't true even for evangelistic groups like the Second Chapter of Acts, much less groups like The Choir. Nonetheless a tradition arose that to be considered Christian, you needed to use the name of Jesus at least a million times per three minute song. But like I said, that didn't just exclude modern bands, but all of the Jesus Era as well.

It is my firm belief that song doesn't have to name drop Jesus multiple times to be considered Christian. Being a 80s Radio DJ I was into U2 as much as Petra. It still is the same today. For every "there's something about that name" there is a "Lost in Paradise" that I get blessed by. A Leah McHenry or Celldweller release virtually gushes forth in Bible verses if you listen carefully.

Step 2, simply put, is that Christian music cannot be neatly defined, so we shouldn't try to. Instead. We should revel in its blessed diversity. That's step 3. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

We're a Band: The Legend of the Polkageist

We're not a Christian Band, we're a band whose members are Christian. It's one of those theological Chicken or Egg arguments. And like the chicken it is just as endless. The reason it is even asked is because Christians like to believe Christian Music is something special.

The reality is that Christian Music is simply Music By Christians. Like the mainstream, Christian Music has multiple genres. Rock, Metal, Folk, Rap, Country and more. All have a "Christian alternative". (Thankfully not including Polka as yet, when that happens the end shall have come).

The corollary to Christian Music is that there is such a thing as "The Devil's Music". It is also a fantasy. It's not Rock and Roll, and although I agree with Greg X. Volz personally, it's not Country and Western either.

According (not accordion) to Ezekiel 28:13, which many attribute to Lucifer, "the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created." Those are musical instruments. The idea is when Lucifer fell and became Satan, these instruments also fell and became "Devil Music". Only problem is. If he had all instruments in him then all music is fallen. Or none is. Maybe God just said "You're Fired." I think that's the case, and music is music.

And that's why the first step to saving Christian Music Radio is to realize that there is no such thing as Christian Music. I'll give that a few days to marinate. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

The Quest: Saving Christian Music Radio

Christian Music Radio is dying. As a former DJ I know of what I speak. Hopefully we can save the patient, but if death occurs the coroner will list the cause as suicide, and slow motion suicide at that. I know my opinion isn't popular. After all, isn't K-Love buying up stations left and right? Yes, but they are actually part of the problem.

While the acquisition of over the air radio stations during a shift into web radio looks like a win (former WAAF in my local area), it belies a cancer that threatens to kill Christian Music Radio ( as opposed to Christian Music, which is undergoing a resurgence).

What can be done? I have a plan based on my experience in Christian Music over the space if almost 40 years:

Christian Music is just Music by Christians.

Jesus Wouldn't Listen to Jesus Music.

Embrace (Musical) Diversity.

Bring Back The DJ.

The Playlist is not life.

Each point deserves its own post, and it shall get it. Even without comment these points may lead you in my direction of thought. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Quarantine Update

I am Back. At least temporarily. Since the end of the day on March 13 The Night Beat has been on restricted status. Posting on a mobile app does not allow for proper formatting, so until now I have chosen to only update my Facebook Page.

The staff is getting stir crazy. Youppi is constantly singing Frere Jacque. Still we have managed to use the less hectic pace to our advantage. We are catching up on our release schedule and have just completed April Albums. When full access is restored be prepared for a tsunami of posts, as it is also quarterly wrap time.

PVX judging is slow, but on a much better pace than year 9. The Awards have always been virtual from the start. While I would like to award a trophy in a celebrity/artist filled auditorium, such is not the case yet. At least nobody can force me to cancel. Soon though. First I will have to build the Emerald Center (aka The Dunes).

Signing off for now. I will attempt to post regular updates here, but do check me out on Facebook. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.