"Soldiers, Soldiers, Under Command. Fighting The Lord's Battle Plan". Thus begins the sea change in the Christian Contemporary Music industry know as STRYPER. REZ may be the Father of Christian Metal, but STRYPER took it Worldwide.
The true beginning was The Yellow and Black Attack, a six song EP released in 1984 (released again two years later with two more songs to make it an official album) making Stryper one of My Bands which started in the year I graduated from High School.
Soldiers Under Command released in 1985 really got things moving, but most people never got on the Yellow and Black train until they told the Devil to go You Know Where, and caused plenty of heart palpitations among Christian College Administrators.
The Album is hard rocking, and introduces the listening ear to hard rocking harmonies, as well as high screaming tones. And love songs. Soldiers under command has two back to back: Waiting For A Love That's Real and Together As One. And, not surprisingly from a band named after a Bible verse (Isaiah 53:5) we have the Gospel According To Stryper, part one. From The Song Together Forever:
"One Big Family, that will live eternally. Together, Forever, All You Have To Do, Is receive the one who died for you"
And that's the truth. All that is required to go to heaven is to receive the gift of Jesus. Sorry to you religious works people but there is no such thing as "Hyper-Grace". All we have is due to the Grace of God. The Gospel is that easy.
We have the official music video for Soldiers Under Command on VH1. They look so young back then. And how did Stryper get on VH1. They did Heavy Metal?
With Flashback Reviews it is easy to hand out 5 Emerald ratings like candy. After all, these are the albums that shaped your life. Realistically speaking, though, as the first full length album, I think a rating of 4.50 Emeralds is appropriate. Good enough to get an initial nomination to the Platinum Vinyl Award Pool, but probably not good enough to make the final nominees, and not enough to win.
We are underway with Flashback Friday reviews. I will try to make this a regular feature, but, as with Music Video Monday, that's easier said than done. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
The Home of the Platinum Vinyl Awards. Reviews of New CD releases, mostly CCM but also mainstream releases that may interest the Christian Music listener. Music News and Commentary, especially when there's a CCM connection.
Showing posts with label Flashback Friday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flashback Friday. Show all posts
Friday, July 12, 2019
Friday, August 17, 2018
Classic Rewind: Flashback Friday: Barnabas Jones and The Temple of Rock
This weeks edition of Flashback Friday is a 2 for 1 bonus. For those of you who have been with me from the start, you know that I am using the brief skit at the end of Servant's Jungle Music as my jumping off point. Stanley and Livingston continue.
Barnabas was a pioneer in Christian Rock and Heavy Metal from 1977-1986. The final lineup consisted of Nancy Jo Mann as lead vocal, Brian Belew on Guitar, Gary Mann doing double duty on Keyboard and Bass, and Kris Klingensmith on Drums. In their short life they released five albums. Along with Rez they were pioneers in Metal amd Female Fronted Rock. Despite having one of their albums titled Feel The Fire (1984), they fizzled under the withering anti-rock attack of Jimmy Swaggart and the like. I guess if you can't take the heat... Now I have never been a Rockstar (unless you count my dreams), but If you can't handle a televangelist who likes Southern Gospel, your strength is small. Other bands had no problem dishing it right back at them.
Staying Power counts for a lot in terms of public perception. It's sort of like the arguments over inventions. In the end it doesn't matter who invented an item, all that matters is who obtained the patent. It's the same thing in Music. Since REZ stayed around, they are credited with being the "Fathers of Christian Metal". However, based on their sound alone, Barnabas was the true Heavy Metal band. I was able to find a few audio clips on youtube, and these guys were not afraid of instrumental jam sessions. This is Breathless Wonderment from Feel The Fire. It's almost 7 minutes long, but about half of that is instrumental.
Now, on to the main act. Get out your biblical Greek to English dictionaries kids. The night beat is all about Rock, and in biblical Greek Rock is spelled PETRA.
Petra is one of those special bands, the ones that prove that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Let's go into detail on some of those parts. Over 35 years active (plus a 5 year retirement), a career spanning 5 decades, and over 23 albums. No other band can even claim to be "Father of Christian Rock" with any credibility. Ask anybody in or out of the industry and they will have had some experience with Petra, sometimes as the first Christian Rock album they bought "as a kid".
During that 35 year career the band experienced 11 Official Lineup Changes that included 3 Lead Vocal Changes, 4 Drummers, 5 Bass Players, 6 Keyboardists, and 4 Changes of Lead Guitar. It would be enough to make a lesser band wonder if they were cut out for the big time, but Petra just played on. Most critics only concentrate on "The Frontman" (lead vocals). This divides Petra into three "eras".
The Hartman Era (1972-1979)
Founder and Lead Guitarist Bob Hartman also handled the frontman duties in the early years, during which they had their self-titled debut in 1974 and their sophomore release Come and Join Us (1977). During this period the band had a pop/rockabilly sound which by today's standards is quite dated and some would say amateur. You can't help but smile hearing a song like Lucas McGraw or admire the "rebellious" spunk of a comeback song like God Gave Rock and Roll to You. After seven years of doing double duty the band acquired a Lead Singer and Hartman settled into lead guitar duties until retiring in 1995. He would again return to lead guitar from 2003 and 2005 and again as Classic Petra returned in 2010 until the present. That decision in 1979 ushered in.
The Volz Era (1979-1986, 2010+)
Greg Xavier Volz (Greg X. Volz to fans) is a self taught musician with an eight octave voice. Prior to his time with Petra he toured with Janis Joplin and was one of the founders of the Jesus Music group e Band. He led Petra for the next six albums, beginning with Washes Whiter Than in 1979. Beginning with Never Say Die (1981), but definitely in the three album set of More Power To Ya (1982), Not of This World (1983) and Beat The System (1985), the band moved from pop/rock to arena rock and super stardom. During the early years of this period the band was the opening act for Servant. Most notable of the lineup changes during this time was the addition of Louie Weaver on the Drums (1981-2003 and 2010 on) who came over to the band as Fireworks was breaking up (they will be covered in the next Flashback Friday). Some Petra fans, this blogger included, see him as "The Voice" of Petra.
I have included the Official Music Video for Beat the System. Enjoy the music and remember, this was three decades ago, so a concept video then may not be much of a concept today.
The Schlitt Era (1986-2005)
John Schlitt came to the band after their Live Album Captured in Time and Space (1986). Formerly the lead singer of Head East, he is the longest serving, if not the most loved lead singer of Petra. He took Petra into Industry domination during a period that included fourteen albums. His first album with the band was Back to the Street (1986) and the last was entitled Farewell (2005).
I am going to try to give you a video of each modern era. This is Armed and Dangerous from Beyond Belief (1990)
Classic Petra (2010+)
After a hiatus of five years boredom set in, even among rockers in their late 50's. Petra reinvented itself once again, as they had done many times in the past, and re branded themselves Classic Petra. Their lineup this time is the one that existed from 1984 to 1986: Greg X. Volz (Vocals), Bob Hartman (Guitars), Mark Kelly (Bass Guitar), John Lawry (Keyboard), and Louie Weaver (Drums).
This is a live video from their concert in the UK. One of their most Iconic Songs. All Over Me.
That does it for this edition of Flashback Friday. Tune In Next Week. There Will be Fireworks. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
L: I say, How is your old colleague Barnabas?Now we'll get to the blatantly obvious reference shortly, but most listeners miss one. Barnabas.
S: Oh you know Barnabas, Never Say Die type, I left him in Egypt studying Petraglyphs.
L: Jolly Good. Jolly Good.
Barnabas was a pioneer in Christian Rock and Heavy Metal from 1977-1986. The final lineup consisted of Nancy Jo Mann as lead vocal, Brian Belew on Guitar, Gary Mann doing double duty on Keyboard and Bass, and Kris Klingensmith on Drums. In their short life they released five albums. Along with Rez they were pioneers in Metal amd Female Fronted Rock. Despite having one of their albums titled Feel The Fire (1984), they fizzled under the withering anti-rock attack of Jimmy Swaggart and the like. I guess if you can't take the heat... Now I have never been a Rockstar (unless you count my dreams), but If you can't handle a televangelist who likes Southern Gospel, your strength is small. Other bands had no problem dishing it right back at them.
Staying Power counts for a lot in terms of public perception. It's sort of like the arguments over inventions. In the end it doesn't matter who invented an item, all that matters is who obtained the patent. It's the same thing in Music. Since REZ stayed around, they are credited with being the "Fathers of Christian Metal". However, based on their sound alone, Barnabas was the true Heavy Metal band. I was able to find a few audio clips on youtube, and these guys were not afraid of instrumental jam sessions. This is Breathless Wonderment from Feel The Fire. It's almost 7 minutes long, but about half of that is instrumental.
Now, on to the main act. Get out your biblical Greek to English dictionaries kids. The night beat is all about Rock, and in biblical Greek Rock is spelled PETRA.
Petra is one of those special bands, the ones that prove that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Let's go into detail on some of those parts. Over 35 years active (plus a 5 year retirement), a career spanning 5 decades, and over 23 albums. No other band can even claim to be "Father of Christian Rock" with any credibility. Ask anybody in or out of the industry and they will have had some experience with Petra, sometimes as the first Christian Rock album they bought "as a kid".
During that 35 year career the band experienced 11 Official Lineup Changes that included 3 Lead Vocal Changes, 4 Drummers, 5 Bass Players, 6 Keyboardists, and 4 Changes of Lead Guitar. It would be enough to make a lesser band wonder if they were cut out for the big time, but Petra just played on. Most critics only concentrate on "The Frontman" (lead vocals). This divides Petra into three "eras".
The Hartman Era (1972-1979)
Founder and Lead Guitarist Bob Hartman also handled the frontman duties in the early years, during which they had their self-titled debut in 1974 and their sophomore release Come and Join Us (1977). During this period the band had a pop/rockabilly sound which by today's standards is quite dated and some would say amateur. You can't help but smile hearing a song like Lucas McGraw or admire the "rebellious" spunk of a comeback song like God Gave Rock and Roll to You. After seven years of doing double duty the band acquired a Lead Singer and Hartman settled into lead guitar duties until retiring in 1995. He would again return to lead guitar from 2003 and 2005 and again as Classic Petra returned in 2010 until the present. That decision in 1979 ushered in.
The Volz Era (1979-1986, 2010+)
Greg Xavier Volz (Greg X. Volz to fans) is a self taught musician with an eight octave voice. Prior to his time with Petra he toured with Janis Joplin and was one of the founders of the Jesus Music group e Band. He led Petra for the next six albums, beginning with Washes Whiter Than in 1979. Beginning with Never Say Die (1981), but definitely in the three album set of More Power To Ya (1982), Not of This World (1983) and Beat The System (1985), the band moved from pop/rock to arena rock and super stardom. During the early years of this period the band was the opening act for Servant. Most notable of the lineup changes during this time was the addition of Louie Weaver on the Drums (1981-2003 and 2010 on) who came over to the band as Fireworks was breaking up (they will be covered in the next Flashback Friday). Some Petra fans, this blogger included, see him as "The Voice" of Petra.
I have included the Official Music Video for Beat the System. Enjoy the music and remember, this was three decades ago, so a concept video then may not be much of a concept today.
The Schlitt Era (1986-2005)
John Schlitt came to the band after their Live Album Captured in Time and Space (1986). Formerly the lead singer of Head East, he is the longest serving, if not the most loved lead singer of Petra. He took Petra into Industry domination during a period that included fourteen albums. His first album with the band was Back to the Street (1986) and the last was entitled Farewell (2005).
I am going to try to give you a video of each modern era. This is Armed and Dangerous from Beyond Belief (1990)
Classic Petra (2010+)
After a hiatus of five years boredom set in, even among rockers in their late 50's. Petra reinvented itself once again, as they had done many times in the past, and re branded themselves Classic Petra. Their lineup this time is the one that existed from 1984 to 1986: Greg X. Volz (Vocals), Bob Hartman (Guitars), Mark Kelly (Bass Guitar), John Lawry (Keyboard), and Louie Weaver (Drums).
This is a live video from their concert in the UK. One of their most Iconic Songs. All Over Me.
That does it for this edition of Flashback Friday. Tune In Next Week. There Will be Fireworks. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Friday, August 3, 2018
Classic Rewind: Flashback Friday - D&K
Flashback Friday is upon us once again.
In Our Journey into CCM's past, we now come to one of the bands that I have more than a passing knowledge of. While I knew of Daniel Amos and had listened to plenty of REZ, D&K is one of the bands that I got to experience live on multiple occasions.
Of Course to the newbie a quick translation may be in order. D&K stands for DeGarmo and Key. Eddie DeGarmo & Dana Key were childhood friends with a love of music. The band started in 1972, but it was another six years before they would come out with an album. Though they made their success in the 80's, they were popular enough at the beginning of the decade to make the Jungle Music List.
D&K's rise to the top would begin via the most unexpected of sources, at least from a Rock and Roll perspective. Pat Boone. (Kids, ask your grandparents). It was Boone's Lamb and Lion Records which gave the two Memphis kids their big break, and their first four albums were recorded on the label.
Stardom came with Power (actually Power Discs, a label of Benson Music), which released D&K's next seven albums. During this time the band shed their blues/folk/rock style for Arena Synth-Rock. Their second album on Power Discs, Communication (1984) included their most controversial song, Six, Six, Six. Released during one of the Congressional Investigations of Violence and Sex in Popular Music, the music video has the privilege of being, I think, the only Christian Video banned by MTV because, in the original, the Antichrist is engulfed in fire. MTV said they didn't know it was Christian. Anyway the video was edited and allowed to air. As a treat I am giving you both Six,Six,Six concept videos. The unedited is first, followed by the redo. Judge for yourself. The edit on the second begins at the two minute mark
DeGarmo and Key would record eleven more albums before hanging it up in 1994 with the release of To Extremes. In their free time they even managed to start their own Record Label. You may have heard of it. It's Called ForeFront. While Toby Mac and Abandon are about the only ones currently left on the label, most of the big guns such as Skillet are on the associated Arden Records label.
June 6, 2018 Will mark the 8 Year anniversary of the Heavengoing of Frontman Dana Key at the young age of 56. A reunion will have to wait until the beyond. I close this post with D&K live on their eponymous album tour in 1987. Eddie, Dana, Greg, and the impeccably dressed Tommy Cathey will always be Rock Solid. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Of Course to the newbie a quick translation may be in order. D&K stands for DeGarmo and Key. Eddie DeGarmo & Dana Key were childhood friends with a love of music. The band started in 1972, but it was another six years before they would come out with an album. Though they made their success in the 80's, they were popular enough at the beginning of the decade to make the Jungle Music List.
S: But I did manage to get some DeGarmo & Key This Time Thru.In this short exchange two of Degarmo and Key's albums were referenced. Their Debut This Time Thru (1978) and their third release This Ain't Hollywood (1980). The Classic lineup, which existed for most of their existence was Eddie DeGarmo (Keys, Vocals), Dana Key (Guitar, Lead Vocals), Greg Morrow (Drums) and Tommy Cathey (Bass). 1978 Was a good year in Christian Music, with REZ, Servant, D&K all crafting their debuts and Petra in the midst of recording their third album, though Stardom would be three years away for them.
L: Splendid! This Ain't Hollywood you know. You can't get any decent rock and roll out here. It's a beastly jungle.
D&K's rise to the top would begin via the most unexpected of sources, at least from a Rock and Roll perspective. Pat Boone. (Kids, ask your grandparents). It was Boone's Lamb and Lion Records which gave the two Memphis kids their big break, and their first four albums were recorded on the label.
Stardom came with Power (actually Power Discs, a label of Benson Music), which released D&K's next seven albums. During this time the band shed their blues/folk/rock style for Arena Synth-Rock. Their second album on Power Discs, Communication (1984) included their most controversial song, Six, Six, Six. Released during one of the Congressional Investigations of Violence and Sex in Popular Music, the music video has the privilege of being, I think, the only Christian Video banned by MTV because, in the original, the Antichrist is engulfed in fire. MTV said they didn't know it was Christian. Anyway the video was edited and allowed to air. As a treat I am giving you both Six,Six,Six concept videos. The unedited is first, followed by the redo. Judge for yourself. The edit on the second begins at the two minute mark
DeGarmo and Key would record eleven more albums before hanging it up in 1994 with the release of To Extremes. In their free time they even managed to start their own Record Label. You may have heard of it. It's Called ForeFront. While Toby Mac and Abandon are about the only ones currently left on the label, most of the big guns such as Skillet are on the associated Arden Records label.
June 6, 2018 Will mark the 8 Year anniversary of the Heavengoing of Frontman Dana Key at the young age of 56. A reunion will have to wait until the beyond. I close this post with D&K live on their eponymous album tour in 1987. Eddie, Dana, Greg, and the impeccably dressed Tommy Cathey will always be Rock Solid. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Friday, July 27, 2018
Classic Rewind: Flashback Friday - Daniel Amos
We continue our journey into CCM history using Servant's Jungle Music skit as our guide. When we began our Journey with Stanley and Livingston we discussed their opening band, The Heavy Metal and Female Fronted Rock Band Resurrection Band (which is commonly known as REZ or REZ Band)
If you didn't read the Tribute to REZ, please, click on the link and check it out. This small 90 second or so is a name dropping treasure trove of CCM History. I will briefly mention that the reference is to Awaiting Your Reply (1978) the band's Major Label Debut on Star Song Records.
Christian music has always been a tale of two Taylors (and I don't mean Swift). In this case the two are Terry Scott Taylor of Daniel Amos (aka DA) and Clone (or is it Clown?) Prince and Political Skewerer (is that a word?) Steve Taylor. We shall eventually come round to Steve, but we shall stay with Terry Today.
Daniel Amos started out as a Country-Rock group at the Prime of the Jesus Music Era, though they were called Jubal's Last Band at the time. They Changed their name to Daniel Amos and released their eponymous debut in 1976. Yes, that's early but even Petra was earlier. By the time their third album Horrendous Disc (1978) they had seen the light and ditched country, becoming the Father of Alternative Rock (though some would attribute that to The Choir, which came along several years later. By the time Vox Humana came out in 1984, the band had a slight complaint.
UPDATE July 27, 2018: That 2011 Album was delayed for 2 years. In 2013 the band released Dig Here Said The Angel. I am considering a review. So we only have a 5 year hiatus. Good to hear that some of the "fathers" are still plugging away.
I finish this edition of Flashback Friday with Sanctuary from the Cornerstone Jesus Rally. Watch and enjoy. Until Next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
If you didn't read the Tribute to REZ, please, click on the link and check it out. This small 90 second or so is a name dropping treasure trove of CCM History. I will briefly mention that the reference is to Awaiting Your Reply (1978) the band's Major Label Debut on Star Song Records.
S: Dr. Livingston I presume!We now join the conversation in progress.
L: Why Stanley Ole chap, did you bring those rock and roll tapes that I requested?
S: Yes I did Doctor, I brought some Resurrection Band
L: Capitol! I was Awaiting Your Reply.
S: However, I lost the Daniel Amos in the river. It was a pity.The band and album referenced this time is Daniel Amos, and more specifically, the album Alarma! (1981) the band's fourth album. Losing Daniel Amos in the river is more than alarming, it is quite the tragedy.
L: How Alarming.
Christian music has always been a tale of two Taylors (and I don't mean Swift). In this case the two are Terry Scott Taylor of Daniel Amos (aka DA) and Clone (or is it Clown?) Prince and Political Skewerer (is that a word?) Steve Taylor. We shall eventually come round to Steve, but we shall stay with Terry Today.
Daniel Amos started out as a Country-Rock group at the Prime of the Jesus Music Era, though they were called Jubal's Last Band at the time. They Changed their name to Daniel Amos and released their eponymous debut in 1976. Yes, that's early but even Petra was earlier. By the time their third album Horrendous Disc (1978) they had seen the light and ditched country, becoming the Father of Alternative Rock (though some would attribute that to The Choir, which came along several years later. By the time Vox Humana came out in 1984, the band had a slight complaint.
I thought by now I'd walk the moonThe Song was titled "It's the eighties, where's our rocket packs". Well we didn't get rocket packs yet, at least not commercially available ones, but in the midst of break-ups and reunions, Daniel Amos is amazingly, still together and working on new material. A 2011 planned new album didn't pan out, but there is 2012 to hope for.
And ride a car without no tires
And have a robot run the vacuum
And date a girl made out of wires
No thing's don't change that much, do they?
We are still out of touch, by now we should discover
Just how to love each other, like Klattus' robot man
Your looks have killed again
UPDATE July 27, 2018: That 2011 Album was delayed for 2 years. In 2013 the band released Dig Here Said The Angel. I am considering a review. So we only have a 5 year hiatus. Good to hear that some of the "fathers" are still plugging away.
I finish this edition of Flashback Friday with Sanctuary from the Cornerstone Jesus Rally. Watch and enjoy. Until Next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Friday, July 20, 2018
Classic Rewind: Flashback Friday - REZ
In my continuing pursuit of audio excellence here at The Night Beat, I
am introducing a few regular "columns" to my Blog. The first one to
appear will be known as Flashback Friday and will bring my loyal readers
up to speed on the "Pioneers" of "Founders" of the Christian
Contemporary Music industry. For a quick cliff-notes on the Jesus
Music/Early CCM era a great source is the Skit at the end of Servants
Jungle Music
Of
course referenced in this short bit are Resurrection Band, Daniel Amos,
DeGarmo & Key, Barnabas, Petra, Fireworks, Sweet Comfort Band,
Servant and Larry Norman. There is no better place to Begin than at the
end. At the end of every post I sign off with Awaiting Your Reply. Which is the title of the "Debut" release by Chicago, IL Pioneers of Christian Metal Resurrection Band, aka REZ. One of Two Commune Based Bands (The other being Grant's Pass Oregon Based Servant which
will be covered in another post.) The Core of REZ from the start has
been the Husband-Wife Team of Glenn (Vocals, Guitar) & Wendi
Kaiser (Vocals). Wendi Was the Headbanger of the Duo and Glenn gave the
band a Blues twinged sound. After the Band broke up Glenn released
several blues albums. Stu Heiss (Guitar, Keyboard) and John Herrin
(drums) were the other "rocks" of REZ, during their 28 year run
(1972-2000) they went through 3 Bass Players. Pretty good considering
how some of the bands of today burn through members.
One place they did shine, however, was in Music. The Cornerstone Festival began in 1984 and has been a 4th of July Staple ever since. Coming as they have from the hard Rock/Metal background, the festival (known as C-Stone) has been a launching pad and a welcome venue for acts like Red, The Devil Wears Prada and others who would hardly be invited at other more enlightened festivals. This Summer at C-Stone, which was the 30th Anniversary of Jesus Making the Cover of Time, they had a Jesus Rally that was attended by REZ, Daniel Amos, Servant, Petra, Randy Stonehill and others. I am still hoping that some of these legends, other than Classic Petra, restart touring and recording.
That concludes my first Flashback Friday. I'll see you next Friday with another walk down CCM's History. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
S: Dr. Livingston I presume!
L: Why Stanly Ole chap, did you bring those rock and roll tapes that I requested?
S: Yes I did Doctor, I brought some Resurrection Band
L: Capitol! I was Awaiting Your Reply.
S: However, I lost the Daniel Amos in the river. It was a pity.
L: How Alarming.
S: But I did manage to get some DeGarmo and Key This Time Thru.
L: Splendid! This Ain't Hollywood you know. You can't get any decent rock and roll out here. It's a beastly jungle. I say, how's your old colleague Barnabas?
S: Oh, you know Barnabas. Never Say Die type that. I left him in Egypt studying Petra glyphs.
L: Jolly good. Jolly good.
S: I say, do you fancy Fireworks?
L: Why they're strictly forbidden. It Shatters the Darkness. One shot and the animals go quite crackers. The rockets red glare and all that.
S: Steady on. Steady on old boy. I think what you need is a little bit of Sweet Comfort.
L: Bless you Stanley! Why, I drink it all the time. Hold on Tight. You get the
glasses and I'll be Breaking the Ice!
S: No, no, Doctor. You've got it all wrong. Oh well. Now then, I also brought you some Servant.
L: Oh what a stroke of luck! Why two of my servants ran away last week. Larry and Normanly. They ran into the Shallow Water and the crocks got them. Poor blighters. Well, I suppose they're In Another Land now?
Of
course referenced in this short bit are Resurrection Band, Daniel Amos,
DeGarmo & Key, Barnabas, Petra, Fireworks, Sweet Comfort Band,
Servant and Larry Norman. There is no better place to Begin than at the
end. At the end of every post I sign off with Awaiting Your Reply. Which is the title of the "Debut" release by Chicago, IL Pioneers of Christian Metal Resurrection Band, aka REZ. One of Two Commune Based Bands (The other being Grant's Pass Oregon Based Servant which
will be covered in another post.) The Core of REZ from the start has
been the Husband-Wife Team of Glenn (Vocals, Guitar) & Wendi
Kaiser (Vocals). Wendi Was the Headbanger of the Duo and Glenn gave the
band a Blues twinged sound. After the Band broke up Glenn released
several blues albums. Stu Heiss (Guitar, Keyboard) and John Herrin
(drums) were the other "rocks" of REZ, during their 28 year run
(1972-2000) they went through 3 Bass Players. Pretty good considering
how some of the bands of today burn through members.
With two Indie Cassettes under their belt (1974's Music to Raise the Dead & All Your Life) the band was ready for the big time and released Awaiting Your Reply in
1978. Once the Industry recovered from their faint (It wasn't exactly
Nancy Honeytree or The Imperials) came the second punch. This band
wasn't exactly content to do Jesus, Jesus, Wo, Wo, Wo songs. They Took
on Lying (Ananias and Sapphira) but soon turned their attention to
Apartheid (Afrikaans on Rainbows end 1979) Abortion (Benny and Sue
on Colours 1980). A Picture (with Sound) says a million words. Here is
Love Comes Down as part of their XX Years Video.
Even
from before their beginning REZ was more than just a band. Cornerstone
Magazine started back in 1971, before the band even started, and had a
long run, finally going out of print in 2003. By the time I got it,
though, the love for the "Least of These" led them to unashamed support
of the fictional Palestinian crisis. It was the only magazine in my
remembrance that I asked to be removed from the mailing list.One place they did shine, however, was in Music. The Cornerstone Festival began in 1984 and has been a 4th of July Staple ever since. Coming as they have from the hard Rock/Metal background, the festival (known as C-Stone) has been a launching pad and a welcome venue for acts like Red, The Devil Wears Prada and others who would hardly be invited at other more enlightened festivals. This Summer at C-Stone, which was the 30th Anniversary of Jesus Making the Cover of Time, they had a Jesus Rally that was attended by REZ, Daniel Amos, Servant, Petra, Randy Stonehill and others. I am still hoping that some of these legends, other than Classic Petra, restart touring and recording.
That concludes my first Flashback Friday. I'll see you next Friday with another walk down CCM's History. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Friday, July 6, 2018
Flashback Friday: Summer Road Trip Edition
Summertime is here, and with it we here at Night Beat HQ are reminiscing about the road trip. Especially the Concert Road Trip. And while Summer is preferable, that is not necessarily the case, especially here in New England. I think it has something to do with the fact that ever since at least Elvis Presley, the recording labels are in Nashville and Memphis. And its hot there in the South. Actually all year round. So prime touring schedules seem to be September-June, excepting Summer Festivals.
Around here in great frozen North, that usually translates into a snow trip road trip at times, and the tours here tend to be brief stops, as in "ONLY NEW ENGLAND APPEARANCE", so it's move it or lose it time when your favorite band shows up
.
Move it was usually my choice. There was the weekly mini road trip just about every Friday to the Christ For You Coffeehouse in Braintree. (basement of the VFW hall) in the mid to late 70's where the 2nd or third tier bands played, usually for free. That's another story, but I'm talking about "Headliners".
The 70's was the Jesus Music Era, and we packed up the car to Boston and Tremont Temple to see Denny Corell (of Love Song Fame) and Nancy Honeytree. The sights weren't much to be seen, unless we got lost in the city and wound up driving through the "Combat Zone". No, we aren't talking about military conflict. It's an entirely different war going on there at the time.
The really big shoe at the time was the 2nd Chapter of Acts. In 1978 they were on their Mansion Builder tour. The showed up at Augusta, Maine and I (actually my parents, I was only 12 at the time), packed up the Honda Civic and set out. It took (according to google maps), 3.5 hours. In actuality at the time it was probably at least 4 hours each way. And I don't remember any bathroom or food stops along the way. Ah the things you do when you're young and stupid. Now that I'm (ahem) older, though sometimes still not so wise, I usually plan my road trips with plenty of Rest stops, though I don't factor in getting lost. By the way, not knowing where you are going, and thus making a long trip, doesn't qualify here. If that were so, a trip across town might qualify. Back to the present. Until next time, what was your longest road trip story? Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Friday, June 22, 2018
Flashback Friday: The Bootleg Boogie
If you've been with me for any considerable length of time know that I go way back in the area of Christian Music. Pretty much all music. I grew up listening to the Beatles, Paul McCartney and Wings, Chicago, Bad Company and The Eagles, among others. And of course I had a whole supply of 45's (ask your grandparents) from the 60's. Of course after I got born again I had a giant yard sale and sold it all and went pretty much all in to Christian Music. That would be 1975. These days I think that selling all those records was a big mistake.
Vinyl was coexisting nicely with the cassette tape, and while the walkman and its knock offs made things easy to listen to music on the go way before the invention of the iPod. The only drawback was it was play only. If you wanted to create a tape you needed a cassette tape recorder, commonly known as a tape recorder.
Somewhere between 9-12 inches long and about 4 pounds in weight, you would think that it would be to bulky to smuggle in to concert venues but that is exactly what we did. It was better during winter concerts as you could smuggle it under your winter coat.
(Image Courtesy of Pinterest and bing)
One of the excuses of people regarding sin has been "Hey, everybody is doing it". Well everybody may be a slight exaggeration, but it would not be much of a stretch to say that in a concert held in a college gymnasium which held about 1,000 people (small Northeastern Christian Colleges), about 25o would have a tape recorder. 25% is not everyone, but it was enough to make a successful bootleg record company a pipe dream. After all, the commercial value of a recording is partially based on the rarity of the product, and when a quarter of the audience has a bootleg copy, rarity is out the window. You would have to rely on quality.
And that was the other problem. An audio copy made with a cheap recording device with a 2 cent microphone set up over 50 feet (at least) from any sound source is bound to be less than stellar in quality. No one doing this was seated anywhere near the stage. But it was all about "The experience" being captured live. I mean why buy a studio recorded cassette when you could have one of these.
I am pretty sure the statute of limitations on these things are up. Certainly the cassette tapes have long since deteriorated. The dream remains alive, however. With the advent of the smartphone and Facebook and YouTube Live we can have our own television station. The Second Coming of MTV. I for one am glad to have a commercially produced live album and music video however.. Summer is here and with it Flashback Friday. Come with me to the 80's in my time machine. Until next Friday, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Vinyl was coexisting nicely with the cassette tape, and while the walkman and its knock offs made things easy to listen to music on the go way before the invention of the iPod. The only drawback was it was play only. If you wanted to create a tape you needed a cassette tape recorder, commonly known as a tape recorder.
Somewhere between 9-12 inches long and about 4 pounds in weight, you would think that it would be to bulky to smuggle in to concert venues but that is exactly what we did. It was better during winter concerts as you could smuggle it under your winter coat.
One of the excuses of people regarding sin has been "Hey, everybody is doing it". Well everybody may be a slight exaggeration, but it would not be much of a stretch to say that in a concert held in a college gymnasium which held about 1,000 people (small Northeastern Christian Colleges), about 25o would have a tape recorder. 25% is not everyone, but it was enough to make a successful bootleg record company a pipe dream. After all, the commercial value of a recording is partially based on the rarity of the product, and when a quarter of the audience has a bootleg copy, rarity is out the window. You would have to rely on quality.
And that was the other problem. An audio copy made with a cheap recording device with a 2 cent microphone set up over 50 feet (at least) from any sound source is bound to be less than stellar in quality. No one doing this was seated anywhere near the stage. But it was all about "The experience" being captured live. I mean why buy a studio recorded cassette when you could have one of these.
I am pretty sure the statute of limitations on these things are up. Certainly the cassette tapes have long since deteriorated. The dream remains alive, however. With the advent of the smartphone and Facebook and YouTube Live we can have our own television station. The Second Coming of MTV. I for one am glad to have a commercially produced live album and music video however.. Summer is here and with it Flashback Friday. Come with me to the 80's in my time machine. Until next Friday, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Friday, November 21, 2014
No More Meltdowns Goliath
The ratings system of the WENC Night Beat isn't exactly a closely guarded secret, but that doesn't mean that it's haphazard. One of the biggest factors, however, is expectations. With a debut artist, expectations, you would think, would be non-existent, but that really isn't true. In that case I judge them against the standard of what I feel would be the "Perfect Album" for the genre that they are in, or at least resemble for most of the album. Now in the case of an established artist, while I still have that perfect album in my mind, I also judge the album against what I feel is my expectations of a perfect album BY THAT ARTIST. Now sometimes an artists tries to make life difficult by promising never to make two albums that sound alike, like Project 86, but usually even there you can catch some similarities.
Now with a comeback things can get kind of crazy. And when an artists hasn't recorded an album in over 20 years. People change. But still, you can come up with something fairly accurate, as I did this past year with Sweet Comfort Band, which hadn't recorded in 30 years.
Speaking of crazy, it usually helps if the artist is certifiable, like Randy Stonehill or in this case Steve Taylor. After all age and maturity may pass, but crazy is forever. Goliath is the title of Taylor's return to the music industry. No longer saddled with just Some Band, he has finally found the Perfect Foil.
Now this isn't your daddy's Steve Taylor by any means (his heyday was between 1983-1987). The synthpop is gone. He never thought it aged well. Of course since I love techno and synthpop I have always begged to differ. There is no meltdown on this album or any tricks like Am I In Synch. A few throwbacks exist. Sympathy Vote has a distinct Whatever Happened to Sin vibe, but the sound is more mature. Mature sound, but the sarcasm (some might say venom, but it isn't) is still thick on tracks like Double Negative or Comedian ("I'm sick as a dog but I still fetch" is a new classic). The title track, a spin on the David/Goliath story in the Bible, has a video out. This is one mean little bunch.
I'm handing out candy here at +The WENC Night Beat as the Holiday Season approaches. Actually I seem to do it all year long. How else can you wind up with 30 or so perfect albums. I'm going to do it again, as I'm going to give Goliath
a perfect 5 Emerald Rating. It's good to have the Clone Prince behind the mic again. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Now with a comeback things can get kind of crazy. And when an artists hasn't recorded an album in over 20 years. People change. But still, you can come up with something fairly accurate, as I did this past year with Sweet Comfort Band, which hadn't recorded in 30 years.
Speaking of crazy, it usually helps if the artist is certifiable, like Randy Stonehill or in this case Steve Taylor. After all age and maturity may pass, but crazy is forever. Goliath is the title of Taylor's return to the music industry. No longer saddled with just Some Band, he has finally found the Perfect Foil.
Now this isn't your daddy's Steve Taylor by any means (his heyday was between 1983-1987). The synthpop is gone. He never thought it aged well. Of course since I love techno and synthpop I have always begged to differ. There is no meltdown on this album or any tricks like Am I In Synch. A few throwbacks exist. Sympathy Vote has a distinct Whatever Happened to Sin vibe, but the sound is more mature. Mature sound, but the sarcasm (some might say venom, but it isn't) is still thick on tracks like Double Negative or Comedian ("I'm sick as a dog but I still fetch" is a new classic). The title track, a spin on the David/Goliath story in the Bible, has a video out. This is one mean little bunch.
I'm handing out candy here at +The WENC Night Beat as the Holiday Season approaches. Actually I seem to do it all year long. How else can you wind up with 30 or so perfect albums. I'm going to do it again, as I'm going to give Goliath
a perfect 5 Emerald Rating. It's good to have the Clone Prince behind the mic again. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Friday, November 14, 2014
Flashback Friday: Return of The Clone Prince
No I didn't spell the title wrong, the word is cloned. No, this isn't a Bob Dylan Post. Don't worry, things will become clearer soon. I could have used Send in The Clones or A Clone Again (Naturally).
Earlier in our Flashback Friday journey we met Randy Stonehill, someone whom, while a great musician, also had a fairly warped sense of humor, and has been the counterbalance to the often over serious CCM Universe. While Uncle Randy may have been Christian Music's Clown Prince, our latest subject excelled not in humor but in biting satire.
Roland Steven Taylor was born December 9, 1957 in Southern California, the son of a Pastor. The family soon up an moved to Denver Colorado. Maybe it was a mis-wiring of the brain, maybe it was the lack of oxygen in Denver. Whatever the reason, it is quite obvious that Steve (aren't you glad he didn't go by Roland) Taylor doesn't think like the typical Christian, and while the Industry may have rued the day he was born, Christian College Students and DJ's loved him.
One of the few Academic Elites of Christian Music (alright, alright, he was a Music Major). He started his adult career as a Youth Minister and Janitor at his father's Church. Musically he says The Clash, specifically London Calling "saved his life". While at Colorado University he recorded a few demo songs, and he went to Southern California after graduation to try to get signed by a mainstream label. He was unsuccessful, but one man, Jim Chaffee, was impressed and got him a job as assistant director of The Continentals.
Anyone who knows of Taylor's music knows he wasn't anything like the continentals. Chaffee got him another job, this time with Chuck Bolte's Jeremiah People, a Musical Comedy Troupe with heavy doses of satire. I remember them back in the 80's. They were great. Of course for pure comedy value Isaac Air Freight was superior.
Chaffee's Cheer leading finally paid off when he convinced Tayor's first boss, Cam Floria, founder of The Continentals, to give Taylor a two song slot at his Christian Artists Conference in Estes Park, Colorado. Maybe it was the home crowd, but the Crowd Acclaim convinced Billy Ray Hearn, President of Sparrow Records, to sign Taylor as he came off the stage.
1986 brought Limelight, a filler EP recorded in London during the 1985 Greenbelt Festival. 1987 Gave us "I Predict, 1990, an album which was more controversial than successful. It was attacked for its cover by some who thought that there were images of Tarot Cards on it (there weren't). Jimmy Swaggart included an entire chapter of his book Religious Rock and Roll, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing on Taylor, and even the NOW gang was outraged when they protested against the song I Blew Up The Clinic Real Good. Considering that Taylor's forte was Satire, that meant that the NOW gang actually was protesting for bombing, since Taylor was saying it was wrong. Tayor Retired soon after I Predict, 1990, but soon resurfaced as frontman of the MCA band Chagall Guevara (don't be ashamed if you can't pronounce it). This is Violent Blue Taylor returned for one more album, Squint in 1993. This is Cash Cow.
Taylor has had a very busy retirement. He has produced 5 Newsboys albums, as well as Guardians Buzz and Bottle Rocket, among others, and his Label Squint Entertainment brought both Sixpence None The Richer and Chevelle to the limelight. That's a nice ending Cash Cow-Hat's off to the bull.
Recently Taylor has turned to the Movies. He is the Director of Blue Like Jazz, which came out this year. Of course his fans wish, even now, that he would make another album. We need his satire more today than ever. After all there is only one Steve Taylor. We can't clone him.
UPDATE 2014: The Clone Prince Is Back. He's still working with Peter Furler and Guardian and the like, but like a true artist, he just cant stay retired. His latest band is called Steve Taylor and The Perfect Foil. The Debut album, and its video is called Goliath. That is it for this week. I Am Awaiting Your Reply.
Earlier in our Flashback Friday journey we met Randy Stonehill, someone whom, while a great musician, also had a fairly warped sense of humor, and has been the counterbalance to the often over serious CCM Universe. While Uncle Randy may have been Christian Music's Clown Prince, our latest subject excelled not in humor but in biting satire.
Roland Steven Taylor was born December 9, 1957 in Southern California, the son of a Pastor. The family soon up an moved to Denver Colorado. Maybe it was a mis-wiring of the brain, maybe it was the lack of oxygen in Denver. Whatever the reason, it is quite obvious that Steve (aren't you glad he didn't go by Roland) Taylor doesn't think like the typical Christian, and while the Industry may have rued the day he was born, Christian College Students and DJ's loved him.
One of the few Academic Elites of Christian Music (alright, alright, he was a Music Major). He started his adult career as a Youth Minister and Janitor at his father's Church. Musically he says The Clash, specifically London Calling "saved his life". While at Colorado University he recorded a few demo songs, and he went to Southern California after graduation to try to get signed by a mainstream label. He was unsuccessful, but one man, Jim Chaffee, was impressed and got him a job as assistant director of The Continentals.
Anyone who knows of Taylor's music knows he wasn't anything like the continentals. Chaffee got him another job, this time with Chuck Bolte's Jeremiah People, a Musical Comedy Troupe with heavy doses of satire. I remember them back in the 80's. They were great. Of course for pure comedy value Isaac Air Freight was superior.
Chaffee's Cheer leading finally paid off when he convinced Tayor's first boss, Cam Floria, founder of The Continentals, to give Taylor a two song slot at his Christian Artists Conference in Estes Park, Colorado. Maybe it was the home crowd, but the Crowd Acclaim convinced Billy Ray Hearn, President of Sparrow Records, to sign Taylor as he came off the stage.
Clone Wars
I Want To Be A Clone (1983) was a hit. The Six Song EP sold 85,000 copies, and in an industry dominated at the time by The Imperials, that was quite a showing. Christian Kids everywhere were introduced to attitude. Taylor launched his sarcastic wit directly on the Church, as Clone focused on the Christian Churches penchant for turning out cookie cutter Christians. Churchianity as it is called. Let Taylor tell you in his own way.
Taylor's Meltdown
Meltdown (1984) was Taylor's full length debut, and anyone worried that he couldn't find enough targets to fill an album needn't have worried. The title cut focused on our celebrity obsession, and was sparked by a trip to Madame Tussuad's Wax Museum. He saw the statues and wondered "What would happen if someone turned up the heat". Kids, remember, he only THOUGHT it. Due to clone's success he decided to form a permanent touring band. He raided the studio musicians from clone to do it, and lest we forget who was the real star, he named them Some Band, as in Steve Taylor and Some Band. Meltdown was Taylor's first Music Video, and it also "starred" Lisa Welchel (The Facts of Life) in a supporting role as a TV Reporter.
Two memorable songs came out of Meltdown. While the title cut focused on our obsession with celebrity, the other song targeted bigotry in the Church, and apartheid as well. This is We Don't Need No Color Code Taylor was on a roll, and he kept up a pace of an album a year. Taylor's fertile mind, 80's Pop Culture, and the budding Televangelism Scandals, provided plenty of material for Taylor's Wit to focus on. For On The Fritz (1985) Taylor, in a most memorable "Fashion" turned his satire on the Public School system and the practice of teaching "Values Clarification". to the young skulls full of mush. For the song "Lifeboat" and its accompanying Music Video, Taylor enlisted the support of Mrs. Aryan "the world's ugliest woman". See if you agree. Even though I went to Public School, I seem to have missed out on the Lifeboat game. That's not saying I had to fight liberal indoctrination. Even though I wasn't tasked with deciding who lives and who dies, I did hear about "situational ethics". You know the drill "In certain situations Lying, Stealing, Cheating, etc is the best thing to do. People's feelings will be hurt or worse if you told them the truth. For the poster boy of the teaching, look no further than our 42nd President, William Jefferson Clinton.1986 brought Limelight, a filler EP recorded in London during the 1985 Greenbelt Festival. 1987 Gave us "I Predict, 1990, an album which was more controversial than successful. It was attacked for its cover by some who thought that there were images of Tarot Cards on it (there weren't). Jimmy Swaggart included an entire chapter of his book Religious Rock and Roll, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing on Taylor, and even the NOW gang was outraged when they protested against the song I Blew Up The Clinic Real Good. Considering that Taylor's forte was Satire, that meant that the NOW gang actually was protesting for bombing, since Taylor was saying it was wrong. Tayor Retired soon after I Predict, 1990, but soon resurfaced as frontman of the MCA band Chagall Guevara (don't be ashamed if you can't pronounce it). This is Violent Blue Taylor returned for one more album, Squint in 1993. This is Cash Cow.
Taylor has had a very busy retirement. He has produced 5 Newsboys albums, as well as Guardians Buzz and Bottle Rocket, among others, and his Label Squint Entertainment brought both Sixpence None The Richer and Chevelle to the limelight. That's a nice ending Cash Cow-Hat's off to the bull.
Recently Taylor has turned to the Movies. He is the Director of Blue Like Jazz, which came out this year. Of course his fans wish, even now, that he would make another album. We need his satire more today than ever. After all there is only one Steve Taylor. We can't clone him.
UPDATE 2014: The Clone Prince Is Back. He's still working with Peter Furler and Guardian and the like, but like a true artist, he just cant stay retired. His latest band is called Steve Taylor and The Perfect Foil. The Debut album, and its video is called Goliath. That is it for this week. I Am Awaiting Your Reply.
Friday, October 10, 2014
A Classic Replay: Flashback Friday - Mansion Builder
Once upon a time there were three siblings with a love for music. No, this isn't about the Jonas Brothers, nor is it about Barlowgirl. Those were all good guesses, though. Today's edition of Flashback Friday is about the Ward Kids, Matthew, Annie, and Nelly, who became famous in the 70's as the 2nd Chapter of Acts.
SCA began in 1973 at the beginning of the Jesus Music Era of Christian Music. A Little bit Rock and Roll but a lot more Adult Contemporary. Their first release was With Footnotes (1974), which gave us the memorable Easter Song, which CCM Magazine says is the #4 Christian Song of all time. Here is a better version of that song live than the one I posted during Easter.
A Year later In The Volume of The Book (1975) came out. One of the songs on this album was titled Last Day of My Life. It's an early rock foray, but It has the most beautiful harmonies. Unfortunately the clip I had originally shared was deleted so I have nothing for this album at the moment.
I was introduced to the 2nd Chapter a little later and only picked up on the earlier stuff later. My first foray into the band, at the same time I was into harder acts like Petra and Servant, was Mansion Builder (1978) This is a live video of the song, along with an Annie Classic, the pro life anthem Killing Thousands.
I stayed up to date with SCA for a few years after Mansion Builder but as I grew older my tastes got louder. Petra satisfied for a while, but even they got too tame for me, and by the time I got to college I was introduced to the wonderful world of Christian Heavy Metal (Stryper, Whitecross, Barren Cross, Sacred Warrior and others), this was before the thrash metal age with its gravelly growls. If you can't get a hold of good 80's Christian Metal from the era, the next best thing these days is Montreal based band Blessed By A Broken Heart, not to be confused by Mylon LeFevre and Broken Heart, which we will cover later on.
The Second Chapter of Acts officially broke up in 1988 after a fifteen year career. They were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999. There hasn't been harmonies on this scale in Christian Music for a long time. I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Until the next Flashback Friday, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
SCA began in 1973 at the beginning of the Jesus Music Era of Christian Music. A Little bit Rock and Roll but a lot more Adult Contemporary. Their first release was With Footnotes (1974), which gave us the memorable Easter Song, which CCM Magazine says is the #4 Christian Song of all time. Here is a better version of that song live than the one I posted during Easter.
A Year later In The Volume of The Book (1975) came out. One of the songs on this album was titled Last Day of My Life. It's an early rock foray, but It has the most beautiful harmonies. Unfortunately the clip I had originally shared was deleted so I have nothing for this album at the moment.
I was introduced to the 2nd Chapter a little later and only picked up on the earlier stuff later. My first foray into the band, at the same time I was into harder acts like Petra and Servant, was Mansion Builder (1978) This is a live video of the song, along with an Annie Classic, the pro life anthem Killing Thousands.
I stayed up to date with SCA for a few years after Mansion Builder but as I grew older my tastes got louder. Petra satisfied for a while, but even they got too tame for me, and by the time I got to college I was introduced to the wonderful world of Christian Heavy Metal (Stryper, Whitecross, Barren Cross, Sacred Warrior and others), this was before the thrash metal age with its gravelly growls. If you can't get a hold of good 80's Christian Metal from the era, the next best thing these days is Montreal based band Blessed By A Broken Heart, not to be confused by Mylon LeFevre and Broken Heart, which we will cover later on.
The Second Chapter of Acts officially broke up in 1988 after a fifteen year career. They were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999. There hasn't been harmonies on this scale in Christian Music for a long time. I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Until the next Flashback Friday, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Flashback Friday: Mansion Builder
Once upon a time there were three siblings with a love for music. No, this isn't about the Jonas Brothers, nor is it about Barlowgirl. Those were all good guesses, though. Today's edition of Flashback Friday is about the Ward Kids, Matthew, Annie, and Nelly, who became famous in the 70's as the 2nd Chapter of Acts.
SCA began in 1973 at the beginning of the Jesus Music Era of Christian Music. A Little bit Rock and Roll but a lot more Adult Contemporary. Their first release was With Footnotes (1974), which gave us the memorable Easter Song, which CCM Magazine says is the #4 Christian Song of all time. Here is a better version of that song live than the one I posted during Easter.
I was introduced to the 2nd Chapter a little later and only picked up on the earlier stuff later. My first foray into the band, at the same time I was into harder acts like Petra and Servant, was Mansion Builder (1978) This is a live reunion video of that song.
I stayed up to date with SCA for a few years after Mansion Builder but as I grew older my tastes got louder. Petra satisfied for a while, but even they got too tame for me, and by the time I got to college I was introduced to the wonderful world of Christian Heavy Metal (Stryper, Whitecross, Barren Cross, Sacred Warrior and others), this was before the thrash metal age with its gravelly growls. If you can't get a hold of good 80's Christian Metal from the era, the next best thing these days is Montreal based band Blessed By A Broken Heart, not to be confused by Mylon LeFevre and Broken Heart, which we will cover later on.
The Second Chapter of Acts officially broke up in 1988 after a fifteen year career. They were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999. There hasn't been harmonies on this scale in Christian Music for a long time. I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Until the next Flashback Friday, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
SCA began in 1973 at the beginning of the Jesus Music Era of Christian Music. A Little bit Rock and Roll but a lot more Adult Contemporary. Their first release was With Footnotes (1974), which gave us the memorable Easter Song, which CCM Magazine says is the #4 Christian Song of all time. Here is a better version of that song live than the one I posted during Easter.
I was introduced to the 2nd Chapter a little later and only picked up on the earlier stuff later. My first foray into the band, at the same time I was into harder acts like Petra and Servant, was Mansion Builder (1978) This is a live reunion video of that song.
I stayed up to date with SCA for a few years after Mansion Builder but as I grew older my tastes got louder. Petra satisfied for a while, but even they got too tame for me, and by the time I got to college I was introduced to the wonderful world of Christian Heavy Metal (Stryper, Whitecross, Barren Cross, Sacred Warrior and others), this was before the thrash metal age with its gravelly growls. If you can't get a hold of good 80's Christian Metal from the era, the next best thing these days is Montreal based band Blessed By A Broken Heart, not to be confused by Mylon LeFevre and Broken Heart, which we will cover later on.
The Second Chapter of Acts officially broke up in 1988 after a fifteen year career. They were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999. There hasn't been harmonies on this scale in Christian Music for a long time. I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Until the next Flashback Friday, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Friday, September 26, 2014
A Classic Replay: Flashback Friday - A Real Guitar Hero
Welcome to another Classic Replay of Flashback Friday. Today's Post, which originally posted on April 20, 2012 can be found buy clicking on the link. Since there may be some broken link issues after two years, I am re-posting it below. Enjoy.
Here are some statistics for you. A career now in its sixth decade, over forty studio albums, seven live releases, and other music credits two numerous to mention in this blog post. And let's not forget the Seven Dove Awards between 1987 and 2002 (all for Instrumental Album of The Year). Is it any wonder why I called my award for the best guitarist in CCM the Keaggy Award.
Philip Tyler Keaggy (b. March 23, 1951 in Youngstown, OH), one of ten siblings. Though losing one of his fingers in a childhood accident, he took to the guitar. He started his musical career with the Squires in the 1960's, but he really came into his own as a member of Glass Harp. Here is a video of them from the 70's. Phil is the one with short hair and beard.
Glass Harp
put out three albums: Glass Harp (1970), Synergy (1971) and It Makes Me Glad (1972). Keaggy left after the third album and the group never entered the studio without him. Since he accepted Christ at about the same time as he joined the band, the music of Glass Harp has been long accepted as a Christian Band of sorts, though it is officially a mainstream group.
What a Day (1973) was Phil's debut. The song is about the joy we will have in Heaven, and it is always masterful on acoustic guitar. This video is an extended acoustic version of around six minutes in length. Listen and watch in awe.
Three years elapsed in between Phil Keaggy's debut and his sophomore release. During that time Keith Green and Randy Stonehill wrote Your Love Broke Through, and legend has it that Green personally chose Keaggy to be the first to record the song. If that is true then he was a tremendous judge of the impact that this budding guitarist would have on the CCM community. Not surprisingly, Love Broke Thru (1976) was a breakout album. Here is Your Love Broke Through as performed by Phil.
During his forty plus album career Phil has blessed us with several instrumental masterpieces. To me, one of the most memorable of these was The Wind and The Wheat (1987). I was in college at the time and when it was time to do my senior project, I used this album as my slide presentation soundtrack. I took the easy route. I just hit record and let it play. It was a whole lot easier than trying to find the right piece. When you hear his music, can you pick a wrong piece. This is a short one from the album.
As Steve Jobs would say "One More Thing". How about a live guitar solo.
While doing research for this post I discovered an album recorded by Keaggy that will be a shoe-in for the Platinum Vinyl Awards this year. Live From Kegworth Studio
. It will definitely win the Keaggy award.
I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. Everyone acknowledges that Phil Keaggy is one of the top 10 guitarists in the world. I wonder who #2 to #10 are? As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Here are some statistics for you. A career now in its sixth decade, over forty studio albums, seven live releases, and other music credits two numerous to mention in this blog post. And let's not forget the Seven Dove Awards between 1987 and 2002 (all for Instrumental Album of The Year). Is it any wonder why I called my award for the best guitarist in CCM the Keaggy Award.
Philip Tyler Keaggy (b. March 23, 1951 in Youngstown, OH), one of ten siblings. Though losing one of his fingers in a childhood accident, he took to the guitar. He started his musical career with the Squires in the 1960's, but he really came into his own as a member of Glass Harp. Here is a video of them from the 70's. Phil is the one with short hair and beard.
Glass Harp
put out three albums: Glass Harp (1970), Synergy (1971) and It Makes Me Glad (1972). Keaggy left after the third album and the group never entered the studio without him. Since he accepted Christ at about the same time as he joined the band, the music of Glass Harp has been long accepted as a Christian Band of sorts, though it is officially a mainstream group.What a Day
(1973) was Phil's debut. The song is about the joy we will have in Heaven, and it is always masterful on acoustic guitar. This video is an extended acoustic version of around six minutes in length. Listen and watch in awe.Three years elapsed in between Phil Keaggy's debut and his sophomore release. During that time Keith Green and Randy Stonehill wrote Your Love Broke Through, and legend has it that Green personally chose Keaggy to be the first to record the song. If that is true then he was a tremendous judge of the impact that this budding guitarist would have on the CCM community. Not surprisingly, Love Broke Thru
(1976) was a breakout album. Here is Your Love Broke Through as performed by Phil.During his forty plus album career Phil has blessed us with several instrumental masterpieces. To me, one of the most memorable of these was The Wind and The Wheat
(1987). I was in college at the time and when it was time to do my senior project, I used this album as my slide presentation soundtrack. I took the easy route. I just hit record and let it play. It was a whole lot easier than trying to find the right piece. When you hear his music, can you pick a wrong piece. This is a short one from the album.As Steve Jobs would say "One More Thing". How about a live guitar solo.
While doing research for this post I discovered an album recorded by Keaggy that will be a shoe-in for the Platinum Vinyl Awards this year. Live From Kegworth Studio
. It will definitely win the Keaggy award.I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. Everyone acknowledges that Phil Keaggy is one of the top 10 guitarists in the world. I wonder who #2 to #10 are? As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Friday, September 19, 2014
A Classic Replay: Flashback Friday - Love Beyond Reason
We are returning to some sort of normalcy here at Night Beat HQ. With the Video and Song Awards announced on social media, and only wrap posts to do here on the blog, I thought it time to return to our regularly scheduled programming.
Welcome to the latest edition of Flashback Friday, where we bring the modern music enthusiast up to speed on some of their history. After all, if you don't know where you've come from, how can you know where you're going.
Round Two of Flashback Friday centers around the Classic Christian Song Love Broke Through. There were four people involved in the song, but we are concentrating only on three of them. Two were involved in the writing, Keith Green and Randy Stonehill. One made the song famous in the singing and performance, Phil Keaggy. Last week we covered Keith Green. This week it's Uncle Randy time.
Sometimes, in the straight laced world of Christian Music, and artist emerges which most people may think is (slightly?) deranged. Of course such non-conventional behavior just assure that the kids will love him. Such is Randy Stonehill, or as he is affectionately known, Uncle Randy. Musically he is stylistically linked to James Tayor, though his fans love him because he acts like Robin Williams. Of course, while he may have a crazy manic persona, he is still relatively down to earth. I mean, to my knowledge, Uncle Randy has never donned a dress and heels for a music video or in concert (Steve Taylor, Lifeboat. But that's another post altogether.
We will begin our musical tour with a live video of Randy performing Your Love Broke Through.
This is a great video if your purpose is showing off Randy's Acoustic Guitar talent, which is beyond question. It does little to show the twisted sense of humor that he has. So from the sublime to the ridiculous, we will go to one of the DJ favorites during my college days (and the bane of the administration. He belches in the song) American Fast Food which was on Equator (1982)
A straight up Christian Song, but the Concept Video shows his sense of humor nicely. This is gods of men from Love Beyond Reason. (the video isn't great, but the song is)
One more humorous video. This is the title cut off Love Beyond Reason. I'm only disappointed that the beginning was edited. It had Randy asking to drive the tour bus ("How Hard Could It Be") and the long and winding road they took until it said, "from our Lost Somewhere in Central America Tour".
Randy Stonehill has quite a body of work. The link is just to mp3 albums alone. Discovered by the great Larry Norman, he released his debut album (and it was an album at the time), Born Twice, way back in 1971, and he is still recording. His latest is Spirit Walk, which was released last September. He's still got it. FYI, this is his 24th Studio Album. Rock On Uncle Randy.
It is probably appropriate to have a post on one of the more unbalanced fathers of Christian Rock be somewhat unbalanced itself, but I still apologize. Next weeks Flashback Friday should be a bit more even as we move on to Phil Keaggy. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Welcome to the latest edition of Flashback Friday, where we bring the modern music enthusiast up to speed on some of their history. After all, if you don't know where you've come from, how can you know where you're going.
Round Two of Flashback Friday centers around the Classic Christian Song Love Broke Through. There were four people involved in the song, but we are concentrating only on three of them. Two were involved in the writing, Keith Green and Randy Stonehill. One made the song famous in the singing and performance, Phil Keaggy. Last week we covered Keith Green. This week it's Uncle Randy time.
Sometimes, in the straight laced world of Christian Music, and artist emerges which most people may think is (slightly?) deranged. Of course such non-conventional behavior just assure that the kids will love him. Such is Randy Stonehill, or as he is affectionately known, Uncle Randy. Musically he is stylistically linked to James Tayor, though his fans love him because he acts like Robin Williams. Of course, while he may have a crazy manic persona, he is still relatively down to earth. I mean, to my knowledge, Uncle Randy has never donned a dress and heels for a music video or in concert (Steve Taylor, Lifeboat. But that's another post altogether.
We will begin our musical tour with a live video of Randy performing Your Love Broke Through.
This is a great video if your purpose is showing off Randy's Acoustic Guitar talent, which is beyond question. It does little to show the twisted sense of humor that he has. So from the sublime to the ridiculous, we will go to one of the DJ favorites during my college days (and the bane of the administration. He belches in the song) American Fast Food which was on Equator (1982)
A straight up Christian Song, but the Concept Video shows his sense of humor nicely. This is gods of men from Love Beyond Reason. (the video isn't great, but the song is)
One more humorous video. This is the title cut off Love Beyond Reason. I'm only disappointed that the beginning was edited. It had Randy asking to drive the tour bus ("How Hard Could It Be") and the long and winding road they took until it said, "from our Lost Somewhere in Central America Tour".
Randy Stonehill
has quite a body of work. The link is just to mp3 albums alone. Discovered by the great Larry Norman, he released his debut album (and it was an album at the time), Born Twice, way back in 1971, and he is still recording. His latest is Spirit Walk, which was released last September. He's still got it. FYI, this is his 24th Studio Album. Rock On Uncle Randy. It is probably appropriate to have a post on one of the more unbalanced fathers of Christian Rock be somewhat unbalanced itself, but I still apologize. Next weeks Flashback Friday should be a bit more even as we move on to Phil Keaggy. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Friday, August 15, 2014
A Classic Replay: Flashback Friday: Would You Like Fries With Your Mannaburger?
We've moved past the Jungle Music Skit here at The Night Beat as we work on Classic Replays of Flashback Friday. We are still in the 70's, which is a treasure trove of Classic Music. It was the Jesus Music era, after all.
We're still stuck in the Seventies here at The Night Beat, though we have finished with the Jungle Music skit. The Eighties may have been CCM's Golden Age, but it's birth came in the Seventies, give or take a few years.
Part of the fun of the early CCM era came because a few of the top acts were somewhat certifiable, or at least came with a very twisted sense of humor. Now in the eighties Steve Taylor pretty much ran away with the title of Clown Prince (or is it Clone Prince), but at the start there were two, and as good fortune would have it they are united in a group of three which we will discuss in our next series of Flashback Friday posts.
Our trio happens to be CCM Legends Keith Green, Randy Stonehill, and Phil Keaggy. They all came together through one song, Love Broke Through. The song was written by Stonehill and Green, along with another person, Todd Fishkind, and was famously recorded by Keaggy. Just to make things certain, Stonehill and Green were the demented ones, and that made them all the more loved.
We are going to start with Keith Green, if only because he is the only one of the three which is no longer with us.
Keith Green (October 21, 1953 - July 28, 1982) was a musical prodigy. According to his bio on Wikipedia he had learned the Ukulele by age 3, the guitar by 5 and the piano by 7. Don't get depressed. By the age of 11 he had already written 40 Songs and was on the verge of being signed by DECCA as a teen idol. Of Jewish Heritage and raised in a Christian Science background, Green became a Christian in 1972 and he and his wife Melody soon started a music ministry soon afterward.
Keith released Seven studio albums in his brief career. Actually, only four were released when he was alive For Him Who Has Ears To Hear (1977), No Compromise (1978), So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt (1980) and Songs For The Shepherd (1982). His wife Melody released another three albums posthumously, though these were originals and not best of's. I Only Want to See You There (1983), The Prodigal Son (1983) and Jesus Commands Us To Go (1984) rounded out the list.
I am going to give you three video treats to introduce you to this great musician, who was taken from us tragically way before his time, in a plane crash in 1982, at the tender age of 29. It's hard to believe he would only be 61 this fall. I will start with the song that united Keaggy, Stonehill and Green, Love Broke Through.
We will go next to He'll Take Care of the Rest, which shows why Keith was often compared to Elton John in style.
And finally, to confirm what I said about slightly certifiable, this is So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt.
That concludes this edition of Flashback Friday. We will return next Friday with the second artist of the triad, Randy Stonehill. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Oh, by the way. To answer the question posed in the title. For forty years the answer would have been "what else is there? It would have been the manna burger with manna fries and a manna shake. Possibly out of the great mercy of God, nobody was allowed to super-size.
We're still stuck in the Seventies here at The Night Beat, though we have finished with the Jungle Music skit. The Eighties may have been CCM's Golden Age, but it's birth came in the Seventies, give or take a few years.
Part of the fun of the early CCM era came because a few of the top acts were somewhat certifiable, or at least came with a very twisted sense of humor. Now in the eighties Steve Taylor pretty much ran away with the title of Clown Prince (or is it Clone Prince), but at the start there were two, and as good fortune would have it they are united in a group of three which we will discuss in our next series of Flashback Friday posts.
Our trio happens to be CCM Legends Keith Green, Randy Stonehill, and Phil Keaggy. They all came together through one song, Love Broke Through. The song was written by Stonehill and Green, along with another person, Todd Fishkind, and was famously recorded by Keaggy. Just to make things certain, Stonehill and Green were the demented ones, and that made them all the more loved.
We are going to start with Keith Green, if only because he is the only one of the three which is no longer with us.
Keith Green
(October 21, 1953 - July 28, 1982) was a musical prodigy. According to his bio on Wikipedia he had learned the Ukulele by age 3, the guitar by 5 and the piano by 7. Don't get depressed. By the age of 11 he had already written 40 Songs and was on the verge of being signed by DECCA as a teen idol. Of Jewish Heritage and raised in a Christian Science background, Green became a Christian in 1972 and he and his wife Melody soon started a music ministry soon afterward.Keith released Seven studio albums in his brief career. Actually, only four were released when he was alive For Him Who Has Ears To Hear
(1977), No Compromise (1978), So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt (1980) and Songs For The Shepherd (1982). His wife Melody released another three albums posthumously, though these were originals and not best of's. I Only Want to See You There (1983), The Prodigal Son (1983) and Jesus Commands Us To Go (1984) rounded out the list.I am going to give you three video treats to introduce you to this great musician, who was taken from us tragically way before his time, in a plane crash in 1982, at the tender age of 29. It's hard to believe he would only be 61 this fall. I will start with the song that united Keaggy, Stonehill and Green, Love Broke Through.
We will go next to He'll Take Care of the Rest, which shows why Keith was often compared to Elton John in style.
And finally, to confirm what I said about slightly certifiable, this is So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt.
That concludes this edition of Flashback Friday. We will return next Friday with the second artist of the triad, Randy Stonehill. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Oh, by the way. To answer the question posed in the title. For forty years the answer would have been "what else is there? It would have been the manna burger with manna fries and a manna shake. Possibly out of the great mercy of God, nobody was allowed to super-size.
Friday, August 8, 2014
A Classic Replay: Flashback Friday - Swimming In A Human Ocean
We come to the end of our Journey through the Jungle Music Skit to the point where it all began, with the authors themselves. Servant. Servant, also known inexplicably as The Servant to Amazon, was born out of a commune, more specifically the Highway Missionary Society of Grants Pass, Oregon, which was later renamed The Servant Community.
Servant was a Rock Pioneer in so many ways. A Female Lead (Sandie Brock), multiple costume changes and skits, Laser Lights, Rock opera, smoke and flash. They were the bands of the early eighties. Petra was their opening act, not as you would expect, the other way around.
We would be amiss if we did not begin with the well used "Jungle Music" skit, a pioneer of its own in name dropping. At the conclusion of the skit, Stanley is completely frustrated with Livingstone at his misunderstanding his recitation of the Rock and Roll tapes that he brought with him. He tries one more time.
(1979), the band's debut album. Of course by this time they were on their third release, with Rockin Revival (1981) and World of Sand (1982) filling out the schedule. I was privileged to see them three times, during their Rockin Revival, World of Sand and Swimming In A Human Ocean (1985) tours. They also had two other albums: Caught In The Act of Loving Him (1983) and Light Maneuvers (1984). The band remained mostly intact during its run, with the exception of Tim Spransy taking over Lead guitar on founding member Bruce Wright's death in 1985. Another member of the Spransy family, Matt Spransy, had joined the band on Keyboards back in 1981 when they added synths. Other than that the changes were fairly minor, with Eric Odell taking second lead from Bob Hardy in 1984 and Sam Evans on drums in 1985.
Partly due to their commune lifestyle, the Prosperity Message of the Word of Faith Churches were a frequent target for the band. Not surprisingly, the lyrics to those songs showed a profound ignorance of the message of prosperity. They though it was simply about me, me, me. If you give up everything and become poor, you can not help the poor. You need help yourself. Fortunately for those who believed that way, there was plenty more to enjoy from the band, and we weren't offended by the attacks.
I have a few YouTube audio clips for you. First up is Holy Roller Blues from Shallow Water. Now I don't know who did the lead on the album, but if it was the same as the live concert, it would have been Bruce Wright.
Next up was Rockin Revival. We have an audio clip from the album, and it's ad man. It is a pretty humorous song, though quite anti-commercial. We do have a treat with World of Sand, however. This is the full album. The album is awesome, though I will point out two in particular. The Jungle Music song begins at the 11:20 point, and the Sudden Death/Come Jesus Come Rock Opera goes from 28:55 to 40:35. Both are not to be missed.
Caught in the Act of Loving Him was up next in their career. One of my favorite songs from this album was about Forgiveness. It was called Heart to Heart.
Light Maneuvers gave the band another CCM Top 40 release in We are The Light.
It all came to an end much too soon with the release of Swimming In a Human Ocean. Of course the band was totally transformed by then.Only Owen and Sandie Brock and Rob Martens on Bass went pole to pole. We have an audio of Look Through His Eyes to close things out.
That closes out the first round of Flashback Friday. We are still technically caught in the seventies. I am trying to do things by the first release for dating a band. There is still much more for the decade. Still to come is Phil Keaggy, Randy Stonehill, Keith Green, Amy Grant, and The 2nd Chapter of Acts, and I'm not even done with the seventies again. Stay with me, this is a never ending column every Friday. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Servant was a Rock Pioneer in so many ways. A Female Lead (Sandie Brock), multiple costume changes and skits, Laser Lights, Rock opera, smoke and flash. They were the bands of the early eighties. Petra was their opening act, not as you would expect, the other way around.
We would be amiss if we did not begin with the well used "Jungle Music" skit, a pioneer of its own in name dropping. At the conclusion of the skit, Stanley is completely frustrated with Livingstone at his misunderstanding his recitation of the Rock and Roll tapes that he brought with him. He tries one more time.
S: No, No, Doctor, you've got it all wrong. Oh well. Now then, I've also brought you some Servant.
Last time we covered the reference to Larry Norman in this short bit. This week we go to the self reference. The band referenced, of course, is Servant, the song's author. The album referenced was Shallow WaterL: Oh, what a stroke of luck, why two of my servants ran away last week, Larry and Normany. They ran into the shallow water and the crocks got them. Oh well. I suppose they're in another land now.
(1979), the band's debut album. Of course by this time they were on their third release, with Rockin Revival (1981) and World of Sand (1982) filling out the schedule. I was privileged to see them three times, during their Rockin Revival, World of Sand and Swimming In A Human Ocean (1985) tours. They also had two other albums: Caught In The Act of Loving Him (1983) and Light Maneuvers (1984). The band remained mostly intact during its run, with the exception of Tim Spransy taking over Lead guitar on founding member Bruce Wright's death in 1985. Another member of the Spransy family, Matt Spransy, had joined the band on Keyboards back in 1981 when they added synths. Other than that the changes were fairly minor, with Eric Odell taking second lead from Bob Hardy in 1984 and Sam Evans on drums in 1985.Partly due to their commune lifestyle, the Prosperity Message of the Word of Faith Churches were a frequent target for the band. Not surprisingly, the lyrics to those songs showed a profound ignorance of the message of prosperity. They though it was simply about me, me, me. If you give up everything and become poor, you can not help the poor. You need help yourself. Fortunately for those who believed that way, there was plenty more to enjoy from the band, and we weren't offended by the attacks.
I have a few YouTube audio clips for you. First up is Holy Roller Blues from Shallow Water. Now I don't know who did the lead on the album, but if it was the same as the live concert, it would have been Bruce Wright.
Next up was Rockin Revival. We have an audio clip from the album, and it's ad man. It is a pretty humorous song, though quite anti-commercial. We do have a treat with World of Sand, however. This is the full album. The album is awesome, though I will point out two in particular. The Jungle Music song begins at the 11:20 point, and the Sudden Death/Come Jesus Come Rock Opera goes from 28:55 to 40:35. Both are not to be missed.
Caught in the Act of Loving Him was up next in their career. One of my favorite songs from this album was about Forgiveness. It was called Heart to Heart.
Light Maneuvers gave the band another CCM Top 40 release in We are The Light.
It all came to an end much too soon with the release of Swimming In a Human Ocean. Of course the band was totally transformed by then.Only Owen and Sandie Brock and Rob Martens on Bass went pole to pole. We have an audio of Look Through His Eyes to close things out.
That closes out the first round of Flashback Friday. We are still technically caught in the seventies. I am trying to do things by the first release for dating a band. There is still much more for the decade. Still to come is Phil Keaggy, Randy Stonehill, Keith Green, Amy Grant, and The 2nd Chapter of Acts, and I'm not even done with the seventies again. Stay with me, this is a never ending column every Friday. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Friday, August 1, 2014
A Classic Replay: Flashback Friday - Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music?
(We continue our Friday Replays of Classic Flashback Friday. It gives me a chance to update new readers on the origins of Modern Christian Music. And a chance to update some broken links.)
Welcome to the latest edition of Flashback Friday. By way of introduction to my new readers, Flashback Friday is where I introduce my readers to the pioneers of Contemporary Christian Music, beginning with the Jesus Music Era of the Late 1960's and the 1970's. As we progress each week we shall move into the Seventies, and Eighties and perhaps beyond. Not exactly sure where I should end a flashback. Maybe with the year 1999/2000.
If any one person could be labeled the "First Father" or "Adam" of Christian Rock, that person would be, by almost unanimous choice (dare I say consensus), Larry David Norman (April 8, 1947 -February 24, 2008). He certainly was recognized by Servant.
With the rise of Christian Rock as a major force, a reactionary movement arose among the mainstream Christian community. A reaction in itself wasn't surprising, in fact Newton's Third Law of Motion required it (For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction). What was always surprising was where the reaction came from. It would be easy to slough off an attack from "the world". It really hurt when the bullets were fired by your fellow brothers and sisters. Christianity has always been plagued with friendly fire casualties.
1 Corinthians 9:19-22 lays out the principle of "All things to all men" or "every available method" to getting out the Gospel. Paul would have been on TV, Radio, the Internet, etc. (He would have also booked passage on The Titanic, but that's another story). Organized Christianity (aka Christen-dumb) has opposed just about every major technological innovation of the 20th Century as being of "the devil", with the result that, with a few rare exceptions, the Christian Church has always been seen as a bunch of Luddites.
Norman struck back with one of the most well known "defense songs" ever released entitled Why should the devil have all the good music. Even though a live video of this exists, the quality is poor. Here is an audio only version for your enjoyment.
One of the best things about this song is it's biting sarcasm, with the parts like "I grew it out long to make room for my brain". Boldness like this was a rarity, and paved the way for CCM's Caustic Clone Prince Steve Taylor, but we shall deal with him at another time.
That concludes this edition of Flashback Friday. We shall return next Friday with Servant, the last band listed in the Jungle Music Skit. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
p.s. - Check out the Larry Norman page to purchase music on Amazon and support The Night Beat at the same time. Thanks.
Welcome to the latest edition of Flashback Friday. By way of introduction to my new readers, Flashback Friday is where I introduce my readers to the pioneers of Contemporary Christian Music, beginning with the Jesus Music Era of the Late 1960's and the 1970's. As we progress each week we shall move into the Seventies, and Eighties and perhaps beyond. Not exactly sure where I should end a flashback. Maybe with the year 1999/2000.
If any one person could be labeled the "First Father" or "Adam" of Christian Rock, that person would be, by almost unanimous choice (dare I say consensus), Larry David Norman (April 8, 1947 -February 24, 2008). He certainly was recognized by Servant.
S: No, No, Doctor, you've got it all wrong. Oh Well. Now then, I've also brought you some Servant.
That was the closing line of the Jungle Music Skit, and two artists were referenced here, Larry Norman and Servant. We shall get to Servant next week, and we will get to still more bands as we move into the eighties, which is known as Christian Music's Golden Age. If you didn't get the reference, Livingstone had two servants Larry and Normany (Larry Norman). Referenced also was In Another Land (1976), which was Normans sixth release as a Christian artist. He had actually been in the music industry since 1965 with the bands Back Country Seven (1964-65) and People (1965-68). He had a hit single "I Love You", with People, which reached #14 on Billboard's Hot 100. After a brief musical hiatus he returned to lead the nascent Christian Rock scene with Upon This Rock (1969).L: Oh, what a stroke of luck, why two of my servants ran away last week, Larry and Normany. They ran into the shallow water and the crocks got them. I suppose they're in another land now.
With the rise of Christian Rock as a major force, a reactionary movement arose among the mainstream Christian community. A reaction in itself wasn't surprising, in fact Newton's Third Law of Motion required it (For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction). What was always surprising was where the reaction came from. It would be easy to slough off an attack from "the world". It really hurt when the bullets were fired by your fellow brothers and sisters. Christianity has always been plagued with friendly fire casualties.
1 Corinthians 9:19-22 lays out the principle of "All things to all men" or "every available method" to getting out the Gospel. Paul would have been on TV, Radio, the Internet, etc. (He would have also booked passage on The Titanic, but that's another story). Organized Christianity (aka Christen-dumb) has opposed just about every major technological innovation of the 20th Century as being of "the devil", with the result that, with a few rare exceptions, the Christian Church has always been seen as a bunch of Luddites.
Norman struck back with one of the most well known "defense songs" ever released entitled Why should the devil have all the good music. Even though a live video of this exists, the quality is poor. Here is an audio only version for your enjoyment.
One of the best things about this song is it's biting sarcasm, with the parts like "I grew it out long to make room for my brain". Boldness like this was a rarity, and paved the way for CCM's Caustic Clone Prince Steve Taylor, but we shall deal with him at another time.
Six Degrees of Larry Norman
Larry Norman isn't only one of the most influential and respected people in CCM History, his is also one of the most "well-connected" people in CCM history. His Street Level Artists Agency represented legends such as Randy Stonehill, Daniel Amos and Mark Heard, but the connections go much further, and include artists as diverse as DC Talk, Switchfoot and Rebecca St. James. Even more surprising, he is also one of the founders of a Protestant Denomination of sorts. Not surprising, they don't have a problem with Rock and Roll. For more information on these connections, check out my Six Degrees Page.That concludes this edition of Flashback Friday. We shall return next Friday with Servant, the last band listed in the Jungle Music Skit. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
p.s. - Check out the Larry Norman
page to purchase music on Amazon and support The Night Beat at the same time. Thanks.
Friday, July 18, 2014
A Classic Replay: Flashback Friday - Sightseeing at Night
Welcome back to Flashback Friday, the time when we reach back into CCM's storied archive and bring the recent arrivals up on the history. We have been using the Jungle Music skit as our jumping off point, and this week we get into a bit of a spat with Stanley and Livingstone.
Since they fizzled out before the advent of the Music Video, there are none. However, that doesn't mean that YouTube couldn't help out with audio. I've got a few to share.
Here's the extremely acoustic Like Children (just McCall on Keys) from Shatter The Darkness.
And Shatter the Darkness itself.
One of my favorites, Incognito, from Sightseeing at Night (though Marty tries too hard to rhyme Incognito. A presidential Veto?)
And let's finish by rocking out. This is I Got News for You, one of their hardest tunes.
Good thing this isn't music video Monday. This band never got the following it deserved, and that is a shame. Until next Flashback Friday, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
S: I Say, Do You Fancy FireworksAnd with that we move on. The Band of the week is Fireworks, also known as Marty McCall and Fireworks. Originally a Trio consisting of Marty McCall, Garry Pigg and Cindy Lipford, their eponymous debut in 1977 was mostly adult contemporary in nature. They soon ditched that sound, (and Lipford and Pigg) and went rock with McCall, Lanny Avery on Drums, Jerry Gaston on Guitars and Chris Harris and Bob Sincovic on Bass. During this time they released three more albums Shatter The Darkness (1979), Live Fireworks (1980), Up (1981), and Sightseeing at Night (1982). Then they disbanded, and McCall went on to form the AC/Country First Call, and I lost interest. In their heyday they were backup to groups like Servant and Petra, but never reached the rarefied air that those two bands would attain.
L: Why they're strictly forbidden. It Shatters the Darkness. One Shot and the animals go quite crackers. The rocket's red glare and all that.
Since they fizzled out before the advent of the Music Video, there are none. However, that doesn't mean that YouTube couldn't help out with audio. I've got a few to share.
Here's the extremely acoustic Like Children (just McCall on Keys) from Shatter The Darkness.
And Shatter the Darkness itself.
One of my favorites, Incognito, from Sightseeing at Night (though Marty tries too hard to rhyme Incognito. A presidential Veto?)
And let's finish by rocking out. This is I Got News for You, one of their hardest tunes.
Good thing this isn't music video Monday. This band never got the following it deserved, and that is a shame. Until next Flashback Friday, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Friday, July 11, 2014
A Classic Replay: Flashback Friday - Barnabas Jones and The Temple of Rock
We are continuing our Flashback Friday Replays every week from now on. Besides reintroducing new readers and old to some truly Classic Rock, it is easy posting as I encounter some staffing problems this Summer. To continue without my banter and complaining, you can click here. Of course, if you know CCM history, you know that Rock in Greek is Spelled PETRA, which just so happens to be the name of one of the Greatest Bands of All Time.
This weeks edition of Flashback Friday is a 2 for 1 bonus. For those of you who have been with me from the start, you know that I am using the brief skit at the end of Servant's Jungle Music as my jumping off point. Stanley and Livingston continue.
Barnabas was a pioneer in Christian Rock and Heavy Metal from 1977-1986. The final lineup consisted of Nancy Jo Mann as lead vocal, Brian Belew on Guitar, Gary Mann doing double duty on Keyboard and Bass, and Kris Klingensmith on Drums. In their short life they released five albums. Along with Rez they were pioneers in Metal amd Female Fronted Rock. Despite having one of their albums titled Feel The Fire (1984), they fizzled under the withering anti-rock attack of Jimmy Swaggart and the like. I guess if you can't take the heat... Now I have never been a Rockstar (unless you count my dreams), but If you can't handle a televangelist who likes Southern Gospel, your strength is small. Other bands had no problem dishing it right back at them.
Staying Power counts for a lot in terms of public perception. It's sort of like the arguments over inventions. In the end it doesn't matter who invented an item, all that matters is who obtained the patent. It's the same thing in Music. Since REZ stayed around, they are credited with being the "Fathers of Christian Metal". However, based on their sound alone, Barnabas was the true Heavy Metal band. I was able to find a few audio clips on youtube, and these guys were not afraid of instrumental jam sessions. This is Breathless Wonderment from Feel The Fire. It's almost 7 minutes long, but about half of that is instrumental.
Now, on to the main act. Get out your biblical Greek to English dictionaries kids. The night beat is all about Rock, and in biblical Greek Rock is spelled PETRA.
Petra is one of those special bands, the ones that prove that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Let's go into detail on some of those parts. Over 35 years active (plus a 5 year retirement), a career spanning 5 decades, and over 23 albums. No other band can even claim to be "Father of Christian Rock" with any credibility. Ask anybody in or out of the industry and they will have had some experience with Petra, sometimes as the first Christian Rock album they bought "as a kid".
During that 35 year career the band experienced 11 Official Lineup Changes that included 3 Lead Vocal Changes, 4 Drummers, 5 Bass Players, 6 Keyboardists, and 4 Changes of Lead Guitar. It would be enough to make a lesser band wonder if they were cut out for the big time, but Petra just played on. Most critics only concentrate on "The Frontman" (lead vocals). This divides Petra into three "eras".
The Hartman Era (1972-1979)
Founder and Lead Guitarist Bob Hartman also handled the frontman duties in the early years, during which they had their self-titled debut in 1974 and their sophomore release Come and Join Us (1977). During this period the band had a pop/rockabilly sound which by today's standards is quite dated and some would say amateur. You can't help but smile hearing a song like Lucas McGraw or admire the "rebellious" spunk of a comeback song like God Gave Rock and Roll to You. After seven years of doing double duty the band acquired a Lead Singer and Hartman settled into lead guitar duties until retiring in 1995. He would again return to lead guitar from 2003 and 2005 and again as Classic Petra returned in 2010 until the present. That decision in 1979 ushered in.
The Volz Era (1979-1986, 2010+)
Greg Xavier Volz (Greg X. Volz to fans) is a self taught musician with an eight octave voice. Prior to his time with Petra he toured with Janis Joplin and was one of the founders of the Jesus Music group e Band. He led Petra for the next six albums, beginning with Washes Whiter Than in 1979. Beginning with Never Say Die (1981), but definitely in the three album set of More Power To Ya (1982), Not of This World (1983) and Beat The System (1985), the band moved from pop/rock to arena rock and super stardom. During the early years of this period the band was the opening act for Servant. Most notable of the lineup changes during this time was the addition of Louie Weaver on the Drums (1981-2003 and 2010 on) who came over to the band as Fireworks was breaking up (they will be covered in the next Flashback Friday). Some Petra fans, this blogger included, see him as "The Voice" of Petra.
I have included the Official Music Video for Beat the System. Enjoy the music and remember, this was three decades ago, so a concept video then may not be much of a concept today.
The Schlitt Era (1986-2005)
John Schlitt came to the band after their Live Album Captured in Time and Space (1986). Formerly the lead singer of Head East, he is the longest serving, if not the most loved lead singer of Petra. He took Petra into Industry domination during a period that included fourteen albums. His first album with the band was Back to the Street (1986) and the last was entitled Farewell (2005).
I am going to try to give you a video of each modern era. This is Whole World from Back to The Street.
Classic Petra (2010+)
After a hiatus of five years boredom set in, even among rockers in their late 50's. Petra reinvented itself once again, as they had done many times in the past, and re branded themselves Classic Petra. Their lineup this time is the one that existed from 1984 to 1986: Greg X. Volz (Vocals), Bob Hartman (Guitars), Mark Kelly (Bass Guitar), John Lawry (Keyboard), and Louie Weaver (Drums).
This is a live video from their concert in the UK. One of their most Iconic Songs. All Over Me.
That does it for this edition of Flashback Friday. Tune In Next Week. There Will be Fireworks. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
This weeks edition of Flashback Friday is a 2 for 1 bonus. For those of you who have been with me from the start, you know that I am using the brief skit at the end of Servant's Jungle Music as my jumping off point. Stanley and Livingston continue.
L: I say, How is your old colleague Barnabas?Now we'll get to the blatantly obvious reference shortly, but most listeners miss one. Barnabas.
S: Oh you know Barnabas, Never Say Die type, I left him in Egypt studying Petraglyphs.
L: Jolly Good. Jolly Good.
Barnabas was a pioneer in Christian Rock and Heavy Metal from 1977-1986. The final lineup consisted of Nancy Jo Mann as lead vocal, Brian Belew on Guitar, Gary Mann doing double duty on Keyboard and Bass, and Kris Klingensmith on Drums. In their short life they released five albums. Along with Rez they were pioneers in Metal amd Female Fronted Rock. Despite having one of their albums titled Feel The Fire (1984), they fizzled under the withering anti-rock attack of Jimmy Swaggart and the like. I guess if you can't take the heat... Now I have never been a Rockstar (unless you count my dreams), but If you can't handle a televangelist who likes Southern Gospel, your strength is small. Other bands had no problem dishing it right back at them.
Staying Power counts for a lot in terms of public perception. It's sort of like the arguments over inventions. In the end it doesn't matter who invented an item, all that matters is who obtained the patent. It's the same thing in Music. Since REZ stayed around, they are credited with being the "Fathers of Christian Metal". However, based on their sound alone, Barnabas was the true Heavy Metal band. I was able to find a few audio clips on youtube, and these guys were not afraid of instrumental jam sessions. This is Breathless Wonderment from Feel The Fire. It's almost 7 minutes long, but about half of that is instrumental.
Now, on to the main act. Get out your biblical Greek to English dictionaries kids. The night beat is all about Rock, and in biblical Greek Rock is spelled PETRA.
Petra is one of those special bands, the ones that prove that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Let's go into detail on some of those parts. Over 35 years active (plus a 5 year retirement), a career spanning 5 decades, and over 23 albums. No other band can even claim to be "Father of Christian Rock" with any credibility. Ask anybody in or out of the industry and they will have had some experience with Petra, sometimes as the first Christian Rock album they bought "as a kid".
During that 35 year career the band experienced 11 Official Lineup Changes that included 3 Lead Vocal Changes, 4 Drummers, 5 Bass Players, 6 Keyboardists, and 4 Changes of Lead Guitar. It would be enough to make a lesser band wonder if they were cut out for the big time, but Petra just played on. Most critics only concentrate on "The Frontman" (lead vocals). This divides Petra into three "eras".
The Hartman Era (1972-1979)
Founder and Lead Guitarist Bob Hartman also handled the frontman duties in the early years, during which they had their self-titled debut in 1974 and their sophomore release Come and Join Us (1977). During this period the band had a pop/rockabilly sound which by today's standards is quite dated and some would say amateur. You can't help but smile hearing a song like Lucas McGraw or admire the "rebellious" spunk of a comeback song like God Gave Rock and Roll to You. After seven years of doing double duty the band acquired a Lead Singer and Hartman settled into lead guitar duties until retiring in 1995. He would again return to lead guitar from 2003 and 2005 and again as Classic Petra returned in 2010 until the present. That decision in 1979 ushered in.
The Volz Era (1979-1986, 2010+)
Greg Xavier Volz (Greg X. Volz to fans) is a self taught musician with an eight octave voice. Prior to his time with Petra he toured with Janis Joplin and was one of the founders of the Jesus Music group e Band. He led Petra for the next six albums, beginning with Washes Whiter Than in 1979. Beginning with Never Say Die (1981), but definitely in the three album set of More Power To Ya (1982), Not of This World (1983) and Beat The System (1985), the band moved from pop/rock to arena rock and super stardom. During the early years of this period the band was the opening act for Servant. Most notable of the lineup changes during this time was the addition of Louie Weaver on the Drums (1981-2003 and 2010 on) who came over to the band as Fireworks was breaking up (they will be covered in the next Flashback Friday). Some Petra fans, this blogger included, see him as "The Voice" of Petra.
I have included the Official Music Video for Beat the System. Enjoy the music and remember, this was three decades ago, so a concept video then may not be much of a concept today.
The Schlitt Era (1986-2005)
John Schlitt came to the band after their Live Album Captured in Time and Space (1986). Formerly the lead singer of Head East, he is the longest serving, if not the most loved lead singer of Petra. He took Petra into Industry domination during a period that included fourteen albums. His first album with the band was Back to the Street (1986) and the last was entitled Farewell (2005).
I am going to try to give you a video of each modern era. This is Whole World from Back to The Street.
Classic Petra (2010+)
After a hiatus of five years boredom set in, even among rockers in their late 50's. Petra reinvented itself once again, as they had done many times in the past, and re branded themselves Classic Petra. Their lineup this time is the one that existed from 1984 to 1986: Greg X. Volz (Vocals), Bob Hartman (Guitars), Mark Kelly (Bass Guitar), John Lawry (Keyboard), and Louie Weaver (Drums).
This is a live video from their concert in the UK. One of their most Iconic Songs. All Over Me.
That does it for this edition of Flashback Friday. Tune In Next Week. There Will be Fireworks. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
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