Music Video Monday: Bombs Away

Welcome to an all new edition of Music Video Monday. To all my loyal subcribers, readers and followers, thank you. Before I get to the videos I have a personal request. If you don't mind, would you use the share buttons underneath the post to get this before as many eyes as you can. It seems to me that the Blog Amplification Platform that I use +Triberr led by +Dino Dogan has decided that The Night Beat is blog non grata over there. None of the posts have been shared in over a month. On the other hand, I also have another blog, Welcome To The Republic, which is highlighting my fiction writing. That is getting wonderful sharing, and I am grateful for it. This is from the official +Triberr stats, so I hope it's a glitch, but the google stats seem to confirm it. Now, on to our video lineup.

We begin with a lyric video from +Hawk Nelson entitled words, which features Bart Millard of Mercy Me. Hawk is retuning to action after suffering the loss of its Lead Singer Jason Dunn. Welcome Jonathan Steingard. I hope he's as much of nut as Jason.

We continue with another Lyric Video, this time from Satellites and Sirens, one of the best reasons for Craigslist. This is You're Home, dedicated to the memory of Ruth Niedermeyer.
We close things out on a redemption theme, but with an interesting twist. You know the story of Eve and the Apple. It was all about Life Insurance. You've got to see this powerfull video to truly experience it. Bombs Away. Welcome Back to the limelight Rachel Lampa. This will definitely be among the Songs of the Year for 2013.

Sometimes you only get one song that makes you go OMG WOW. This may be it. Until next time Bombs Away, sorry, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Flashback Friday: WWMT - The Tribe

Welcome back to an entirely revamped Flashback Friday. We are going to rotate this column among three subjects for the near future. We start with "The Commonwealth of CCM", where we will cover some artists within the British Commonwealth. Christian Music isn't just a US Centric Phenomena after all.

Take a group of Christian Evangelists, add Public Schools, and add a bit of Music to it. What do you get? Here in the USA, nothing, because  All Crazy Liberals United (a better acronym for the ACLU) would be invoking the fictional "Separation of Church and State" faster than you can say Activist Judges. (Any actual idea of separations would have been trying to protect the Church from Government Control, not the other way around. The founding fathers always figured this would be a moral country). Rant aside, in the more enlightened UK, they had no problem with the arrangement, and the result was THE TRIBE.

Officialy the World Wide Message Tribe, Christian Music's most influential dance band grew out of the Message 88 and Message 89 Youth Meetings in Manchester, England, that were put on by brothers Andy and Simon Hawthorne. Those meetings grew into the Message to Schools Trust, and from there the tribe was formed, which had at its core

• Mark Pennels
• Zark Porter
• Cameron Dante

and others, including Beth Redman (Matt Redman's Wife) who was in a band named Storm at the time. WWMT burst onto the scene with WWMT - Take a long hike with the Chosen Few (1993), but they are best known for their multi album and friends series Jumping in the House of God. All together from 1993 until 2004 when they broke up Chistians everywhere danced with a full dozen releases. Here's a promo video for WOW 1998 with them in action. All I can say is I wish we had stuff like this when I was in school.

Mark Pennels and Zarc Porter weren't content to just create dance music themselves. They were always on the lookout for the next generation. One of the most promising of these new acts, at least from my perspective, was a US/UK duo by the name of V*ENNA. The Christian Music world was in a mad rush to create an "alternative" to Britney Spears and other boy and girl bands. Unfortunately they weren't alone in the chase. Sparrow/EMI brought out the big guns (Nichole Nordeman, Clay Crosse, Carman) to support their choice, ZOE girl. If the big co-stars weren't enough, they also had Rebecca St. James producer in their corner. Lucy Britten and Sharnessa Shelton lost out to the trio of Alisa Girard, Kristin Swinford and Chrissy Conway.

Now in the interest of full disclosure I wish to mention that during the 2001 Festival Season I was working with Sparrow Records and had to push ZOE girl, but I listened to both CD's and, while the trio vastly improved their work in later albums, their debut is almost unlistenable. The power of PR.

As always, click on the links to go to Amazon and help support The Night Beat by buying through them. Next week we will switch gears and go to our next group, which I am calling The Industrial Revolution. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

A Rose by any other name

The time for the 2nd Annual Platinum Vinyl Awards is almost here. The Album of the Year Nominations are complete. I am currently working on Song of the Year Nominations as well as the General Field. A Fourth part, The Platinum Video Awards, is being assembled as well.


All I really need is a nickname. Everybody Has one. Grammys, Emmys, Doves, etc. What should mine be? I would really like the help of my friends on Triberr for this one too, considering the negative keywords. I was thinking of a few.

• The Elpy's (as in LP, the original album). I like the sound of it and it's cute, but it has certain drawbacks, as in a certain Juvenile Pronunciation.
• The PVA's - Its simply taking the first letters to make an acronym, but I always think of PVC Pipe from time to time.
• The Gems - After all, I use an Emerald Rating instead of Stars.

That's all I have right now. Any thoughts? Use the comments below or contact me at Twitter. Use the hashmark #PVA2011. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.