Songs for Holy Week

(not sure what the slideshow has to do with the song, but I've always loved the lyric. . .)

Songs for Lent

How about another flashback? I was at this concert sometime in the mid-80s (maybe not this exact concert, but when the tour came to Seattle, I was there. . .)

This is Offensive

This was pointed out on a worship leader facebook group of which I'm a part. It's a brand-new album release. And it defines the word "hubris."

Some label out there has just released a CD entitled "Let's All Worship." It's the subtitle that is evil: "The Very Best Worship Songs of All Time."

Think about that for a second. The Very Best. Of all time.

Hmm. I doubt it. Especially when the 'old ones' include 'Shine, Jesus, Shine.' Let alone that 'Shine Jesus Shine' should never end up on any album with the title 'best' in it. That's as historic as they get.

Somehow I think Bach might have something to say about this. Or, say, Handel? Mozart? Tallis? Rutter? Or someone more 'modern,' like John Wesley or Fannie Crosby? How do they not rate on the list of "The Very Best Worship Songs of All Time" ? How is Messiah not on here? Or Vivaldi's Gloria? I enjoy Paul Baloche as much as the next person, but is he really one of the 25 best worship music composers OF ALL TIME? I highly doubt it.

Oh, and this. As a selling point, they mention their international flavor, with music from Australia to the UK to Ireland to the U.S. Yep. Truly international. Although. . .pretty white, too. Funny how nothing by any Mexican composer made it here. How do we know "The Heart of Worship" is definitively better than a song being sung in an underground Chinese church right now? Or something being sung under a tree in Africa? Or in the jungles of New Guinea? Being a Covenanter, I should point out no Swedish songs made the list either.

Seriously. This is offensive. (the fact that if you follow that link, the album shows up under a banner ad for a new Casting Crowns CD is offensive, too, but that's a different story for a different day).

Who sits in a room and comes up with this stuff? They ought to be smited.

Thanks, Christian Radio

One of the 'marker' points throughout the year is the first Christmas song I hear on the radio. Usually, it's right around Thanksgiving, and usually it will be a traditional Christmas tune. Think Bing Crosby or Nat King Cole. It's one of the moments that releases me into the fulness of the Christmas season, setting the tone for the weeks to come.

Imagine my chagrine when, pulling away from the recycling station this afternoon, I flipped on the car radio and heard Christmas music. On Halloween. "Is this a commercial?" I asked myself?

Nope. Apparently the local Christian music station has decided it's fun to play Christmas music all day long on Halloween. Talk about upsetting the base forces of the universe. Talk about utterly ruining my tradition. Talk about abusing an entire season for a 'cute' marketing gimmick.

Maybe if it had been Sinatra I might have been a little more open to the idea. But the worst of it was that the first song I heard was that horrific, awful screaming metal guitar version of "Carol of the Bells." An idea that never should have left the recording studio in the first place.

Now I'm trying to figure out if I can give myself a mulligan. . .or if the die has been cast and I'm stuck with that song, on this day, as the first Christmas song of 2009. This is not the predicament I wanted to be in today.

Where's the Fun in Christian Music?

Back in the early days of Christian Music, one of the dominant artists was Steve Taylor. His music was known for its biting satire, social commentary, and the ubiquitous 80s synth pads. But it was also a lot of fun. The kind of music that made you smile and laugh, with hits including "I Want to be a Clone" and "Meltdown at Madam Tussaud's" (check out Blair from The Facts of Life doing the video intro).

In the early-mid 90s other groups came along that kept up that mantle of fun. Groups like Jacobs Trouble, Dakota Motor Company, and the Lost Dogs all made good music, and put a smile on the face of their listeners at the same time. Toe-tapping rhythms, social commentary, and humor marked much of their work. It could be powerful, it could be painful, but through it all ran a theme of joy and fun.

Around the same time the Newsboys began to make a splash. Their albums and live shows were action-packed, infectious, full of surprises and Aussie-humor. Steve Taylor himself came along to produce and write for the Newsboys, and they released some of the all-time CCM classics like Shine and Breakfast. Where else would you get lyrics like "When you let it shine you will inspire the kind of entire turnaround that'd make a bouncer take ballet - even bouncers who aren't. . .happy"? Or a treatise on the lack of breakfast cereals in hell?

And then, two of the all-time Christian fun-bands took over the scene, in the form of the Orange County Supertones and Five Iron Frenzy. The Supertones brought tight, fast rhythms and rhymes that spoke of happiness and sunshine and joy; they were the epitome of fun in the sun, southern California cool. And Five Iron Frenzy? They took fun (and funny) to a whole new level. Who else could release an epic recording replete with barnyard animals praising Jesus, or a rock opera dedicated to a discussion of the ownership of a pair of pants?

All these bands brought a serious message, all brought glory to Christ and encouragement to the Body, and all were a lot of fun.

But the Supertones and FIF both broke up, the Newsboys are going in different directions, Jacobs Trouble is no more, The Lost Dogs are still recording and touring, but not getting much airplay. Now I turn on the local Christian radio station and hear so much of the same, Mercy Me-ish sound. Not that there's anything wrong with that; Christian radio is still full of bands praising God and taking his message to the masses. It's just that, they're all so serious about it. Where's the fun gone in Christian Music? Where is the laughter, the sly sarcasm, the humor-for-the-sake-of-humor? Have I missed it somewhere? Is there any band that's taken up the mantle from The Supertones and FIF?

Some might make the case that David Crowder is filling that gap, and certainly his zany live shows do carry an element of Fun. But Fun to DCB seems to be more a byproduct than the central theme.

Is it the market? I know the money for CCM is drying up rapidly, but that was half the joy of bands like FIF - they seemed like starving college students out there for the love of playing and touring, and not worrying about making it big.

I can't seem to think of any bands still carrying the torch for "good-clean-fun." If there is such a band out there, please point me in their direction. It seems to me that, especially in these troubling times, the Church ought to prove to the world that we still know how to laugh and play a little.

My Larry Norman Story

Many others have been blogging about the recent death of Larry Norman, the infamous early pioneer of Christian Rock-and-Roll. You can find all the details by googling Larry, or by following the links above.

I first heard Larry, or, more accurately, heard about Larry as a young junior higher going off to Bible Camp. The older kids had discovered this wonderful new thing called Christian Rock, with the likes of Keith Green and Amy Grant, and, most importantly, Larry Norman. But the camp director wasn't a big fan of Larry or his "music." So he confiscated all the Larry Norman tapes the kids had brought along (don't read too much into that - it was more of a joke between the director and the kids than it was any kind of power abuse. . .). And all week long the older kids called for Larry Norman songs at worship time, while we mostly sang John Fischer songs.

One day some of the kids got on the instruments and we all sang "Sweet Song of Salvation," and were getting into "Up in Canada" when the leadership shut it down and took us back into "Love Him in the Morning" and "Have You Seen Jesus My Lord?"

(Odd note: we also sang "One Tin Soldier" a lot, which, as far as I can tell, has no Christian message whatsoever, other than the "peace on earth" part)

This was all new to me - the Christian music around our home was mostly the Gaithers and Evie, with a little Don Francisco thrown in now and again. And, as so often happens, I went off to camp and found out this whole other world existed out there. Christian alternatives to worldly music. Instead of Madonna, I could listen to Amy Grant. Instead of all that metal my friends listened to, I could listen to Petra and Whiteheart.

Unfortunately (in some sense), I was too late to really get Larry Norman. By the time I found out about all this, Michael W Smith and Amy Grant were taking off, and people like Larry Norman and Randy Stonehill and Phil Keaggy were set aside, followed not by the masses but by the fans they'd already made.

And somewhere, the pioneering spirit of Larry, Randy, and the rest got taken over by Corporate Media who saw a cash cow in front of them, bringing us to the day when they produce stuff like Jump 5 and a hundred Steven Curtis Chapman knockoffs (read: Casting Crowns, Mercy Me. . .)

But it all started with Larry, who passed quietly from the scene 20+ years ago, and who passed gently into the arms of Jesus last weekend.

And that's my Larry Norman story.