[Brokeback]

I have my suspicions that this thread will probably be moved but I thought it would be a good place to start it at least. SO it is Saturday and I have no life and I am continuously in the process of transferring my 400+ some CD's to my iPOD. Low and behold I run across one of my favorite bands of all time, and it got me wondering, how old school are some of the people on this board. Christian "rock" has been around now for almost 25 years and a lot of bands have come and gone and the quality of production has soared. So I want this thread, if possible to be about your earliest most personally influential Christian musicians. I go WWWAAAYYYY back myself, as in I remember Steve Taylor BEFORE he was involved wiht NEWSBOYS production, when Michael W Smith wore an argyl sweater vest on his album cover, when Mylon LeFevre HAD a broken heart, I was at one of PETRA's first concert (and attended the church they got kicked out of), when Paul McCartney's drummer from WINGS (Name escapes me NOW of course) cut his first Christian album.
One of my FAVORITE bands, and my favorite Christian bands, is Resurrection Band . Has anyone else heard of them? They started in 1974 (Music To Raise the Dead) and have something like 16 albums/cd's. Glenn Kaiser is my FAVORITE vocalist BAR NONE!!! They are a Chicago band, so that may show my bias, but their blues/rock sound is awesome. Some of you may have heard of Jesus People USA (JPUSA) or the CORNERSTONE festival now in Central IL (I believe) those are all affiliated with the band.. OK Enough about them (But if anyone has HOSTAGE or BOOTLEG LIVE on CD I will pay good cash money for them) Here are some other bands to prime the pump (from my collection)

DeGarmo and Key, David and the Giants, Servant, Altar Boys, the afore mentioned PETRA, Mylon Lefevre and Broken Heart, Steve Taylor, Sheila Walsh (pre - 700 Club) Gary US Bonds and Doug Oldham (PTL Regs) Undercover, 77's, Daniel Amos, Darryl Mansfield, Amy Grant (First Marriage!) Honeytree (Family Friend-how's THAT for name dropping HMO!!!) Carmen (Fresh of the Vegas Strip) Dino, Ken Medema. On the heavier side of course STRYPER (Even the Christmas ALbum and the A-Team van) Barren Cross, Deliverance, Gardian, Mastedon and Neon Cross.

Ok, that is not an extensive list. For you NOT so oldies it would be interesting to see who you guys/gals have on your list. (NO former "artist in residence" Charles Billingsly doesn't count!)

[Brokeback Flamer]

Ok, long post must = sign off. my bad
Plus, How could I forget these!!
Keith Green
Phil Keagy
Russ Taff
Whiteheart.

Ok now I am just talking to myself!!

[PAmedic]

The funniest thing is, honest to God - I JUST logged off Stryper .com to come over here!

Saw them in March (?) and have been transferring their older albums to IPOD last night! Freaky-deaky man. Apparently the new one (Rebourne) isn't well recieved- may buy it anyway. BTW- the bass player for Stryper, Tracy Ferrie, is from Whitecross.

But to answer your question- I had most of the Rez Band albums out there (didn't think there was another soul alive who remembered them), dug Petra before the easy-listening stuff came out, bought Whitecross, Mastedon , BLOODGOODE (now THAT was heavy), Neon Cross, and others.

Here's another one for you old hags- possibly the first Christian rock band ever: FIREWORKS
had them on vinyl- before you could order cassettes.

Don't get me started here- MrsPA is cringing as we speak!

[Brokeback Flamer]

Bloogoode HOLY COW I remeber I had that cassette, Can't remmber any of the songs but I was BLOWN away!!! There was another heavy band out there SAINT I thnk, that had some good bass line. (Not to be confused with Armoured Saint and their seminal classic, and HS hoops warm up song CRUSADER)

And for all of you POD fans, you guessed it, got their start from RESURRECTION BAND!!

As for PETRA, More Power To Ya, best album. They had another one that sold more, but you couldn't beat the rock classic Judas Kiss!!!

[PAmedic]

"Just like Judas' Kiss" Neer...neer-neer-neer...neer neer neer. Neer-neer-neer, neer neer, neer...neer.

ya gotta know the song to get that.
(that's my best air guitar playing, there)

[phoenix]

The truely ironic thing is that NONE of these bands were legal at LU when I was there, and I started listening to them while I was at LU. Most of them I'd never HEARD of before I showed up at LU in '86.

Allies (Bob Carlisle before he went 'Butterfly Kisses' on us)
Servant
Messiah Prophet
Bloodgood
Barren Cross
Deliverance
White Cross
Mylon and Broken Heart
Whiteheart (even when Steve Green was their lead singer!)
Harvest
DeGarmo and Key
Neon Cross
Holy Soldier
Guardian
Steve Taylor
Bash n the Code
REZ/Rez Band/Resurrection Band
Petra (of course -- John Schlit and Louie Weaver are still playing music -- Project Damage Control)
Mastedon
Angelica -- they did a live performance at a Christian bookstore in Pensacola and I got to meet them.
Tamplin
Shout
X-Sinner
Swirling Eddies

And the list could go ON and ON. I've gotten permission from Deliverance, Holy Soldier, Neon Cross, and Guardian to play their music on my podcast, so I'm getting ready to do a retro show (probably two weeks from now). I'd LOVE to be able to play Steve Taylor and some old DA, but I don't know how to get in touch with anyone to get permission.

[Brokeback Flamer]

Wow, good call on Allies and Messiah Prophet!!!
As for Steve Taylor, you might want to try to back track through some Newsboys stuff. There is a Steve Taylor that does some of their producing and writing. Based on the sound and the lyrics, I am assuming it is him. I would suggest going through that record label and maybe hearing from him. OR just go ahead and do it!! I don't think he would Meltdown, and besides he is probably hanging out in the Disco that used to be a cute cathedral!!

[Sly Fox]

Most of the young pups on this board are giving a collective, "Huh?" But you guys are talking my language. I was not only down with the Heaven's Metal genre but I sued to play it on a weekly show on Z100 back in the day (yeah, I know the station no longer exists).

Rez got its start at Jesus People USA in Chicago in the early 70s during the Jesus movement popularized by the hippies. The Kaisers could really jam. DA ... the good old Daniel Amos Band. I'll bet you predate Brokeback with that reference.

I was always a big Steve Taylor fan in the Early 80s. He was youth pastor at a church in Denver when he cut his "I Want to be a Clone" EP. Anybody who takes shots at BJU is cool with me. His Colour Code song ripping Bob Jones' interracial dating ban is still one of my all-time faves. "Down in Carolina way, lived a man named a Big BJ. BJ went and got a school ... founded on Caucasian rule. Bumpersticker on his Ford said "Honies if you love the Lord". Classic.

phoenix - How did you find those guys to get permission for your podcast? You should be able to get a hold of Steve Taylor. He's still in Nashville doing his film & record producing for the Newsboys. And Harvest & Bash-N-The Code? They hardly fit in that list of yours.

[Brokeback Flamer]

SlY, unfortunately no, DA does NOT predate me, nor does the Jesus Music foundations. There was actually a pivotal place in this movement known as The Cellar. I was there!! They had a slew of bands come through, Resurrection Band being one of them. It was the same place PETRA got its start.
As for JPUSA, that was an awesome ministry, although it got hung with the cult rap. They all lived communaly and all proceeds went inot the coffers. What was great is you could go to service there and see a "street" person, praising God next to a suit and tie clad Moody student. Then you could help serve lunch!! Loved it.
And that would be "Honkies if you love the Lord. Plus, I think ST may have started the Christian Rap scene with his hit "Bad Rap".

[Sly Fox]

That was a typo. Yeah, the Kaisers did some incredible things at JPUSA. Frankly, I am shocked to see so many of you can connect with these early vestiges of CCM.

On a completely humorous side note, I was actually a VJ for a fledgling CCM video channel called the Alternative Rock Network. The money came apart just as we were launching. But I do have video somewhere of me sporting a major mullet with mascara (don't ask). The Glory Days ...

[phoenix]

phoenix - How did you find those guys to get permission for your podcast? You should be able to get a hold of Steve Taylor. He's still in Nashville doing his film & record producing for the Newsboys. And Harvest & Bash-N-The Code? They hardly fit in that list of yours.

They've all got professional websites that I emailed them through, and I've found a few of them through MySpace and Purevolume. I hooked up with Tourniquet through their website, so I can play their stuff, too. Jamie Rowe and David Bach (Guardian) are A&R guys with Selectric records, and I got a pre-release reviewers copy of Monday Morning's debut CD from them, so I had a contact there. I hadn't thought about getting in contact with Steve Taylor through the Newsboys stuff (and his influence is REALLY obvious at times), so I may be playing his stuff really soon!

I started listening to Harvest my freshman year when they played a show at LU. I don't remember how I started listening to Bash, but I got a lot of stuff from the guy who lived next door to me my freshman year.

[El Scorcho]

Wow, good call on Allies and Messiah Prophet!!!
As for Steve Taylor, you might want to try to back track through some Newsboys stuff. There is a Steve Taylor that does some of their producing and writing. Based on the sound and the lyrics, I am assuming it is him. I would suggest going through that record label and maybe hearing from him. OR just go ahead and do it!! I don't think he would Meltdown, and besides he is probably hanging out in the Disco that used to be a cute cathedral!!

Steve Taylor is, in fact, the genius behind the good Newsboys stuff. All of their albums that were mediocre are the ones where they didn't work with him. Go figure. I think the Take Me To Your Leader album was their best collaboration with him. He had a record label called Squint Entertainment for a while. Through various shady music industry happenings, he lost his own label and the bands that were on it. It was, hands down, the best label in all of CCM at the time. If you're bored and interested, you can read an interview with him discussing how he lost the label here.

[Sly Fox]

There is no getting around the fact that Steve is a weird bird. But the dude oozes tallent. His Chagall Guavera stuff was awesome.

[Brokeback Flamer]

Since I am a techno newbie, (The only reason I bought an iPod was to beable to store all my cd's on there) What is this podcast thing and where/how do I access it?
Steve Taylor - The Christian Answer to Weird Al

[BJWilliams]

Some of those bands (like Petra, Carmen, Stryper, etc) I actually have heard of (Thanks to my parents and my oldest sister) Many of those do seem pretty interesting. I briefly had an oldies show on 90.9 and played stuff like that (and Russ Taff, Keith Green, the Imperials, etc). You think WRVL would be up for having something like that on their schedule?

[Brokeback Flamer]

Some of those bands (like Petra, Carmen, Stryper, etc) I actually have heard of (Thanks to my parents and my oldest sister) Many of those do seem pretty interesting. I briefly had an oldies show on 90.9 and played stuff like that (and Russ Taff, Keith Green, the Imperials, etc). You think WRVL would be up for having something like that on their schedule?

I talked to FSN about that a few years ago on "his" station and he was sort of lukewarm. I would think that would be a better fit then trying to get Jerry Edwards (who is an OUTSTANDING human bieng btw) to play a little To Hell With The Devil!

[PAmedic]

ok- I read that correctly: BJ actually referred to our music as "oldies"

Someone remind me to kick him when I'm down there. Or have SJ do it, he's bigger.

[RubberMallet]

i remember someone todl me "you like pearl jam!? you have to get steve taylor!" i bought one of his cds and it was horrible...

[LUconn]

Phil Keaggy. I win.

[RubberMallet]

is that the guy missing an arm or some crap?

[LUconn]

He actually has NO arms. Lost them in 'nam.

[Libertine]

Are we talking first Christian band ever or first one that I liked? First I ever heard of were The Imperials, Petra, Stryper and Amy Grant. I hated them all.

First Christian band I ever heard and gave a big "hell, yeah" to? Tourniquet w/ the 'Vanishing Lessons' album. They've gone skater/speed metal since and I can't listen to what they've become but I wore that album out back then.

[PAmedic]

I appreciate LUconn's humor, however Keaggy was the guy who lopped off a finger in a drug induced haze- ostensibly to prove he was still the world's best guitarist even down a digit.

Anyone remember the "who's better, Phil Keaggy or Eddie Van Halen?" arguments?

ok- just me, then.

[LUconn]

No, I'm pretty sure that was just a rumor. Just like Hendrix saying Keaggy was the best guitarist ever. He lost half of a finger in some water pump accident as a kid.

[PAmedic]