Contemporary Christian Music: 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond

I had this Christian death metal comp with bands called things like Dead Pharisees, Faithbomb, etc. one was called Crown of Thorns and were the actual band who sued the secular band forcing them to become "The Crown".

there was also one called Ultimatum whom John Chedsey at ssmt-reviews.com gave a negative review, saying the lead singer sounded like a "duck", and the singer wrote back pretty angry!

these are the kind of things me and my family listened to in the late '70s and early '80s when I wasn't listening to everything else that was on the radio. Houston had great radio back then. Rock, Oldies, Country, Christian, Soul, College, every format had at least two competing stations playing new and old music.

Matthew Ward - Summer Snow

this is a slow song off of his solo rock record. He was the younger brother in the 2nd Chapter of Acts act. He's one of my favorite singers ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DHwHZMIFTk

Keith Green - Asleep in the Light

an angry piano singer-songwriter song about the laziness and hypocrisy of the current church.

Daniel Amos Band - Angels Tuck You In

New Wave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXb45UTUFWU

Reba Rambo - The Land of Ooh's and Ah's

Hot Lady singing stuff (obnoxious, but good and typical of the time)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZYf6rckl0o

Don Francisco - He's Alive (I don't know, singer-songwriter stuff)

About the day that Jesus came back to live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyPBVwOCYmM

cant preview, don't know how this post will format.

of course I screwed up the youtubes. Oh well. If the subject interests you, listen or google the crap I fucked up. It's musically or culturally interesting.

Degarmo & Key's s/t 1987 album is so bad, but sooooooo good. (I surely haven't listened to it in 25 years before doing so today.)

Not sure where to put this, but... here comes a brand new savior in ya ear?
http://www.okayplayer.com/news/craig-mack-church-rapping-video.html

I don't love the freestyle but the track at the end of the video is not bad

I remember seeing ads for Steve Taylor's I Predict 1990 back when it came out, and I knew of his reputation as the "weirdo" of CCM, but I don't recall ever listening to it before tonight.

In the grand scheme, this guy was tame, but within the world of CCM he was really pushing the envelope! It opens with a track named "I Blew up the Clinic Real Good" which basically shames the fundamental wing of Christianity. According to Wikipedia, there was immense backlash and the album ended up getting rejected by Christian music/book stores.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-NOZU2iPA8

lol. many memories of folks covering "he's alive" trying their amateur best to maintain the terrible drama and hit the HE'S ALIVE HE'S ALIVE finale with appropriate vigor.

thread needs Carman

LET'S HEAR IT FOR JESUS MIGHTY WARR-EE-AHH!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zygGyT_Uppw

try to keep up, satan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKBB8JzEcc4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83hkdx7DF00

All this Steve Taylor talk and no mention of his band Chagall Guevara?? Their s/t is damn good.

I'd totally forgotten about the existence of that band until I was on my Taylor kick the other night. Went back and listened to it and, despite some pretty standard 1991 studio production, it does hold up pretty well.

Also, I listened to the album he released a couple years ago (his first since 1993) and the EP he did with Danielson this year. Both are nice for an old guy who hasn't recorded as a solo artist for over 20 years. Especially the EP.

J0hn full of surprises and delights itt

An old acquaintance, the artist/musician Carly Ptak (formerly of Nautical Almanac), posted a video where a song was playing in the background that was so interesting that I went down a hole and found out it was 2nd Chapter of Acts.

I am now obsessed with this super weird album, y'all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncrlm9NNZrQ

Wow, I haven't thought about that band in a long time. I think my parents had some of their albums when I was a kid. The stand-out as I recall is their concept album based on "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPuIm-qMvow

"Turkish Delight" is a jam.

Oh wait, "Tell the Truth" is the one I was thinking of. "Turkish Delight" is kind of faux-Stevie Wonder.

Thanks o. nate. Such weird stuff!

Definitely. Relistening to this now, I hear influences of ABBA and Judee Sill, with the ornate baroque arrangements and harmonies in a pop context, and the religious themes.

This Japanese label Cool Sounds reissues obscure AOR on CD, a lot of which looks sorta hip.. but there’s also a ton of 80s Christian AOR, some of which I presume is funky or w/e… I think it’s interesting how this stuff codes totally icky and beyond redemption to me but people in Japan don’t have the baggage with Christianity that western listeners have so it’s not an obstacle to hipness.. idk please flag me if I’m being offensive.

https://www.discogs.com/label/142531-Cool-Sound

Thanks brimstead! Gonna check some of that out. Any that you know of?

Ok lol I just made an ass out of myself and accidentally posted this on the politics thread:

I’ve really only tipped my toe into the secular stuff..
some of the christian stuff weirds me out a bit…like this one:

https://www.discogs.com/master/353648-Bob-Pauline-Wilson-Somebody-Loves-You

I forgot to mention that a lot of it is Hawaiian.. there’s some random stuff like this private press smooth funky Tender Leaf lp from1982

https://www.discogs.com/release/3083994-Tender-Leaf-Tender-Leaf

This next album is/was a pretty sought after yacht lp, “tropic lightning” rules:

https://www.discogs.com/release/6521508-Mike-Lundy-The-Rhythm-Of-Life

I’m fascinated by the demo compilations of would-be Andrew Golds or whatever.. Chris Rainbow.. things like this:

https://www.discogs.com/release/7426820-David-Lasley-Demos

A lot of stuff where it’s like, I’m just a little too trepidatious to start looking into 80s sweatshirt Jesus guys

https://www.discogs.com/release/7612914-Michael-James-Murphy-Surrender

Phil Keaggy (can't be from NE Ohio and not listen to him in some form, whether this or Glass Harp)

― Marco YOLO (Phil D.), Monday, July 30, 2012 10:24 AM (ten years ago)

He was big in central Kentucky, too. One of my guitar-geek friends wore a Keaggy t-shirt to school in the early-'90s, leading a teacher to confront him because she thought it was the name of a brand of bourbon (to be fair, it did have his name in some Olde-English typeface)! Whenever we saw other classmates at parties, it was a fun running joke to ask "I see you have Maker's Mark, but that's 'mixing bourbon'. Where's the good stuff, WHERE's THE PHIL KEAGGY?", or "Dude, sorry I didn't get back to you, I had a fifth of Phil Keaggy and was too fucked up to make it to practice", "Yeah, you gotta watch that Keaggy, shit'll knock you into next week!"

I'm guessing the non-drinkable guitarist version of Keaggy would not be too pleased with such risque silliness, although I could see him getting a chuckle out of the original mix-up.

brimstead, the Michael James Murphy record you mention is pretty standard white boy soul/R&B of the mid-80s variety. He has a nice voice.

"Tropic Lightning" is fucking JAM tho, wow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDJdfx9q2rg