RAISED BY WOLVES This page intentionally left blank Raised by Wolves The Sfory op Christian Rock § Roll John J. Thompson With photographs by Dinah K. Kotthoff ECW The publication of Raised by Wolves has been generously supported by the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program. © ECW PRESS, 2000. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any process — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without the prior written permission of the copyright owners and ECW PRESS. CANADIAN CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA Thompson, John J. (John Joseph), 1970- Raised by wolves: the story of Christian rock & roll ISBN 1-55022-421-2 1. Christian rock music - History and criticism. I. Title. ML3187.5.T473 2000 781.66 COO-9317200-1 Front cover image courtesy of SuperStock. All interior photos by Dinah K. Kotthoff (www.dinahphoto.com). Cover and interior design by Guylaine Regimbald - SOLO DESIGN. Typesetting by Yolande Martel. This book is set in Dante and Loyalty. Printed by AGMV L'Imprimeur, Cap-Saint-Ignace, Quebec. Distributed in Canada by General Distribution Services, 325 Humber College Boulevard, Etobicoke, Ontario M9W 7C3. Distributed in the United States by LPC Group, 1436 West Randolph Street, Chicago, IL 60607, U.S.A. Distributed in Europe by Turnaround Publisher Services, Unit 3, Olympia Trading Estate, Coburg Road, Wood Green, London, N2Z 6T2. Distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Wakefield Press, 17 Rundle Street (Box 2266), Kent Town, South Australia 5071. Published by ECW PRESS Suite 200 2120 Queen Street East Toronto, Ontario M4E 1E2. ecwpress.com PRINTED AND BOUND IN CANADA To Michelle, Jordan, Wesley, and Trinity IN MEMORY OF Keith Green Lonnie Frisbee Danny (D-Boy) Rodriguez Mark Heard Vince Ebo Rich Mullins Chris Wimber Gene "Eugene" Andrusco This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface 11 Cktfyter i White Blossoms from Black Roots 17 Ckfyter 2, The First Wave (1966-79) 41 Cktyter 3 The Second Wave (1980-89) 87 Cktyttr 4 The Third Wave (1990-99) 167 tkilvme Beyond the Third Wave 237 Further Reading and Resources 245 Index 247 This page intentionally left blank Preface V What is "Christian rock"? It has been called everything from Jesus music to righteous rock to the devil's handiwork (the church can't sit idly by and let some waywards peddle "jungle music" in the name of the Lord without casting a little brimstone). But whatever it's called, it's a strange mix indeed, and to many people the term is an oxymoron. Christian rock melds faith and culture. It is called Christian because of the messages in the lyrics, or at least because of the faith backgrounds of the artists, yet it explores every subject from politics to sex to cars to friendship. It is full-on rock and roll with the volume and the syncopation and the downbeats and the noise, yet it is used for worship, evangelism, and the entertainment of abstinent youth-group members and 50-year- old biker pastors. It features every nuance of rock, from techno, house, and disco; to metal, punk, hardcore, and emo; to singer-songwriter acous- tic folk and americana, yet once the artist is identified as a follower of Jesus it is, unfortunately, simply called Christian rock. The idea that rock and roll must be synonymous with rebellion was promoted by both the marketers of the music (sin sells better) and the conservative majority in the church. (Convincing believers that some- thing is "of the devil" has often been the quickest way to protect the status quo within the church.) Certainly, rock has been a powerful tool for the spread of drug abuse, rebellion, lasciviousness, violence, and materialism, but over the past 30 years it has also been an effective tool for positive social change, education, inspiration, and even evangelism. In fact, rock and roll is a direct descendant of blues, which is a direct descendant of gospel music. Rock really combined the sonic tension of the blues, the rhythm and groove of black gospel, and the melodic and lyrical simplicity of vocal pop music. So rock and the church are not as far apart as Marilyn Manson or the local antirock evangelist wants you to believe. RAISED BY WOLVES And what about the image of the rebel? Who was more rebellious than Jesus of Nazareth? He railed against authority, spoke against per- sonal and religious corruption, and took a stick and a whip to the temple. He healed the sick on the Sabbath, and he encouraged people to walk away from their jobs, sell their belongings, and give their money to the poor. He even refused to remain dead, according to the account of the resurrection. He owned only the clothes on his back, had no home of his own, and got his tax money from the mouth of a fish. He was such a rebel that the religious leaders had him executed. Find one rocker with even a tenth of that rebellious fire. Yet Jesus has been reimagined in our 12 postmodern world as a slow-moving, gentle, cryptic, and painstakingly polite rabbi, not the ruffian whom the San Hedrin thought was so dan- gerous. And what could be more risky in today's politically correct cli- mate than to be labeled a Bible-believing Christian? From a certain perspective, Jesus and rock music are perfectly suited to each other. Despite the seeming conflicts, the relationship has spawned over 30 years of strangely compelling yet mostly unheard music. There are hundreds of solo artists and bands; there have been thousands of con- certs in venues from small clubs to church halls to parks to 50,000-seat arenas; and millions of eight-tracks, albums, cassettes, and CDS have been sold, yet most people have little knowledge of Christian rock. Some might remember Stryper, the multimillion-selling, yellow-and-black- spandex-clad, pop-metal band from the late 1980s. Others might think of multiplatinum-selling artist Amy Grant, who, though she has mastered the pop genre, would not consider herself a rocker. Or they might have heard of Jars of Clay, a more recent multiplatinum-selling alterna-pop band with Christian roots whose biggest hit, "Flood," draws on the imagery of baptism and Noah's Ark. Maybe they will recall the recent breakout suc- cess of the hard-music band POD, who have toured with Korn and many other big names in rock. Or maybe they will remember Bob Dylan's "Christian phase" or Joan Osbourne's hit "What If God Was One of Us?" or the Rolling Stones's "Shine a Light." Most fans of rock would claim to know about Christian rock, but only about two percent would recognize names such as Smalltown Poets, Third Day, Burlap to Cashmere, The Waiting, All Star United, or Plumb — and those are the big names. Of that tiny minority, perhaps only five percent would own albums by Larry Norman, Resurrection Band, The Seventy Sevens, Daniel Amos, The Lost Dogs, or Stavesacre. Nonethe- less, that five percent of fans has been enough of an audience to support Christian rock since it first appeared in the mid-1960s. So how did Christian rock come about? Why has it been so margin- alized by the larger pop culture? Will it ever reach larger audiences? Raised by Wolves answers these and other questions in detail. The person- PREFACE alities, foibles, and secret stories of Christian rock are discussed. The con- flicts, as well as the miracles, fellowship, and growth, are explored. Whether you count yourself among the faithful or are just curious about these Jesus freaks who just won't fit in, this account will put you in the know. I approach the history of Christian rock from a few angles. I have been exposed to this music since I was a small child. My mother became a Christian at the tail end of the Jesus Movement in 1973. Thus, from the age of three, I was exposed to the music of Love Song, Honeytree, Maranatha, and even a little Larry Norman. After a fairly tumultuous childhood, I found great solace in the rock strains of Resurrection Band, 13 Petra, Jerusalem, Daniel Band, Daniel Amos, and DeGarmo and Key (among many others). When I "discovered" this underground scene, I couldn't believe it. Here were dozens of amazing bands that none of my friends had heard of, and I made it my agenda to let them know. I dragged them to concerts, I played tapes at school and church, and I even started writing my own songs. I had wanted to be the next Bob Dylan or John Lennon, but now I found myself looking up to artists such as Terry Taylor, Glenn Kaiser, Steve Taylor, and Mark Heard, who consistently cranked out amazing music knowing full well that they would not be heard by the world at large. It was the closest thing I had seen to artistic purity in rock and roll, and it rocked me to the core. I remember with great fondness listening to WCRM nearly every night from nine o'clock to midnight when the station played rock and roll. I recall listening to the Harvest Rock Show and calling in requests. I remember bumming rides from my youth leader to the bookstore in Carol Stream (a few towns over from my home) that Mike Delaney stocked with hard-to-find music. I recall buying Charlie Peacock's Lie Down in the Grass, After the Fire's ATF (on a secular label no less), Weber and the Buzztones, and The Altar Boys' self-titled release from Mike in 1984.