A Classic Replay: Flashback Friday - Rez

In my continuing pursuit of audio excellence here at The Night Beat, I am introducing a few regular "columns" to my Blog. The first one to appear will be known as Flashback Friday and will bring my loyal readers up to speed on the "Pioneers" of "Founders" of the Christian Contemporary Music industry. For a quick cliff-notes on the Jesus Music/Early CCM era a great source is the Skit at the end of Servants Jungle Music

S: Dr. Livingston I presume!
L: Why Stanly Ole chap, did you bring those rock and roll tapes that I requested?
S: Yes I did Doctor, I brought some Resurrection Band
L: Capitol! I was Awaiting Your Reply.
S: However, I lost the Daniel Amos in the river. It was a pity.
L: How Alarming.
S: But I did manage to get some DeGarmo & Key This Time Thru.
L: Splendid! This Ain't Hollywood you know. You can't get any decent rock and roll out here. It's a beastly jungle. I say, how's your old colleague Barnabas?
S: Oh, you know Barnabas. Never Say Die type that. I left him in Egypt studying Petra glyphs.
L: Jolly good. Jolly good.
S: I say, do you fancy Fireworks?
L: Why they're strictly forbidden. It Shatters the Darkness. One shot and the animals go quite crackers. The rockets red glare and all that.
S: Steady on. Steady on old boy. I think what you need is a little bit of Sweet Comfort.
L: Bless you Stanley! Why, I drink it all the time. Hold on Tight. You get the
glasses and I'll be Breaking the Ice!
S: No, no, Doctor. You've got it all wrong. Oh well. Now then, I also brought you some Servant.

L: Oh what a stroke of luck! Why two of my servants ran away last week. Larry and Normanly. They ran into the Shallow Water and the crocks got them. Poor blighters. Well, I suppose they're In Another Land now?

Of course referenced in this short bit are Resurrection Band, Daniel Amos, DeGarmo & Key, Barnabas, Petra, Fireworks, Sweet Comfort Band, Servant and Larry Norman. There is no better place to Begin than at the end. At the end of every post I sign off with Awaiting Your Reply. Which is the title of the "Debut" release by Chicago, IL Pioneers of Christian Metal Resurrection Band, aka REZ. One of Two Commune Based Bands (The other being Grant's Pass Oregon Based Servant which will be covered in another post.) The Core of REZ from the start has been the Husband-Wife Team of Glenn (Vocals, Guitar)  & Wendi Kaiser (Vocals). Wendi Was the Headbanger of the Duo and Glenn gave the band a Blues twinged sound. After the Band broke up Glenn released several blues albums. Stu Heiss (Guitar, Keyboard) and John Herrin (drums) were the other "rocks" of REZ, during their 28 year run (1972-2000) they went through 3 Bass Players. Pretty good considering how some of the bands of today burn through members.

With two Indie Cassettes under their belt (1974's Music to Raise the Dead & All Your Life) the band was ready for the big time and released Awaiting Your Reply in 1978. Once the Industry recovered from their faint (It wasn't exactly Nancy Honeytree or The Imperials) came the second punch. This band wasn't exactly content to do Jesus, Jesus, Wo, Wo, Wo songs. They Took on Lying (Ananias and Sapphira) but soon turned their attention to Apartheid (Afrikaans on Rainbows end 1979) Abortion (Benny & Sue on Colours 1980). A Picture (with Sound) says a million words. Here is Love Comes Down as part of their XX Years Video.

Even from before their beginning REZ was more than just a band. Cornerstone Magazine started back in 1971, before the band even started, and had a long run, finally going out of print in 2003. By the time I got it, though, the love for the "Least of These" led them to unashamed support of the fictional Palestinian crisis. It was the only magazine in my remembrance that I asked to be removed from the mailing list.

One place they did shine, however, was in Music. The Cornerstone Festival began in 1984 and has been a 4th of July Staple ever since. Coming as they have from the hard Rock/Metal background, the festival (known as C-Stone) has been a launching pad and a welcome venue for acts like Red, The Devil Wears Prada and others who would hardly be invited at other more enlightened festivals. This Summer at C-Stone, which was the 30th Anniversary of Jesus Making the Cover of Time, they had a Jesus Rally that was attended by REZ, Daniel Amos, Servant, Petra, Randy Stonehill and others. I am still hoping that some of these legends, other than Classic Petra, restart touring and recording.

I have a second bonus for you. This is the full set from the Jesus Rally. Enjoy.

That concludes my first Flashback Friday. I'll see you next Friday with another walk down CCM's History. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Flashback Friday: REZ

In my continuing pursuit of audio excellence here at The Night Beat, I am introducing a few regular "columns" to my Blog. The first one to appear will be known as Flashback Friday and will bring my loyal readers up to speed on the "Pioneers" of "Founders" of the Christian Contemporary Music industry. For a quick cliff-notes on the Jesus Music/Early CCM era a great source is the Skit at the end of Servants Jungle Music

S: Dr. Livingston I presume!
L: Why Stanly Ole chap, did you bring those rock and roll tapes that I requested?
S: Yes I did Doctor, I brought some Resurrection Band
L: Capitol! I was Awaiting Your Reply.
S: However, I lost the Daniel Amos in the river. It was a pity.
L: How Alarming.
S: But I did manage to get some DeGarmo & Key This Time Thru.
L: Splendid! This Ain't Hollywood you know. You can't get any decent rock and roll out here. It's a beastly jungle. I say, how's your old colleague Barnabas?
S: Oh, you know Barnabas. Never Say Die type that. I left him in Egypt studying Petra glyphs.
L: Jolly good. Jolly good.
S: I say, do you fancy Fireworks?
L: Why they're strictly forbidden. It Shatters the Darkness. One shot and the animals go quite crackers. The rockets red glare and all that.
S: Steady on. Steady on old boy. I think what you need is a little bit of Sweet Comfort.
L: Bless you Stanley! Why, I drink it all the time. Hold on Tight. You get the
glasses and I'll be Breaking the Ice!
S: No, no, Doctor. You've got it all wrong. Oh well. Now then, I also brought you some Servant.

L: Oh what a stroke of luck! Why two of my servants ran away last week. Larry and Normanly. They ran into the Shallow Water and the crocks got them. Poor blighters. Well, I suppose they're In Another Land now?

Of course referenced in this short bit are Resurrection Band, Daniel Amos, DeGarmo & Key, Barnabas, Petra, Fireworks, Sweet Comfort Band, Servant and Larry Norman. There is no better place to Begin than at the end. At the end of every post I sign off with Awaiting Your Reply. Which is the title of the "Debut" release by Chicago, IL Pioneers of Christian Metal Resurrection Band, aka REZ. One of Two Commune Based Bands (The other being Grant's Pass Oregon Based Servant which will be covered in another post.) The Core of REZ from the start has been the Husband-Wife Team of Glenn (Vocals, Guitar)  & Wendi Kaiser (Vocals). Wendi Was the Headbanger of the Duo and Glenn gave the band a Blues twinged sound. After the Band broke up Glenn released several blues albums. Stu Heiss (Guitar, Keyboard) and John Herrin (drums) were the other "rocks" of REZ, during their 28 year run (1972-2000) they went through 3 Bass Players. Pretty good considering how some of the bands of today burn through members.

With two Indie Cassettes under their belt (1974's Music to Raise the Dead & All Your Life) the band was ready for the big time and released Awaiting Your Reply in 1978. Once the Industry recovered from their faint (It wasn't exactly Nancy Honeytree or The Imperials) came the second punch. This band wasn't exactly content to do Jesus, Jesus, Wo, Wo, Wo songs. They Took on Lying (Ananias and Sapphira) but soon turned their attention to Apartheid (Afrikaans on Rainbows end 1979) Abortion (Benny & Sue on Colours 1980). A Picture (with Sound) says a million words. Here is Love Comes Down as part of their XX Years Video.

Even from before their beginning REZ was more than just a band. Cornerstone Magazine started back in 1971, before the band even started, and had a long run, finally going out of print in 2003. By the time I got it, though, the love for the "Least of These" led them to unashamed support of the fictional Palestinian crisis. It was the only magazine in my remembrance that I asked to be removed from the mailing list.

One place they did shine, however, was in Music. The Cornerstone Festival began in 1984 and has been a 4th of July Staple ever since. Coming as they have from the hard Rock/Metal background, the festival (known as C-Stone) has been a launching pad and a welcome venue for acts like Red, The Devil Wears Prada and others who would hardly be invited at other more enlightened festivals. This Summer at C-Stone, which was the 30th Anniversary of Jesus Making the Cover of Time, they had a Jesus Rally that was attended by REZ, Daniel Amos, Servant, Petra, Randy Stonehill and others. I am still hoping that some of these legends, other than Classic Petra, restart touring and recording.

I have a second bonus for you. This is the full set from the Jesus Rally. Enjoy.

That concludes my first Flashback Friday. I'll see you next Friday with another walk down CCM's History. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

I Love The 80's: Firing Up the Night Beat Time Machine

Now that the Christmas Season is over, the cleanup begins. Now for most people that simply means ditching the tree and lights and usually putting the Christmas Music back in storage for another year. Now for me, though I have some Christmas CD's, I have a bigger selection on mp3, and, since I have an ancient and honorable iBook at home, it is time to purge the Christmas Music from the iTunes library (I've got it all on Flash Drives) and put on the regular tunes.

Some of those mp3's are from the "Classic Rock" era, and, despite what some may think, I think the music of that era holds up well over time. Now due to improvements in technology and the like "rock" supergroups of the time now sound like pop groups of today. Trust me though, these guys rocked.

The 80's gave us the pioneers of the Modern CCM industry. Petra, though born in the 70's, didn't come into its own until the 80's, and acts like the FFR pioneer bands Servant and Resurrection Band took the slings and arrows of their fellow Christians so that groups like Eowyn, Fireflight, Flyleaf, Paramore, Evolett and Evanescence would have the success that they have.

Then there was the Coffeehouse scene. I doubt the coffee was great (I hadn't started drinking coffee yet, so I don't know, but it was a long way from Starbucks. Shoutout to my friend Coffee Lovin Mom here. I don't know why, but I thought this would make an excellent name for a bad country song. I repeat myself, I know). There were small acts focused here, and it opened up a whole new method of promotions. This was usually an excellent way to get bootleg music. Bring in the old cassette machine, put it right on the table, nobody cared. I guess the RIAA didn't exist back then.

Heavy Metal was also born in the 80's, and while it bears little resemblance to the Thrash-Metal of the 21st Century, this screaming guitar metal could hold their own against any of them, Even TDWP. One of the best metal acts of the decade was the Swedish metal act Jerusalem. This was the band responsible for the mega metal composition Sodom, which clocks in at over Twelve Minutes Long, OVER HALF of which is instrumental. I dare any of today's bands to try something like that. The labels would be screaming. The only band to come close today is IONA.

I guess it's obvious that I love the eighties. And you know, it works in the mainstream as well. Not just politically (It was the Reagan Revolution) but TV and Music in general just sounded better. This rant is brought to you by the Night Beat. I invite you to visit the website and vote on the poll in the sidebar. What was your favorite musical decade? With all honors to REZ, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Grooveyard of Grace: Night Beat Classic Edition

In a previous post I briefly discussed the recent trend of retired bands getting back together for reunions. Sometimes it is on a permanent basis, and other times it is a one time deal during the Summer Festival season, which I also discussed in one of my first blog posts. This summer a mass reunion of sorts will occur at the Cornerstone Festival, one of the largest festivals, organized by Jesus People USA and operating every summer around the 4th of July since 1984. To mark the 40th Anniversary since Jesus made the Cover of Time Magazine, some of the "Fathers" of Christian Music will be appearing at the Festival for what is billed as a Jesus Rally. It will be a once in a lifetime event, as some of the bands that are scheduled to appear have not performed for decades, and probably will resume their retirement after the festival. I would hope the powers that be at JPUSA will be recording the event. I think DVDs of the rally would be a hot seller.

Though the rally is of great interest to us at the Night Beat, Illinois is a long way from the Northeast, and I don't know if I'll be able to attend. We have our own Summer Festival up here, Soulfest in New Hampshire, held since '98. To my knowledge only Classic Petra is coming this way. I hope that changes.

My introduction to Christian Music came in the decade of the 1980's, which in my opinion was the Golden Age of Christian Music. Jesus Music bands such as Servant and Petra were coming into their own, though Petra was considered an opening act at the time for an established band like Servant. Most bands used synthesizers to great effect, something that has been lost recently except in the Techno arena, with the exception of groups like Skillet. The Super-groups of the era were Petra, Servant, Fireworks and DeGarmo and Key. Resurrection Band or REZ, as they are known to their legions of fans, is generally regarded as Father of Christian Heavy Metal, just as Petra is regarded as the Father of Christian Rock. Both Sandie Brock (Servant) and Wendy Kaiser (REZ) were pioneers in the field of Female Fronted Rock. Without them taking the heat at first, I think it highly unlikely that three decades later we would be blessed with awesome FFR bands as The Letter Black (Sarah Anthony), Fireflight (Dawn Michele), Flyleaf (Lacey Sturm), Paramore (Hayley Williams), and Evolett (Haden Brightwell). That would be quite a loss.

The only sad thing about the Rally is who will not be there. I would like to see Fireworks again, but I'm not sure if anybody could be rounded up. However there is one band that can't reunite, and that is D&K. With the death of Dana Key in 2010 it would be very awkward at least to have a band with the name of DeGarmo & Key reunite. Another loss.

For those interested in learning about the Roots of Christian Rock, I would recommend you immerse yourself in these bands. Servant made six albums: Shallow Water (1979), Rockin Revival (1981), World of Sand (1982), Caught in the Act of Loving Him (1983), Light Maneuvers (1984) and Swimming in a Human Ocean (1985). Must have songs are innumerable with this band. But two not to miss are Sudden Death and Come Jesus Come from World of Sand, which together form their Rock Opera.

Fireworks music is almost non-existent right now in the market. I would suggest this workaround at the moment. Petra is one of the most prolific bands out there, so you shouldn't have any problem finding stuff from them. To narrow down your hunt, I would recommend a few must haves. Start your journey with Never Say Die (1981), the album which began Petra's transformation from Pop to Rock, and the second with Greg X. Volz, the "voice" of Petra. More Power To Ya (1982) completed the transition, and by the time Not of this World (1983) the reputation of the band as one of the Premier rock bands of our time was chiseled in stone.

DeGarmo and Key released thirteen albums between 1978 and 1994, and while it is almost impossible to pick a favorite here, I would start with Communication (1984) which has the iconic songs Six, Six, Six; Are You Ready, and Alleluia Christ is Coming. Also Commander Sozo and the Charge of the Light Brigade (1985) with the hits Casual Christian, Apathy Alert, and Competition.

Finally, REZ has many albums, but it is best to start at the beginning. I would suggest Awaiting Your Reply as the ideal starting point.

I will return to the grooveyard from time to time, and may eventually spin it off into a blog of its own. The links lead to the mp3  download section of Amazon, though Light Maneuvers and Swimming in a Human Ocean are only available on Vinyl. Please use the links to shop and help support the Night Beat. We will return to the music of the 21st Century with our next post.

We at the Night Beat would like to offer our thoughts and prayers to the people of Japan as they recover from todays 8.9 Magnitude Earthquake and resulting Tsunami. Be assured that help is on the way.