The Bridge

Although it was (and still is) a great idea, Christian Country failed to make an impact on Religious radio when it first emerged in the late 80’s. The notion of mixing musical styles and creating a new art form is how many great genres got started. Rock-n-roll would have gone nowhere without a solid foundation of  Rhythm ‘n Blues and Hillbilly influences; throw in Gospel rhythms for good measure. Christian Country blended Southern Gospel and CCM producing a hybrid that sounded a lot like progressive Country music not dissimilar to modern artists like Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum, and others.

Traditionally Southern Gospel, The Dixie Melody Boys (at the time known for their hits, Antioch Church Choir and Good ‘Ole Boys ) moved toward a more contemporary direction, introducing a decidedly more electric sound. The band had flipped from a very traditional quartet to Rock-meets-Country and now called themselves the DMB Band. Under that moniker, they produced at least two albums, Run Little Brother and Streetwise, both very good records (probably their best.)

Unfortunately, Christian Country was a flash in the pan, and DMB Band reclaimed their former identity.

Today’s audio post is a commercial I voiced for a DMB Band concert held at a venue I provided: my home church. Turnout at the show was great, but my conservative pastor was soured by the experience. He had seen a roadie smoking a cigarette, outside on the church grounds and vowed that they’d never host a similar event again.

Additionally, the promoter had hired a no-name local SG group to sing on the bill along with DMB. The clash in style and quality of presentation was evident. It was Nashville polish meets wannabe garage band.  I enjoyed the show, but was embarrassed for DMB due to a perfect storm of poor planning. It was not the crossover bridge I had envisioned (lesson learned.)

DMB Band Tonight

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What’s the Frequency?

Back in September 1986 my station put me, at age 20, in charge of conceptualizing how our new CCM format should sound. I did my best coming up with new imaging. In reality, using a young guy on such an important task was probably a setup. Should the new format fail, who else was to blame but the kid. I tried duplicating the sound of popular FM stations across the dial who had professional voice-over artists produce their jingle packages. Using top CCM hits of the day, I made a few  low budget station legal ID’s; adding my own personal touch. Presented today for the first time. Download here or press play below.

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J900 Legal ID’s

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Instant Lost Aircheck

Overlooked for years, today’s recording is a gospel aircheck from September, 1984. Being a deejay in a mild coastal climate has its perks, like hurricanes. This capture of WWJD 900 AM in Savannah, Georgia illustrates how Hurricane Diana threatened the Coastal Empire back then. Fortunately, the storm passed over the area without significant damage. It also demonstrates a first attempt at instant play requests: just another day at the office. Download here or press play below.

10 September 1984 WWJD 900 Khz (scoped) Panasonic RX-5030

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Navigate G.A.

Here’s a note for all readers: the newly remodeled Gospel Rewind blog site is full of multi media content, especially audio. Make sure to link on over to the actual page for the full experience. That goes for those of you reading from Facebook, a reader, or even e-mail.  Currently I have the latest half dozen or so posts just under the header. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page you’ll find nearly all the Gospel Rewind shows we’ve done since 2009. In the sidebars we will be adding new stuff occasionally as well. Happy blogging.

Stay tuned.

Roctober's 25th Anniversary

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the last official board mix aircheck I recorded at gospel radio home number one, “J900”. Listen below or download here.

16 October 1986 Unscoped J900 Aircheck Neal Rhoden

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Full Circle

Today I was looking back on my youth. (So what else is new.) In “Rock Even a Mom will Love”, a post from 2009 we talked about a pivotal concert going experience I had in 1985. A newspaper reporter observed those 26 years ago that although this was your typical smoke-and-mirrors rock show, comparable to Michael Jackson or Madonna; it was a show where he remarked, “area kids…[took] mom and dad to a rock concert.” At the same time parents exposed their children to “loud, modern music with a Christian message.”

In 2011 there is no major Contemporary Christian Music crossover acts comparable to 1985’s  Amy Grant or Stryper that I can take any of my 4 kids to see. Currents CCM artists just don’t do the big shows anymore. Despite the critics who called these acts sellouts, I think it was good for our kids and culture at large. Christian music needs exposure outside our churches and into the big venues again. Listen to the radio commercial for the 1985 CCM show; slick production values with secular crossover appeal.

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14 Oct 1985 Amy Gran Concert

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Tradio Radio

While reviewing old posts I stumbled on this gem from 2009 about a unique feature of many small radio stations across the rural USA—Swap Shop. I realized one glaring omission: I failed to mention the Swap Shop on my third radio home, WDCY.  By September, 1990 management decided we start one of these shows. Along with morning obituaries, the Birthday Club, and  birth announcements we were the ultimate small market cliché.

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If you have 15 minutes to spare, gospel radio home number four is shown on this YouTube video I made a couple of years ago. There is a brief segment shot during Swap Shop.

The Grand Tour, WBKI in 1993

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Technorati Tags: small market radio

Dead Links

No I’m not talking about breakfast; although some Hillshire Farm ‘Lil Smokies® or Polska Kielbasa sausage sound good about now. The kind of links I mean are the audio samples oft times featured in Gospel Aircheck. Basically there is a file sharing service that I use to store my audio and it provides an Internet link so you can either download or play directly from the blog.

It irks me when one doesn’t work—the dreaded dead link. I depend on a file to be 1oo% playable all of the time. Last post I presented an old commercial that no longer plays. What’s funny is that the adjacent file is just fine. What a mystery.

This is a round about way of saying that it would be nice to receive feedback when this happens. It keeps me on my toes. I have already discovered a few more bad links myself and am in the process of firing the culprit. Links will be repaired when and if possible. For now, I’m hungry. Pass the syrup.

Stay tuned.

Re-imagined

Like anyone with a somewhat artistic temperament, once I create something I am never finished with it. Recently, we warmed up the old Gospel Aircheck studios to revisit an ancient piece of copy I wrote in 1984 for the inaugural Christian Youth Skate we discussed last time. The script became a 30 second spot that I also provided the voice-over for. The Music bed was an overlap mix of two songs our management restricted from airplay because they were judged too hot. It’s hilarious that Water Grave by the Imperials and Home of the Lord by Sandi Patti (duet with Russ Taff) were taboo because they sounded a lot like rock music on a mostly Southern Gospel station that in reality played everything from the Happy Goodmans to Amy Grant. Gospel 90 had an inconsistent standard when it came to music selection, to say the least. Label the format more “psycho variety” than anything else.

Anyway, the point is that I used my music bed selection as a deliberate stab against this hypocritical system. Somehow, if a song had a strong drum beat or an electric guitar solo, it was a no-no.  The Youth Skate gave me license to rock (yeah, right.)

Back to the present: not necessarily in this order, I remixed the original music bed, taking bass licks and drum beats, digitally enhancing and looping them. Next, I added stereo effects (laser blast stingers) and manipulated the sound by re-panning some of the original elements until the music sounded unlike it ever did before. I didn’t use my 1984 reading of the copy. We used a Sennheiser MD-421 mkII (mid-90’s vintage); the same type microphone I had at the station for the new vocal track. In 27 years my voice has changed quite a bit, so it can be considered a completely reimagined version done just for the heck of it. The 1984 original can be downloaded here and the newly redone skate commercial here. Or just click below. See what you think.

1984 Original Christian Youth Skate, press play

2011 Reimagined Christian Youth skate, press play

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Stay Tuned

Ready to Roll

My first Christian skate parties have been crazy fun writing about, but what leads up to the actual parties is also what makes my teen years so captivating in my, ahem, 40’s.

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I forget exactly how I, with only a year deejay experience, am chosen to host the Christian Youth Skate in that summer of ‘84, but my personal theory is that at 18 years of age I am considered a natural for the job. My intestinal butterflies notwithstanding, the show goes on without a hitch.

Todays post is about my “controversial”  music selections, all of them still in my archive these 27 years later. My station manager gives me an enormous stack of CCM albums our predominately Southern Gospel format excludes—a windfall for me. My favorite discovery: Sweet Comfort Band, Perfect Timing (I occasionally listen to that record now.) These record company freebies, courtesy of Gospel 90, also include the phenomenal Age to Age by Amy Grant (especially the crowd pleaser song, Fat Baby). This set of promotional Lp’s also adds Petra's wonderfully bizarre Not of this World, one of my early ‘80’s favs.

Some of the crowd (represented by buzz-kill adult chaperones) are not pleased by the heavily rock and pop-influenced Contemporary Christian I play. But, who can dance or skate to elevator music? In response, I crank-up the speakers to drown out the fuddy-duddies. If its too loud, you’re too old, pal. Not that I am a rebel; to the contrary, I have a hard time shedding my shaped-note, four part harmony heritage as well: mixed emotions. But I maintain an open mind. It sounds closer to the current top-40 I, as a teen, secretly listen to. Looking back,  in those days most local church youth groups have yet to emerge from stodgy traditionalism.  To them CCM is merely a substitute for “evil” secular music. The beat, in and of itself, is seen, by association, as of the Devil. (A famous television evangelist makes that assertion in a CCM magazine interview  and, ironically, falls from grace amidst a very public sexual scandal in 1988. Many church leaders of the era consider his views Gospel.)

Not to cast stones, I never have understood why many Southern Christians reject, and downright fight this Wonder Bread wholesome style of music performed by Honest to Goodness Believers and I probably never will. Another theory: this televangelist  sees CCM as a threat to his livelihood, at the time peddling his own brand of gospel records. Everyone has a hidden agenda.

“For the love of money is the root of all evil”—1 Timothy 6:10 KJV. Translation: greed is evil, not matter what  Wall Street says.

The skate parties have sparked a life-long love of the genre. The Youth Skate only lasts a summer, but the musical treasures remain—priceless.

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See the original post that inspired this story at our sister blog: Aircheck.

Stay tuned.

All Together Now

What first sold me on the 2011 National Quartet Convention, although I’m not a huge SG fan per se, was the fact that the Gaither Vocal Band were hosting an Afternoon Showcase performance. Not only were the current lineup singing, but it was a reunion of all the past members (except for Guy Pinrod, conspicuously absent.)

Angie and I made it just in time for the show having traveled six hours from Atlanta. Thank God for GPS. Cracker Barrel, and rest stops. Boy was it worth it! The impromptu nature of the set was thrilling to hear; as though Bill Gaither was arranging as they went along. For us this Thursday Session was the highlight of the whole convention. Gaither Vocal band has always successfully blended southern and more progressive sounds. I have followed GVB since their early ‘80’s inception and continue to be a fan although they were a little more Contemporary Christian in the beginning. This is a group not easily pigeonholed. In the early 90’s Gaither shifted his emphasis in a more southerly direction. But, that is alright.

Most fans are familiar with the Reunion video series. Gaither has done an excellent job preserving the best of our southern heritage. On Friday, the NQC presented the entire Reunion cast in a heavenly choir. Despite the cramped seating in Freedom Hall at the Kentucky Expo Center the whole experience, at least musically, was a lifetime dream fulfilled. More on the other performances in future posts.

Stay tuned.

Four Part Harmony

for long time readers of Gospel Aircheck, welcome back! I felt this was the perfect time to return to one of my favorite topics, southern gospel.

As a youth I was knocked out by Contemporary Christian Music at a time when most of my peers had never heard of Petra, Amy Grant or the Imperials.

Up until then I had cut my teeth on the likes of the Oak Ridge Boys, The Happy Goodman Family, and especially Andrae Crouch. In those days it was all gospel music to me. The various styles had yet to splinter into the sub-genres we know today. These days it seems that the Dove Awards are the only place the divergent forms mix—never mingling on the radio anymore.

The older I get, the more the music of my formative years draws me back. Don’t get me wrong I still love to rock but the soothing nature of voices in harmony against a simple musical accompaniment comforts these aging bones.

Recently my wife Angie and I spent our second honeymoon at the 2011 National Quartet Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. We had a great time. Both of us share a love and passion for gospel music. Like Donnie and Marie Osmond she’s a little bit Country and I’m a little bit Rock-n-Roll (rest easy, the two of us aren’t related.) The point is one balances the other. The NQC has been something I wanted to do since I first heard of it nearly 30 years ago. The next couple of posts will detail our adventure.

Stay tuned.

Traffic Cop

Hello and welcome to Gospel Aircheck. This blog began in 2009 as "Gospel Rewind" and has changed often since. This blogspot address has changed along with the times. All of our 2011 posts have migrated to a new home. You can now rewind at www.myaircheckblog.com. Gospel Rewind's legacy posts remain here, along with the new stuff. Thanks and enjoy.