A Real Class Act

A super group took the stage exactly two years to the day prior to my entry into the world. Jake Hess and the Imperials, a hand picked gathering of superstars of the gospel music industry. A band of ringers that included: Jake Hess on lead, Gary McSpadden on Baritone, Sherrill Nielsen tenor, and the incomparable Armond Morales with his trademark silky bass. The night was January 16th, 1964 in Hadleyville, Alabama, Jake’s home town. Gospel music was never again the same. This group was different, they sounded modern. A little too different at first for some. Jake is quoted  as saying, “I don’t think we’re going to do it.” Armond lent some encouraging words, “Don’t limit God.” In a March, 1989 article from CCM magazine celebrating the groups’ 25th anniversary, the late Jake Hess concludes, “…If it hadn’t been for those three little words I don’t think there would be an Imperials today.”

Although singers came and went the Imperials sound remained consistently great. They backed Elvis Presley on stage and record, accompanied Jimmy Dean and many other stars of the music industry. The group has numerous Grammy and Dove awards; and in 1998 they were inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame. They’re the New York Yankees of Gospel.

Founding member Armond Morales suffered through a battle with cancer a while back and relinquished the Imperials’ name to son Jason and a new generation of singers. Now the original group is known as the Classic Imperials. Following a miraculous recovery, Armond continues the heritage began in ‘64 along with Dave Will, Rick Evans and Paul Smith.

In 1983 I made my first Lp purchase for my new stereo. The record was Stand by Power by the Imperials featuring then new lead singer Paul Smith. The album produced many hits including: Lord of the Harvest, Because of Who You Are and Stand by the Power. I have been a fan ever since.

Of course I knew of the group through my dad’s record collection. He had a scratchy mono Lp copy of the first record, Introducing Jake Hess and the Imperials. As a teen I was thrilled to spin their new record  that was in itself another triumph in redefining the Christian music art form. Somehow they managed to outdo themselves with every new album just as No Shortage, One More Song for You and Priority had done.

Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with lead singer Rick Evans. We had a delightful conversation via Facebook about the forthcoming new album. I asked Rick how the new project was going, he said, “[It’s] a long process, but we are getting closer each day.” I replied that I could identify seeing that the creative process can be time consuming, my radio days and nights were often spent in countless hours on one 30 second spot. “We are lucky to be have a record company that is willing to take the time to make this right,” Evans continued. I asked if he could give me any glimpse into the songs included on the project. Rick replied, “Very different. We used some of the best writers in Nashville. They came up with a work of art. The record will actually be a journey of a person’s life. It is a cool concept and will be wonderful introduction back into the music marketplace.” Kind of like Styx and some of the other “concept” bands of the ‘70’s I jokingly referred. Not missing a beat the Classic Imperials new lead singer responded, “No actually you are on the right track. It is more like the Beatles and the Lonely Hearts [Club] Band thing. It will be GREAT!”

“It was twenty years ago today,
Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play
They've been going in and out of style
But they're guaranteed to raise a smile.
So may I introduce to you
The act you've known for all these years,
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

Funny how the Classic Imperials and the Beatles started about the same time. The good news is we still have the Beatles of gospel here and now. Thanks to Rick and all the Classic Imperials for not only entertaining us, but more importantly ministering in ways those other guys never attempted.

Stay tuned.

My Dennis the Menace

  Today's post is a departure for me. I feel it very therapeutic venting about one of my peanuts. My brilliant three year old Madison is a bit of a scientist. Today she was testing the destructive properties of H2O on electronics. It seems that water when poured directly on cordless phones and cassette tape recorders ceases viable operation of said devices.  Very interesting. How could I go nearly twenty years owning a Panasonic portable tape recorder without introducing 20 ounces of Aquafina to the circuit board? Both the phone and the tape recorder are drying now. The secret to preserving electronics when accidentally wet is do not turn them on. Remove batteries immediately and let the cases air dry thoroughly. I learned my lesson when I dropped a Nintendo DS game system into a bowl of water last year. I turned the game on after briefly blow drying it. That was a big mistake! If power is applied to a wet circuit board then you might as well throw it away. I repeat, immediately remove the power source and let the device dry thoroughly a day or two before powering up again. There seems to be no quick fixes. Auto parts stores carry a product known as wire drier and of course WD40 spray that work well on ignition distributors, spark plug wires and such, but I've never used these remedies on small electronics. I recommend taking the safe route.

 

  My life is far from being a cartoon strip but Angie and I believe we have a Dennis the Menace on our hands. She is smart but is into everything. My little bit has made more experiments than I can recall and presented more challenges than her other three siblings combined. Thank God for kids.

Stay tuned

©2009 The Peanut Whistle. All rights reserved.

1980's CCM Spec Show

©2009 The Peanut Whistle. All rights reserved.

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  I had so much fun with the music in this show from the late 80's. Contemporary Christian Music was worlds apart from today's counterpart. Listen as I echo the then popular CHR format in this unscoped gem from 1987 that was done in my Atlanta studio at radio home number two. This recording did not air on any radio station and was only intended to be a speculative demonstration of the J900 format I invented at my original radio home. The idea has not been presented unedited until now. Enjoy.

Stay tuned.

Let's Roll!

At the close of the Disco era was a fad known as Roller Disco. The popular dances and music moved into the roller skating rinks for those skilled enough.

I was not one of them. I had two left feet but learned to circle around the floor until I fell and hurt my backside on an eighth grade field trip and experienced pain for most of my high school years thus ending my skating “career.” I was too chicken to ever try again until tempted thirty years later when I had my own children. I'm still as clumsy as ever, but as far as my kids know, I can skate even though I am actually wearing shoes. That will be our little secret, dear reader. Shhh!

Disco is dead, but not forgotten. The genre evolved into “Dance” music. It is still played sometimes in its original form at the rinks around here, especially on special skate nights for old folks like me. Well, I'm not a fan of the music but it was designed to dance and later roll to; not many other forms of music are as compatible.

For those of us schooled in the Pentecostal and Southern Baptist conventions dancing was taboo in any form so the youth of my day needed a substitute. The ultra conservative of our sects would argue that even innocuous substitutes for the raunchy dancing and skating was just as bad and viewed as a gateway to Hell. Shoot, in modern churches dance teams are very common; my, how times have changed. I recently attended a church youth presentation of a mainline denomination that featured fast paced dancing to secular popular music accompaniment with no pretense of using a Christian substitute. Funny how even the churches are becoming more politically correct, omitting Christ. Those kids knew nothing of the restrictions I grew up with so I took no offense, especially considering the current character of Christian music.

Winning the “lost” teens of my day involved using our gospel music set to a modern beat. As I have noted in a previous post; I briefly moonlighted as DJ on Christian skate nights. The pairing of Southern Gospel and skates has always been surreal to me. I never thought the genre was compatible. So in 1984 I jumped at the opportunity to spin rock derived Contemporary Christian music (CCM) for the attending youth groups each week at the Savannah Skate Inn on Saturdays . The tunes were fast paced and skate-able. Not so in today's more bland homogeneous CCM. Christian skate night simply would not work for the present generation.

It was hard enough selling the idea of rolling to gospel music in my day when CCM was better. The unchurched laughed; we were preaching to the choir of those who attended (maybe a few invited their “unsaved” friends.) The ultra conservative simply weren't allowed or came without the knowledge of their pastor. It was a wholesome activity, I figured, so why did it fail? It might just boil down to a fickle public that summer. Who knows or cares?

Stay Tuned

© 2009 The Peanut Whistle. All rights reserved.

I Want to Know

    A new 2 CD 1 DVD release from rock icons Foreigner has kept me entertained for the past few days at home, in the Civic, and my minivan. Their first all new album in a decade and a half, “Can’t Slow Down” is superb. I especially like the title cut and “Too Late” a very catchy radio ready tune I’ve been singing for days. These guys have successfully preserved that Foreigner signature sound while evolving into the present with new lead singer, Kelly Hansen. He has admirably taken over for long time front man Lou Gramm, who at one time I thought irreplaceable.

    What intrigued me into buying the new set was a curious CD of remixes of the hits we all know well. Was this just a new remastering job from previous “master” tapes? Was any new vocals or loops added? I knew that the songs already sounded great but was unprepared for what I would discover. Producer Marti Frederiksen and his recording engineer Anthony Focx have uncovered the original multi-track tapes and exactly matched the original mixes. These new mixes a far clearer than their predecessors with deeper bass and better sounding representation of Lou Gramm’s awesome vocal performances. It was as if I was hearing them for the first time (pun intended). In fact, Feels Like the First Time opens up the disk with the electric guitars cranked to 11. Wow!  I quickly pulled out an original CD. The older mixes sounded muffled by comparison, as if someone had placed a blanket over the loudspeakers. The new mixes truly sound like they were recorded yesterday. The only limit now are the constraints of the 16 bit, 44.1 kHz sampled CD format itself. I hope more hits are forthcoming as remixes. It truly gives new life to the Classic Rock genre.

    I first notice Foreigner in the early 1980’s when I borrow the foreigner 4 album from a friend. The opening bass line of Jukebox Hero hooks me and the rest is history. Forward to 1986, I Want to Know What Love Is is a huge hit on radio and Mtv. I am especially intrigued by the heavy gospel influence and wish to share the song on my radio show on Gospel 90 AM. I am not allowed to play the “secular” version, but the station is given the gospel version of the song by the New Jersey Mass Choir who backs Foreigner on the original.

  I can name numerous mainstream hits adapted for the gospel market. Accusations of hypocrisy notwithstanding I have never seen anything wrong with presenting a “secular” artists’ songs in a “religious” setting providing that the lyrics are compatible. The movie An Officer and a Gentleman produced Up Where We Belong sung by Jennifer Warnes and Joe Cocker made better by The PTL Singers & Orchestra (a BeBe and CeCe Winans duet) and a marvelous cover version on Christian radio arguably the biggest hit on my first radio home. The gospel version was only slightly modified by singing Lord lift us up where we belong instead of love lift us up. How is that any different than Love Lifted Me? God is love, right?

  Before I close; ever consider Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven for gospel radio airplay? That song holds up well despite being secular. Unmodified it would make a great candidate for what I call a reverse crossover. Yesterday I heard Kirk Franklin do an old Kenny Loggins number, This is It, made a great gospel song. Bravo.

  Anyway I am pondering similar ideas for my new Internet radio station that will feature a good mix of secular and sacred both old and new. It will be a whacky format for sure. It will be positive music in the purest form. The best of both worlds without rules of outdated traditions aimed at the seekers of this world not unlike myself.

Stay tuned