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Pop Rock Nation

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  • Religious rock stars…

    Religious rock stars…

    I was very sad to hear about the tragic violence that happened at the Boston Marathon yesterday. It seems that April is the cruelest and craziest month for some people. This week, in particular, seems to be when certain people lose their minds and go on violent rampages. My thoughts and prayers are with those who have been directly affected by this act of terrorism. Peace be with you.

    Roger McDuff
    Roger McDuff

    I was recently reminded of a brief obsession I had with Trinity Broadcasting Network… and its religious rock stars

    Some of my readers may know that I often write reviews for Epinions.com. I’ve been writing on Epinions for over ten years, so I have a lot of reviews posted, any one of which is liable to be read and rated by another Epinions reader. Last week, someone rated a review I wrote about Trinity Broadcasting Network, a religious cable channel I kind of got hooked on back in the summer of 2003. I didn’t watch TBN because I’m especially religious. If I were religious, I doubt I’d get much out of televangelism anyway. I watched because TBN often has its unintentionally hilarious moments. TBN founder Paul Crouch, after all, once gave a very interesting speech about “doctrinal doo doo“.

    Anyway, since someone had rated my review of TBN, I decided to read it again. Suddenly, I was reminded of how funny and entertaining televangelism can be, particularly among the musicians. I posted the review on one of my blogs and a reader whose mother was a fan for the same reasons I was, left me a comment about one of the entertainers I had mentioned in the review. When I wrote my review in 2003, I noticed a man with a very impressive full head of white hair that made me think of Q-tips. I didn’t mention the performer by name, but my reader knew exactly who he was and had some very funny anecdotes to share about him and his wife. Apparently, this guy is a star on TBN. His name is Roger McDuff.

    I found a clip of him on YouTube, performing in 1983 with pink haired Jan Crouch, co-founder of Trinity Broadcasting Network. I watched it, fascinated that this guy had made a career out of singing on TBN. While I don’t think his singing voice is terrible, his vocals are not particularly outstanding, nor is he much of a dancer. And yet back in 2003, he was still on TBN, cavorting with Jan Crouch. Obviously, McDuff has a lot of fans out there in TV land, even if his performance in the above clip reminds me a little of karaoke.

    As I watched a couple of clips of Roger McDuff dancing and trying to sell Jesus to the masses, I was suddenly reminded of a true religious rock star. Mike Farris is a musician I discovered when a public relations firm in Nashville sent me a couple of his CDs to review. Again, I’m not particularly religious, but I do appreciate good music and talented performers. Mike Farris is definitely a musician who has the goods. I remember listening to his 2008 CD Shout! Live, which was recorded with his Roseland Rhythm Review during one of his Sunday Night Shout performances in Nashville. I remember thinking that if I were an atheist, I might be swayed to belief by Mike Farris’s music . At the very least, I figured I’d have a great time at his show. His energy and charisma are infectious, even if you’re just listening to his CD.

    In the above clip, Mike Farris performs “Can’t No Grave Hold My Body Down”. It’s played by real musicians and sung by someone who can sing and knows how to sell a song. As I listen to Farris and his band, I’m thinking I’d love to see him live. And I wouldn’t laugh at him the way I’d laugh at Roger McDuff.

    It should come as no surprise that religion spawns a lot of stars. Many faiths depend on the emotional connection people have with inspirational music and charismatic orators; they help convince people to believe. And so the most successful religious leaders usually have a lot of talent and charisma. Sometimes, people start off as religious performers and go secular, and sometimes they start off secular and become religious.

    The late, great comedian Sam Kinison started out as a preacher. He used his ability to preach to convert legions of people to his brand of comedy. I clearly remember back in the fall of 1990, listening to the radio station at Longwood University. Someone played Sam Kinison’s hilarious cover of “Wild Thing”. I never would have guessed back then that he had once been a preacher, but it later made perfect sense, given his comedic style.

    Sam Kinison’s video for “Wild Thing” even starred former church secretary Jessica Hahn, the very same one who helped cause the downfall of televangelist Jim Bakker’s ministry.

    Rock star Katy Perry was raised by evangelical Christians and released a gospel record in 2001 before she turned to mainstream pop in 2008.

    Here’s a clip of her singing under her original name, Katy Hudson, when she was still performing gospel music. I must admit, I don’t really follow Katy Perry’s career, but she’s obviously very talented and charismatic. Religion gave her a place to hone her talents before she burst on the pop scene.

    Another very talented band that came out of religious roots is Robert Randolph and the Family Band. I was introduced to these talented folks in 2004, when they opened for Eric Clapton. Robert Randolph started out playing music in church and now he’s getting more fans by the day.

    The Osmond family is obviously a religious musical group, owing to the family’s strict Mormon beliefs. But they’ve been performing secular music for over fifty years, with genres spanning everything from barbershop quartet to country. Unlike many young Mormon men, most of the Osmond brothers did not serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, mainly because they were helping to convert people with their music. Nevertheless, they did release a religious concept album in the 1970s called The Plan.

    This is a clip from The Plan. It’s a far cry from their hit song, “Crazy Horses”, which was about air pollution.

    And, I would certainly be remiss if I didn’t mention Pat Boone, who back in the day was considered a sex symbol akin to Elvis Presley. It’s kind of hard to believe that now, as he shills products on television and makes anti-Obama statements. Still, the man was a bona-fide rock star and movie star in the 1950s and 60s and remained a star in Christian circles well beyond his heyday.

    Many years later, he even released a “heavy metal” album. Okay, it was an album full of his big band interpretations of heavy metal songs. Still, I had to give him credit for trying to be cool.

    Despite all of the talented performers that have come into or out of religion, I still have to admit I get a huge kick out of watching the less talented ones on TBN. I also admit to occasionally watching Ernest Angley’s show solely for the cheesy music. What can I say? It makes me laugh.

  • Thank you, Stephen Bennett…

    Stephen Bennett helped me make it through many a dinner shift…

    Did you ever have a job that made you feel like throwing up every time you went to work? I did. Back in 1998, I took a job waiting tables at a well-established restaurant in Williamsburg, Virginia. When I was hired, I didn’t know the first thing about waiting tables. I was also suffering from pretty significant depression and anxiety. For the first few months of my employment, I was constantly stressed out and on the verge of hyperventilation and/or projectile vomiting. Fortunately, I eventually learned how to wait tables and the job became easier. I was finally promoted to dinner, meaning that I could be scheduled to work at night. On many Friday and Saturday nights in the late 1990s, a then local musician named Steve Bennett would play music.

    Stephen Bennett plays guitar. Actually, he often plays a harp guitar, which he inherited from his great grandmother’s second husband, Edgar Pierce. Steve writes on his official Web site that his great grandmother was married to Pierce for over fifty years, so he thinks of him as his great grandfather, even though the man was not a blood relation. The harp guitar Steve Bennett inherited is a Dyer Brothers symphony harp guitar, which was manufactured in 1909.

    Although Steve was born in Oregon, which is where his great grandparents lived, he grew up in New York. Consequently, he didn’t really know the man whose magnificent harp guitar he inherited and now enchants audiences with. When I knew Steve, he was living in my hometown, Gloucester, Virginia. He has since moved north to Milford, Connecticut with his wife, Nancy. He has released many albums, several of which I own, and has traveled the world playing his guitar and teaching others. When I check to see what he’s up to these days, I feel very fortunate that I got to hear him play every weekend as we worked stressful night shifts at the restaurant. His soothing music got me through many tough evenings.


    A great video showing Stephen Bennett playing “The Water Is Wide” with many, many harp guitar players…

    As I get older, I find myself seeking music that is… shall we say… a little more soothing to the soul. When I listen to Stephen Bennett’s recordings play, I remember watching him live as I worked at the restaurant and how lovingly he held his instruments as he finger picked and flat picked beautiful music. I was always amazed by how he was able to coax such intricate melodies from his guitars. Sometimes he would play popular songs that everyone knew. Sometimes he’d play original compositions. Sometimes he’d sing. I remember a couple of times, he’d have guest musicians play with him. He was pretty well-known in Williamsburg and the surrounding areas. I’m sure his presence is missed by those who used to love to listen to him play as they enjoyed fine cuisine on date night as well as those who were privileged to work in his presence. Virginia’s loss is Connecticut’s gain!


    Here he plays “What Child Is This”/”Greensleeves”…

    While I can’t say I always appreciated living in Gloucester, Virginia when I was growing up, I do love to look at Steve’s CDs and see Gloucester referenced in the credits. Like I said, I’m getting older and starting to appreciate more soothing things. I can now understand why my parents decided to settle in Gloucester back in 1980, having moved us from the Washington, DC area. Back in 1980, Gloucester was a quiet, rural, peaceful place surrounded by rivers. Thirty plus years later, it’s become a lot more populated. But compared to the sprawling metropolis of Newport News, Gloucester is still pretty tranquil. And though Stephen Bennett doesn’t live there anymore, his music often takes me back to the place where I grew up. It calms me down… and frankly, kind of inspires me to want to learn how to play guitar. I’ve tried to before, but it’s not as easy as he makes it look!

    I didn’t enjoy a lot of the shifts I worked when I was waiting tables in Williamsburg, Virginia. But I can say that many good things came from that job. I made a lot of great friends, learned a lot about good food, lost a lot of weight, got driven into graduate school, and was introduced to Stephen Bennett, a stellar musician with a gift for producing wonderful music. If you like acoustic guitar music and have ever wondered about the harp guitar, I highly recommend checking out Stephen Bennett. And if he’s playing anywhere near where you are, you should definitely stop in for a show.


    Stephen Bennett and Tommy Emmanual play a scorching rendition of “Puttin’ On The Ritz”. You have to see this to believe it!

  • “Hey man, is that Freedom Rock?”

    Gone are the days of television promoted albums like Freedom Rock…

    When I was coming along back in the 70s and 80s, I watched A LOT of TV. And I watched a lot, even though I had a hobby that took a lot of time in the afternoons. I was a veritable television fiend back in my early days and I’m sad to say, nothing’s changed in terms of my television viewing habits. In fact, I even tend to watch a lot of the same shows I watched thirty years ago if I can find them on the boob tube. Case in point, I still watch multiple episodes of The Brady Bunch every afternoon, unless something else, like a particularly compelling episode of Jerry Springer, has otherwise caught my attention.

    One thing I have noticed, however, is that the era of compilation albums being promoted on TV is now apparently over. I’m sure that’s because nowadays, a lot of people, myself included, download individual songs instead of purchasing compact discs. In fact, it looks like a lot of people aren’t even bothering to buy music the way they used to. I notice a lot of my Facebook friends listen to Pandora or Spotify or any of the other Internet radio stations that are now available to everyone.

    I can’t help it, though. I miss the ads for compilation albums. Fellow Pop Rock Nation writer and Facebook friend George Bounacos sometimes engages me in games of SongPop. He once marveled at my skill at that particular game. I have to admit, a large part of the reason I’m good at SongPop is because besides having very eclectic musical tastes, I learned an awful lot about music trivia by watching ads like the one for Freedom Rock.


    Remember this ad? It used to air all the time, with its scrolling snippets of classic songs that were popular before I was born or when I was too young to care.

    Freedom Rock was not the only ad that educated me about music. There were so many of them. I remember back in the late 1970s and early 80s, there would be ads for K-Tel records. I have heard that K-Tel compilations were of somewhat dubious quality. I wouldn’t know from personal experience because I never owned one. But I remember the ads…


    I don’t remember this specific ad, but I do remember so many like it. Actually, as a fan of 70s music, I’d probably love to own the collection being advertised here. I love me some Starbuck, after all.

    Some of the ads were hilarious. For instance, check out this commercial for a music collection directed to those who enjoy R&B and soul music.


    I’ve been an adult for well over twenty years and I’ve never known any of my friends to get all dressed up and have a group date at someone else’s apartment where they slow danced to an album they got in the mail. However, I have to admit this commercial kills me, especially when the guy at the end says, “No, my brother! You’ve got to buy your own!” Some friend, huh?

    If you preferred more Wonder bread style music, you could purchase Lost In Love.


    Looks like the folks in this ad were more interested in sitting on the couch, drinking wine, necking, and listening to some of the love song classics of the late 1980s… Hey, that compilation even had Donny Osmond’s comeback single, “Sacred Emotion”. Haven’t heard that one in a long while. I remember how people made fun of Donny in the late 80s for trying to reclaim his music career. Bear in mind that I was a teenager back then!

    For those who loved southern rock, there was Goin’ South. I would have liked this album, too…

    I actually own a couple of albums that were once hawked on TV. I purchased a “highlights” version of Easy Rock in Columbia, South Carolina back when I was in graduate school. It’s actually a great CD. I would have liked to have bought the double disc set advertised here…


    I used to listen to this all the time while writing and editing public health articles for the bureau of epidemiology where I worked at the time. It was great for concentrating.

    I also own Pure Funk, another great TV compilation disc. But besides being a great mix of music, Pure Funk had a hilarious commercial that went with it!


    Pure Funk was made by the same folks who brought us all three volumes of Pure Disco… also great fun!

    I know these types of ads haven’t gone away completely. I’ve seen the infomercials for the Time-Life Singers and Songwriters collection, for instance.


    This particular compilation has been hawked for at least twenty-three years. I remember when I was a freshman in college, someone who lived in my dorm had actually ordered the double disc set that was being sold back then. It must have done well, since they’ve expanded it. I would probably buy this if I weren’t already a compulsive music collection who downloads at the drop of a hat. I don’t know that I want to see a whole infomercial dedicated to it, though.

    Freedom Rock is probably among my favorite of all the compilation album ads. Time marches on, though, and with the decline of albums we’ve seen the decline of other associated things. I remember when I bought my first copy of the soundtrack for Purple Rain, it was on vinyl… and I got a free poster with it! LPs also allowed for some impressive artwork. I remember when I first bought Michael Jackson’s Thriller, it had drawings MJ had done in the liner notes. CDs don’t lend themselves as well to that. And digital downloads pretty much eliminate art. Even the downloads I’ve had that came with digital booklets pretty much get ignored. When I was younger and bought a record, I’d listen to the music and pore over the innards… if they came with them.

    I know I’m a Luddite. Oh well. George can take comfort in the fact that I don’t listen to newer music as much and don’t get exposed to it as much because the compilation ads have declined. That makes me less of a SongPop contender. And I can take comfort in the fact that Amazon sells a lot of those albums that used to not be available in stores!