We know we have covered Mylon and Broken Heart before, but it seems that it has been a “Mylon” week for us. For some reason the song “Crack the Sky” keeps running through our mind. (We love the intro.)
Anyway, here are two more videos from the group that blessed and influenced so many lives.
Crack the Sky:
Love God, Hate Sin:
Okay, we are going off the reservation a bit here and lumping the music and animation artistry of VeggieTales. Believe it or not, VeggieTales reminds us a great deal of the classic Warner Brothers cartoons as there is an element that appeals to kids and yet at the same time have lines and references that only adults will get. We are sure that parents get tired of the videos as their children will play them over and over and over and over….
Well, deal with it.
The stories are great, the animation is wonderful and the music is well done and innovative.
So without further ado, here are three of our favorite VeggieTales songs:
Larry’s High Silk Hat
Okay, we know that people have been using Facebook and other social media to find people or renew friendships for years but to be honest with you, we haven’t.
Yet a few days ago, by sheer chance while looking at something else on Facebook, we saw the name of an old friend from whom we had not seen or heard in years. Afer a small hesitation of “do they want to hear from us?” we sent them a message. One of the the first things we said to each other was “I have always wondered what happened to you….”
Friends are sometimes misplaced, but never forgotten.
Though the journeys of our lives have taken different paths, somehow it is comforting to know that we will see each other here, there, on in the air.
With that, here’s White Heart’s “I’ll Meet You There.”
See ya next time for more “Rock For the Ages.”
We have written about the group Petra before, focusing on their change in lead singers, styles and “non-praise and worship” albums.
As part of a project we are doing for a Christian school, we went searching through the vast library of albums and CD’s here are Raised on Hoecakes and came across the “Petra Praise” albums. Sadly, we must admit we had somewhat forgotten these gems.
“Petra Praise” (Volume 1 and 2) put what can be best described as a “Petrification” of contemporary praise and worship songs.
After all these years, these albums prove two things. First, good praise and worship songs are timeless and secondly, there is a reason Christ told Peter he was rock. Even then, Christ knew rock music fits praise and worship like a hand fits a glove.
Fist up, from the first Petra Praise album, “Salvation Belongs to Our God.”
And from Petra Praise 2, “Lord I Lift Your Name On High.”
See ya next time!
The last few days have been kind of hectic and hard here. We have been working on a couple of projects, keeping the blog going, getting prepped for the radio show and all that. Somehow the days aren’t long enough and we know there are a lot of people that feel the same way. One of the things that this blog has done is not only open our eyes to a lot of things that are going on (ignorance is bliss) but it is really easy to get mad – just flat out angry – about some of things we write about. Frankly, that anger is one of the reasons we have posts that are sometimes light or humorous. Without those posts, we would go crazy. (Okay, crazier than we are now.)
After the radio show today, we got home and just needed to chill out. We knew we needed to right this post for Sunday, but we just couldn’t calm down. Just too much anger.
Thankfully, music calms the soul.
First up, “Harder to Believe Than Not To” by Steve Taylor. We have covered Taylor before and said how sarcastic, controversial and humorous he was. Yet this may be one of our favorite songs he wrote. The liner notes of Taylor’s “best of” album “Now the Truth Can Be Told” says this about the song:
“The song takes its title from a line found in the collected letters of Flannery O’Connor, acclaimed short-story writer and novelist from Georgia. Her literary friends in New York had a hard time believing that a writer of her caliber could profess to be something as common and unfashionable as a Christian. She reacts in her letter to the criticism that Christianity’s primary function is as a crutch for the weak-spirited, writing how they don’t understand the cost involved in following Jesus, that ‘it’s much harder to believe than not to believe.’
“The quote stuck. The cost of discipleship–the ideal of taking up your cross everyday and following Jesus–makes it hard to believe, because Christianity demands things from us that we don’t naturally want to give. In the words of playwrite Dennis Potter, ‘There is, in the end, no such thing as a simple faith.’”
Where to begin when discussing Mark Farner? Born in Flint, Michigan, it can be said with some certainty Farner’s early life was not exactly a bright light for God.
(Then again, whose life is?)
His biography says he was faced with the death of his father when he was nine. He took up the tuba and after realizing the tuba would not take him to the top of the charts, his mother bought him a guitar and paid for six lessons. After three of the six, he was hooked. Taking to the guitar like a fish in water, Farner started to develop the style and skill set to be a great musician. Farner left high school after punching a teacher. “Left’ is being kind: he was expelled.
After a few other “missteps,” Farner and two others joined together to become one of the great secular rock bands of all time – Grand Funk Railroad.To say the band was successful is an understatement. With hits like “I’m Your Captain,” “Locomotion” and “We’re An American Band,” the music of Grand Funk Railroad is forever etched into the history of rock and roll.
Somewhere along the line, Farner accepted Christ and in 1988 released the album “Just Another Injustice,” which contained the Dove Awarded nominated song “Isn’t It Amazing.”
In 1991, Farner released his third “Christian” album which included a hard driving rockin’ version of the Grand Funk Railroad song of the same name.
Sadly, Farner received some criticism from some in the church for his willingness to play and witness in bars. People felt it was not the right place for a Christian artist to play. We always felt that Christ went were the sinners were and supported Farner. Farner’s calling to witness in saloons is not one that many have, and for that we believe Christians should appreciate his going to where few are called.
Farner still tours and remains a tour de force today. Over the years, Farner has 30 million records sold (12 RIAA Certified Platinum and 15 Certified Gold albums) and as his website says, “his train keeps on a-rollin’.”
For this Sunday, step back in time and listen to the blessed talent of Mark Farner.
Isn’t It Amazing:
Some Kind of Wonderful:
In 1986, the group Idle Cure came upon the scene in Contemporary Christian Music. The band was formed in Long Beach, California from former members of secular groups.
Pictured left to right: Pete Lomakin (Keyboard), Mark Ambrose (Guitar), Clark Edmond (Drums), Steve Shannon (Lead Vocals)
What made the band great was while other bands such as Stryper had brought heavy metal into the CCM world, Idle Cure’s sound was heavy metal with harmonies. Sometimes compared to Def Leppard, the group released 8 albums over the course of 15 years, proving that God’s love of music does not depend on the style, but the heart and lifestyle of the men and women who play and sing it.
Discography:
1986: Idle Cure
1988: Tough Love
1990: 2nd Avenue
1991: Inside Out
1992: Breakaways
1994: Eclipse
1998: Idle Cure/2nd Avenue
2000: Tough Love/Inside Out
Breakaway:
Hungry Hearts:
See ya next week!
We have talked about Rich Mullins and his song “Creed” before.
Sadly, Mullins left us all too soon, but his work influences and inspires Christians and musical groups to this day.
The group Third Day got together with Brandon Heath at the Soundhouse in Redding, CA. and recorded a tribute version of “Creed.”
The hammer dulcimer is just awesome.
Enjoy.
