Petra, Stryper, & Amy Grant - Christian Rock - 60 Minutes

[adpetrafan]

Here is another thing I found while digitizing yesterday.

Petra, Stryper, & Amy Grant in a piece about Christian Rock from 60 Minutes in the mid 80's.

It is really sad to see how far off some people were (and maybe still are?) about their ministry.

[executioner]

I think I remember seeing that piece.

[rexreed]

What a great blast from the past! It's hard for me to believe schools like Bob Jones can still exist. I guess you can find a wing nut "scholar" for just about anyone. The thing is, when you hear the word "university" in a school name you are likely to associate it with fine institutions where knowledge and the free flow of ideas run rampant. In the 1980's you could smash that notion by describing Bob Jones Universitie's stance on race.

I saw a decent turnout for the Petra show back in the 80's. My question now is this- Where are the fans? Other bands from that era that were successful but were not "Christian" don't seem to have a problem attracting their base in today's world. Is there no real base for bands like Petra? Even Loverboy seems to draw more fans, at least in the US, than Petra is.

[gman]

I saw a decent turnout for the Petra show back in the 80's. My question now is this- Where are the fans? Other bands from that era that were successful but were not "Christian" don't seem to have a problem attracting their base in today's world. Is there no real base for bands like Petra? Even Loverboy seems to draw more fans, at least in the US, than Petra is.

I've always thought the answer to this is basically that most popular bands will still have a percentage of their fan base hanging on, and that secular bands from back in the day had a much larger base. Therefore, if they get about the same percentage still hanging on as does Petra, it's enough to keep them going, whereas Petra's base was smaller and so the number of remaining fans isn't enough.

[brent]

Christian consumers are a different breed. Christians do not buy Christian or remain Christian forever. Christians don't generally only buy Christian music. Christian music today does not have the same effect that it did when it was new. Christians do not spend money on music and entertainment like the secular world does....rightfully so.

[crossways]

I tend to agree with you guys on this...and probably lean towards Brents POV.

I do think there is a weird thing that seems to happen in Christian culture. Generally as people age their musical tastes in music don't stray too much. In other words people that grew up in the 70's or 80's still think that music rocks.

But within Christian subculture there seems to be a strong desire to be "relevent" and hip. To the point that people with mock older music and bands. Seems silly.

I love Petra. They meant a ton to me growing up.

[Mountain Man]

Petra, Stryper, & Amy Grant in a piece about Christian Rock

[brent]

Well, back in the day, Amy had DeGarmo & Key backing her on some tours. She recorded a live album with D&K (I think in OKC and/or Tulsa, at the same time as D&K recorded theirs there). Some of her songs were rockin' for her and her audience. They punched up Father's Eyes a bit. It was like Amy singing lead for D&K. Funny.

[superfly]

D&K were awesome live. They really sounded good and knew how to jam. I'm curious Brent, did you ever get to see D&K live?

[brent]

Yes. Saw them w/Servant and others. Great show...and preachin.