Thanks for reading into the musical journey I took as a young man. Growing up in the 1980s meant there was a lot about the decade I didn't understand -- the threat of nuclear war, the Cold War, the Star Wars defense program, the Cola Wars (lots of things that had the word "war" in them, actually). I was old enough to adhere to consumer culture, at least in the way a boy in grade school could, by listening to the radio, watching MTV, and enjoying the movies my parents would rent from the video store or the video section of the grocery store (jeez, remember those??).
For much of the 1980s, St. Louis had a pretty decent Christian radio station, and they played mostly pop and adult contemporary, with a little rock and R&B thrown in. Near the end of the decade and into the 1990s, they shifted their format away from rock and R&B, and went with a narrower, "safe for the whole family" format of AC/pop. Now, you wouldn't be able to tell so far from the songs on this list up to here, but adult contemporary was NOT my cup of tea.
Even still, a good song is a good song, and while "True Friend" by Twila Paris wouldn't be found on most people's playlists, it's one of the few songs by that artist that I remember and actually like. That song could be covered by any rock or metal band, or even an R&B or hip-hop artist, and if you didn't know it was a Twila tune, you might not be able to tell it was a cover.
So in that context, let's continue the countdown.
I was never a big fan of Rich Mullins.
Now that I've offended every CCM fan's tender sensibilities, let me explain. My first exposure to Rich wasn't "Awesome God", though it appears to have been many people's. I can't stand the song "Awesome God". To be fair, "Awesome God" was a manufactured song, one that Rich deliberately wrote to pander to the CCM audience. Something they could sing along to, something they could maybe even sing in church. But there was something about the way the song was produced that made it sound completely hokey, and I think it was the choir singing the refrain in the verses. Don't get me wrong, the chorus itself is lovely, but the rest of the song doesn't fit with it, and I can't get past the "puttin' on the ritz" line, which is the first line of the song, Lord have mercy.
No, my first exposure to Rich was "Verge of a Miracle" off his Pictures in the Sky album. Couldn't stand it. Nothing about it pleased my ear holes. I came to understand as time went on what a gifted songwriter Mullins was, and "Verge of a Miracle" wasn't a bad song . . . it was just a bad arrangement. The instrumentation grates on me in that mid-'80s, Rhodes piano, non-distorted guitar way that so many of the radio hits in CCM seemed to emulate. "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" did that sound better, and that song was released in the '70s, so why, in 1987, were we still trying to copy that sound?
It was frustrating. Even more frustrating was Rich's voice. Man . . . it just wasn't all that good.
Maybe I just didn't care for his tone or the timbre his throat produced, and as evidenced by his recordings, his voice got better with age, but those first two albums . . . yeesh. "Verge of a Miracle" was followed by "Pictures in the Sky", which wasn't any better, and "Screen Door" was merely a novelty.
And then Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth. was released, featuring Rich and a dog on the cover. Didn't help my skepticism any. Neither did the fact that my dad just had to buy the cassette and play it over and over in his car. "Awesome God" didn't fire me up the way it did nearly every other Christian I knew with good hearing.
But as time wore on, as my dad and I rode in the car together, there was one song on the album that would stick out to me each time, and it grew on me over the course of a year or so. It revealed to me the genius behind Mullins' writing, and with just his voice and the piano (and a few background overdubs), I finally understood Mullins' strength. It helped that the melody was well-written, and that all the clutter of clunky instrumentation had been left out, but it was the lyrics to "If I Stand" that cemented this song in my mind.
Stuff of earth competes for the allegiance
I owe only to the giver of all good things
The thing that makes this song work is that it's a prayer. It's genuinely heartfelt. You can tell it's coming from a perspective of total reliance upon God for hope in the future.
My dad really liked this song, and I would find out later in life why, as he had been through a lot as a young man, and God's redeeming work in his life carried him in ways he couldn't help but praise God for. Listening to this song, you understand the cry of a man's heart who is vulnerable to the things of this world, and he needs strength.
So if I stand, let me stand on the promise
That You will pull me through
And if I can't, let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to you
The cry of purpose follows, as one reaching for validity in his actions, and a reason to continue pursuing the love of Christ
And if I sing, let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep, let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home
It is, in a word, timeless.
See previous entries on this list:
Top CCM Songs of the 1980s - #21
Top CCM Songs of the 1980s - #20
Top CCM Songs of the 1980s - #19
Top CCM Songs of the 1980s - #18
There Is No Box.
Zach
For much of the 1980s, St. Louis had a pretty decent Christian radio station, and they played mostly pop and adult contemporary, with a little rock and R&B thrown in. Near the end of the decade and into the 1990s, they shifted their format away from rock and R&B, and went with a narrower, "safe for the whole family" format of AC/pop. Now, you wouldn't be able to tell so far from the songs on this list up to here, but adult contemporary was NOT my cup of tea.
Even still, a good song is a good song, and while "True Friend" by Twila Paris wouldn't be found on most people's playlists, it's one of the few songs by that artist that I remember and actually like. That song could be covered by any rock or metal band, or even an R&B or hip-hop artist, and if you didn't know it was a Twila tune, you might not be able to tell it was a cover.
So in that context, let's continue the countdown.
I was never a big fan of Rich Mullins.
Now that I've offended every CCM fan's tender sensibilities, let me explain. My first exposure to Rich wasn't "Awesome God", though it appears to have been many people's. I can't stand the song "Awesome God". To be fair, "Awesome God" was a manufactured song, one that Rich deliberately wrote to pander to the CCM audience. Something they could sing along to, something they could maybe even sing in church. But there was something about the way the song was produced that made it sound completely hokey, and I think it was the choir singing the refrain in the verses. Don't get me wrong, the chorus itself is lovely, but the rest of the song doesn't fit with it, and I can't get past the "puttin' on the ritz" line, which is the first line of the song, Lord have mercy.
No, my first exposure to Rich was "Verge of a Miracle" off his Pictures in the Sky album. Couldn't stand it. Nothing about it pleased my ear holes. I came to understand as time went on what a gifted songwriter Mullins was, and "Verge of a Miracle" wasn't a bad song . . . it was just a bad arrangement. The instrumentation grates on me in that mid-'80s, Rhodes piano, non-distorted guitar way that so many of the radio hits in CCM seemed to emulate. "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" did that sound better, and that song was released in the '70s, so why, in 1987, were we still trying to copy that sound?
It was frustrating. Even more frustrating was Rich's voice. Man . . . it just wasn't all that good.
Maybe I just didn't care for his tone or the timbre his throat produced, and as evidenced by his recordings, his voice got better with age, but those first two albums . . . yeesh. "Verge of a Miracle" was followed by "Pictures in the Sky", which wasn't any better, and "Screen Door" was merely a novelty.
And then Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth. was released, featuring Rich and a dog on the cover. Didn't help my skepticism any. Neither did the fact that my dad just had to buy the cassette and play it over and over in his car. "Awesome God" didn't fire me up the way it did nearly every other Christian I knew with good hearing.
But as time wore on, as my dad and I rode in the car together, there was one song on the album that would stick out to me each time, and it grew on me over the course of a year or so. It revealed to me the genius behind Mullins' writing, and with just his voice and the piano (and a few background overdubs), I finally understood Mullins' strength. It helped that the melody was well-written, and that all the clutter of clunky instrumentation had been left out, but it was the lyrics to "If I Stand" that cemented this song in my mind.
Stuff of earth competes for the allegiance
I owe only to the giver of all good things
The thing that makes this song work is that it's a prayer. It's genuinely heartfelt. You can tell it's coming from a perspective of total reliance upon God for hope in the future.
My dad really liked this song, and I would find out later in life why, as he had been through a lot as a young man, and God's redeeming work in his life carried him in ways he couldn't help but praise God for. Listening to this song, you understand the cry of a man's heart who is vulnerable to the things of this world, and he needs strength.
So if I stand, let me stand on the promise
That You will pull me through
And if I can't, let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to you
The cry of purpose follows, as one reaching for validity in his actions, and a reason to continue pursuing the love of Christ
And if I sing, let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep, let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home
It is, in a word, timeless.
See previous entries on this list:
Top CCM Songs of the 1980s - #21
Top CCM Songs of the 1980s - #20
Top CCM Songs of the 1980s - #19
Top CCM Songs of the 1980s - #18
There Is No Box.
Zach
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