Wayne Watson is one of those voices that was unique enough to be instantly recognizable, and later became recognizable by his perfectly coiffed mane of hair.
Okay, I kid. Actually, I really enjoyed Watson's voice, and his songs had a great melodic quality that smacked of something familiar. Add to that, Watson had a TON of great songs throughout the 1980s, starting with "Touch of the Master's Hand", and moving on through the decade with no shortage of great tunes. The first album of Watson's I bought was The Fine Line, and I got to hear just how well-tuned his songs were -- there was nary a weak melody to be found, and seeing him perform several of those songs in concert the following year only cemented with me how talented the man was.
Of course, all you have to do is listen to the CCM radio singles that Watson produced throughout the '80s to understand just how well his songs carried. Sure, every male AC/pop vocalist had his or her share of schmaltz, and for every half-dozen solid songs, there was a "Somewhere in the World" or "Just Never Say It Enough" to clog up the sentimental arteries. But in the light of how prolific he was with high-quality work, those other songs are forgivable.
Some of you might be thinking that "Friend of a Wounded Heart" might be the song I'm thinking of, but surprisingly, it's not. I honestly considered it, since it was the first of his songs to send shivers down my spine. But since this is my list, there are certain criteria I'm looking for, and "Friend" didn't have enough of a hook for me to get excited about convincing other people of his talent.
So let's talk about what I believe is his best song of the 1980s.
That "Looking Out for Number One" was a single on CCM radio during the '80s is somewhat of a miracle, given that guitars were near verboten on the Christian airwaves. But for some reason -- maybe it was the arrangement, maybe the mixing, maybe the fact that it was Watson himself singing it, and not a rock band -- this song endured. And I'm glad it did, because it featured an energy not often seen by vocalists who excelled in the art of the radio ballad.
Despite having one of those titles that bordered on pun-ship, this song was a clearly-communicated, serious idea set to a driving, positive beat. On paper, this combination shouldn't have worked, but the execution balanced the tongue-in-cheekiness of the title's sentiment with the heaviness and urgency of the idea it espoused.
They advertise it on the television
I hear 'em plug it on the radio
How we've come to this, I really do not know
We're giving glory to the human race now
Man's evolving to a "higher plane"
We will see the wrath of God if we don't change
Man, that's heavy. And yet somehow, this song works.
When you have the right feeling, the right beat, the right tempo, and the right voice, you can make pretty much any message work. Had this song had a different melody and chord structure, there's likely no way the record label would have approved its inclusion on an album, let alone released it as a radio single.
Watson took some chances in the '80s that he eschewed in the following decade, and like other CCM artists, he seemed to release an album every year for a stint. Shining a harsh light on selfishness and narcissism, and the damage it can cause, was something Steve Camp normally would have done, but I don't think it would have sounded so . . . tasteful. Delicious, even, if you can stomach that thought. I think the one saving grace for the Gospel Gestapo was that the chorus sounded so CCM-formulaic that it made up for the heaviness of the verses.
Jesus is still in control of my life
He's the master, and second to none
One day the Lord will break open the skies
So I guess you could say I'm looking out
I'm looking out for number one
Identifying Jesus Christ as Number One was something I would have expected from the Super Gang, not Wayne. But like I said, he stinkin' makes it work. The song has a great balance overall, but then, the music . . . well . . .
Okay, here's where I get on my soapbox.
So many record labels in CCM got it WRONG when they chose to promote certain albums or artists. Sometimes the best songs on the album got radio airplay, but often, it was the safest songs. For instance, with rock bands in CCM, there were rock songs, and then there were "radio" songs. Those were the songs that Christian radio stations felt were soft enough or "family friendly" enough (guitar-less enough, actually) to play on the radio. Consider Petra's Back to the Street album—the title cut "Back to the Street", featuring strong guitars, was a rock single, while "Thankful Heart", with virtually no guitar presence, was a radio single. I literally heard no other songs from that album played on CCM radio than "Thankful Heart" until the following record, This Means War, released.
When the CCM radio machine pumped out the atrocity that was the guitar-less "radio" version/rearrangement of the guitar-heavy Audio Adrenaline song "Ocean Floor" in the early 2000s, I swore I was done with Christian radio (I still am). There was absolutely nothing wrong with the amount of guitars in the album version of the song, but FOR SOME REASON, the powers that be still thought that people wouldn't care for the guitar in their precious Christian music. Really?? After an entire decade that saw the rise and fall of grunge bringing about the demise of heavy metal in popular music and on the airwaves, with a swath of alternative bands making music of all sorts, and an alarming number of independent labels popping up like forest fungi in the following years, the CCM world still believed that guitars were too much for their listeners? For the people that GREW UP IN THE '80s?
End rant.
Honestly, dear readers, this is one of the reasons why Watson's "Looking Out for Number One" needs to be on this list, and why it was an important song for Christian radio. Guitars. Acoustic and electric, both used in their proper place. A song that was driven by guitar rather than by piano or keyboards. This song was important for people to hear, and even though they might be more apt to remember one of Watson's more popular songs from radio airplay, "Looking Out for Number One" was probably the most significant of his releases because of its musical qualities.
And I'm still waiting for someone to make a smokin' hot hard rock cover of it.
Or I may just have to do it myself.
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
Top CCM Songs of the 1980s - #17
Top CCM Songs of the 1980s - #16
Top CCM Songs of the 1980s - #15
There Is No Box.
Zach
 |
| Look at that hair. Just look at it. |
Okay, I kid. Actually, I really enjoyed Watson's voice, and his songs had a great melodic quality that smacked of something familiar. Add to that, Watson had a TON of great songs throughout the 1980s, starting with "Touch of the Master's Hand", and moving on through the decade with no shortage of great tunes. The first album of Watson's I bought was The Fine Line, and I got to hear just how well-tuned his songs were -- there was nary a weak melody to be found, and seeing him perform several of those songs in concert the following year only cemented with me how talented the man was.
Of course, all you have to do is listen to the CCM radio singles that Watson produced throughout the '80s to understand just how well his songs carried. Sure, every male AC/pop vocalist had his or her share of schmaltz, and for every half-dozen solid songs, there was a "Somewhere in the World" or "Just Never Say It Enough" to clog up the sentimental arteries. But in the light of how prolific he was with high-quality work, those other songs are forgivable.
Some of you might be thinking that "Friend of a Wounded Heart" might be the song I'm thinking of, but surprisingly, it's not. I honestly considered it, since it was the first of his songs to send shivers down my spine. But since this is my list, there are certain criteria I'm looking for, and "Friend" didn't have enough of a hook for me to get excited about convincing other people of his talent.
So let's talk about what I believe is his best song of the 1980s.
That "Looking Out for Number One" was a single on CCM radio during the '80s is somewhat of a miracle, given that guitars were near verboten on the Christian airwaves. But for some reason -- maybe it was the arrangement, maybe the mixing, maybe the fact that it was Watson himself singing it, and not a rock band -- this song endured. And I'm glad it did, because it featured an energy not often seen by vocalists who excelled in the art of the radio ballad.
Despite having one of those titles that bordered on pun-ship, this song was a clearly-communicated, serious idea set to a driving, positive beat. On paper, this combination shouldn't have worked, but the execution balanced the tongue-in-cheekiness of the title's sentiment with the heaviness and urgency of the idea it espoused.
They advertise it on the television
I hear 'em plug it on the radio
How we've come to this, I really do not know
We're giving glory to the human race now
Man's evolving to a "higher plane"
We will see the wrath of God if we don't change
Man, that's heavy. And yet somehow, this song works.
When you have the right feeling, the right beat, the right tempo, and the right voice, you can make pretty much any message work. Had this song had a different melody and chord structure, there's likely no way the record label would have approved its inclusion on an album, let alone released it as a radio single.
Watson took some chances in the '80s that he eschewed in the following decade, and like other CCM artists, he seemed to release an album every year for a stint. Shining a harsh light on selfishness and narcissism, and the damage it can cause, was something Steve Camp normally would have done, but I don't think it would have sounded so . . . tasteful. Delicious, even, if you can stomach that thought. I think the one saving grace for the Gospel Gestapo was that the chorus sounded so CCM-formulaic that it made up for the heaviness of the verses.
Jesus is still in control of my life
He's the master, and second to none
One day the Lord will break open the skies
So I guess you could say I'm looking out
I'm looking out for number one
Identifying Jesus Christ as Number One was something I would have expected from the Super Gang, not Wayne. But like I said, he stinkin' makes it work. The song has a great balance overall, but then, the music . . . well . . .
Okay, here's where I get on my soapbox.
So many record labels in CCM got it WRONG when they chose to promote certain albums or artists. Sometimes the best songs on the album got radio airplay, but often, it was the safest songs. For instance, with rock bands in CCM, there were rock songs, and then there were "radio" songs. Those were the songs that Christian radio stations felt were soft enough or "family friendly" enough (guitar-less enough, actually) to play on the radio. Consider Petra's Back to the Street album—the title cut "Back to the Street", featuring strong guitars, was a rock single, while "Thankful Heart", with virtually no guitar presence, was a radio single. I literally heard no other songs from that album played on CCM radio than "Thankful Heart" until the following record, This Means War, released.
When the CCM radio machine pumped out the atrocity that was the guitar-less "radio" version/rearrangement of the guitar-heavy Audio Adrenaline song "Ocean Floor" in the early 2000s, I swore I was done with Christian radio (I still am). There was absolutely nothing wrong with the amount of guitars in the album version of the song, but FOR SOME REASON, the powers that be still thought that people wouldn't care for the guitar in their precious Christian music. Really?? After an entire decade that saw the rise and fall of grunge bringing about the demise of heavy metal in popular music and on the airwaves, with a swath of alternative bands making music of all sorts, and an alarming number of independent labels popping up like forest fungi in the following years, the CCM world still believed that guitars were too much for their listeners? For the people that GREW UP IN THE '80s?
End rant.
Honestly, dear readers, this is one of the reasons why Watson's "Looking Out for Number One" needs to be on this list, and why it was an important song for Christian radio. Guitars. Acoustic and electric, both used in their proper place. A song that was driven by guitar rather than by piano or keyboards. This song was important for people to hear, and even though they might be more apt to remember one of Watson's more popular songs from radio airplay, "Looking Out for Number One" was probably the most significant of his releases because of its musical qualities.
And I'm still waiting for someone to make a smokin' hot hard rock cover of it.
Or I may just have to do it myself.
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
Top CCM Songs of the 1980s - #17
Top CCM Songs of the 1980s - #16
Top CCM Songs of the 1980s - #15
There Is No Box.
Zach
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