Crowd shot masthead ApologetiX Logo Keith Haynie plays bassBill Hubauer plays lead guitarJ. Jackson sings leadJimmy Vegas Tanner plays drums
59,731
as of March 19, 2024

<< Back to the fan club


Search Past News:

Sort by Relevance Date

Yesterday's News:

03.18.24Get Multiple Downloads for One Donation
03.18.24USBs Include New Single & Next CD
03.18.24How to Donate Online or by Mail
03.18.24Over 1650 Tracks for $100
03.16.24Influential Albums: 1402-1408
03.16.24New CD Slightly Delayed, BOGO Continues
03.16.24How to Get the ApX Library, USBs, Multiple Downloads
03.16.24This Week's Bible-Reading and Rock Thru the Bible
03.16.24Easter Season Playlist 2024
03.12.24This Week's News Bulletin
03.09.24Influential Albums: 1395-1401
03.09.24This Week's Bible-Reading and Rock Thru the Bible
03.09.24The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single
03.05.24This Week's News Bulletin
03.03.24New Single: '74 Solo Smashes
03.01.24A Serious Problem We're Trying to Address
02.29.24All About Our Next CD
02.29.24Influential Albums: 1388-1394
02.29.24This Week's Bible-Reading and Rock Thru the Bible
02.29.24Clues for 2024 Single #5
02.25.24This Week's News Bulletin
02.22.24Get Ready for Our Next CD
02.22.24Influential Albums: 1381-1387
02.22.24This Week's Bible Reading and Rock Thru the Bible
02.22.24Wayne Is Retiring, What's Next for Him and Us?
02.22.24The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single
02.19.24This Week's News Bulletin
02.19.24New Single: Billy & The Beach
02.16.24Influential Albums: 1374-1380
02.16.24This Week's Bible Reading and Rock Thru the Bible
02.16.24Remembering ApX Friend Paul "Doc" Nigh (1956-2024)
02.16.24Clues for 2024 Single #4
02.10.24Influential Albums: 1367-1373
02.10.24Fans Making Plans to Attend Our Big Show September 1
02.10.24This Week's Bible Reading and Rock Thru the Bible
02.10.24The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single
02.06.24This Week's News Bulletin
02.06.24New Single: '74 & '83
02.03.24ApX Lead Singer/Lyricist Shares His Testimony 36 Years Later
02.03.24Influential Albums: 1360-1366
02.03.24This Week's Bible Reading and Rock Thru the Bible
02.03.24Latest CD Added to iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, Etc.
02.02.24Clues for 2024 Single #3
01.29.24This Week's News Bulletin
01.26.24Influential Albums: 1353-1359
01.26.24How to Get the ApX Library, USBs, Multiple Downloads
01.26.24This Week's Bible-Reading and Rock Thru the Bible
01.26.24Flashback: J.'s Vision for ApologetiX in 2014
01.26.24J.'s Vision for ApologetiX in 2024
01.26.24The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single
01.24.24Checking in With ApX Alum Drummer Fred Behanna
01.22.24This Week's News Bulletin
01.22.24New Single: '70s #1 Hits That Remade '60s Top 10 Hits
01.19.24Influential Albums: 1346-1352
01.19.24Encouraging Message from Longtime Fan in Oklahoma
01.19.24This Week's Bible-Reading & Rock Thru the Bible
01.15.24This Week's News Bulletin
01.12.24Influential Albums: 1339-1346
01.12.24The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single
01.12.24Rock Thru the Bible with ApX This Week
01.12.24New Testament Reading Started Wednesday
01.11.24New Worship Songs Available from ApX Alum Bill Rieger
01.08.24New Single: '81 & '83
01.08.24New CD BOGO Ends Sunday
01.08.24New USB Thumb Drives on the Way
01.05.24Clues for 2024 Single #1
01.05.24Influential Albums: 1332-1338
01.05.24Have You Heard About the Other Music City Miracle?
01.05.24This Week's Bible Reading & Rock Thru the Bible
12.29.23Influential Albums: 1325-1331
12.29.23Rock Thru the Bible with ApX This Week
12.28.232023: A Record-Breaking Record-Making Year
12.28.23The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single
12.26.23This Week's News Bulletin
12.26.23New Single: 1974 & 2008
12.23.23Influential Albums: 1318-1324
12.23.23Rock Thru the Bible with ApX This Week
12.23.23ApologetiX Updated Christmas Playlist
12.18.23This Week's News Bulletin
12.18.23New Samson CD Mailed to Fans, New Orders Sent as They Come In
12.16.23Influential Albums: 1311-1317
12.16.23Rock Thru the Bible with ApX This Week
12.16.23New Story
12.16.23The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single
12.11.23This Week's News Bulletin
12.11.23New Single: '83 & '84
12.11.23ApX Apparel: Order by Tuesday with Express Shipping
12.07.23New ApX Apparel and More: Order Soon for Christmas
12.07.23Influential Albums: 1304-1310
12.07.23Just Reword CD Added to iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, Etc.
12.07.23Clues for 2023 Single #25
12.04.23This Week's News Bulletin
12.02.23Influential Albums: 1297-1303
12.02.23This Week's Bible Reading & Rock Thru the Bible
12.02.23The Stories Behind the Songs on This Single
12.02.23New Shirts & Other ApX Merch Coming Soon
12.02.23Rock Thru the Bible with ApX This Week
11.28.23This Week's News Bulletin
11.28.23New Christmas Single: All '80s
11.24.23Influential Albums: 1290-1296

Influential Albums: 947-953
Sat., Dec. 17. 2022 3:12pm EST

J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.

Here are the latest entries in the "albums that influenced me" series I started writing in May 2020.

Three weeks ago, we finally got to 1988, when a born-again experience started a seismic shift in my musical tastes. The story continues below:

947. Lead Me On - Amy Grant
Released on June 28, 1988, Lead Me On was Amy Grant's first album of all-new material since Unguarded, over three years earlier. It was officially released on June 28, 1988, but I got to hear some of the selections a few days in advance at Creation '88, where she was the headliner on one of the nights, along with special guest Michael W. Smith. The concert was largely acoustic and also included a candlelight communion service. I can't remember all of the new songs she played, but one left a distinct impression on me, "1974," which turned out to be the album's opener. It's one of the few songs I ever loved immediately that I still enjoy just as much today. I ran out and bought the cassette soon after. My two other favorites were the poignant title track and the touching "Saved By Love." A couple other tunes that I liked a lot were "Shadows" and "What About the Love," cowritten by Janis Ian, who is best remembered for her hits "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" (#14 in 1967) and "At Seventeen" (#3 in 1975). I also saw Amy in concert that fall at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh as part of her Lead Me On tour.

948. The Poet - Don Francisco
I've read that Don Francisco's 1980 signature song, "He's Alive," holds the record for being the longest-running chart single in the history of Christian radio. I can understand why it remained popular for so long. It left a profound impact on me the first time I ever heard it on our local Christian radio station in '88. Sung from the viewpoint of Simon Peter, it's a powerful piece of songwriting and storytelling. Not only did it move me emotionally and spiritually, it moved me musically and lyrically. ApologetiX has done a lot songs from Peter's perspective, including "Rocky's Now My Name," "Get a Bite," "Walk on the Water," "Embarrassing Moments," "Last Night," "No Shepherd Tonight/New Other Nature," "One Headline," "Help Me, Rhoda," and "Can't Let the Crowd in My Head." There may be even more than that; I just listed those ones off the top of my head. I never realized just how many we had. And we've done many others from the perspective of Peter's fellow Apostles. I'd have to thank Don Francisco for that. It took me a while to find an album with "He's Alive," but when I did, I scooped it up. As it says on the cover, The Poet was "A Collection of the Best." Like Keith Green and Carman, Don Francisco could be funny one minute ("Steeple Song" and "The Package") and serious the next ("Holiness" and "Walking Wounded"). Furthermore, to my delight, The Poet contained four great Bible-story songs: "He's Alive," "Balaam," Got to Tell Somebody," and "Since I Met Him." Speaking of meeting, former ApologetiX guitarist Karl Messner met Don Francisco at the LiFest music festival in OshKosh WI in the artist dining area during one of the times we played there, in 2005. He knew I was a big fan of Don's work, and Don showed how I could follow-up with him via email, and we ended up having a nice back-and-forth conversation. Don couldn't have been friendlier and more gracious, and I was glad to be able to tell him how influential he'd been to me as a songwriter, and his influence continues to this day. Sadly, I've recently heard that he has since embraced some significantly unbiblical beliefs: https://bereanresearch.org/artist-don-francisco-berates-christians-for-believing-the-bible-is-true/

949. Meltdown - Steve Taylor
I bought Steve Taylor's 1984 LP, Meltdown, on my birthday, July 2, in 1988, picking up at Zondervan Family Christian Store in Monroeville Mall (the place where George Romero filmed the original 1978 Dawn of the Dead movie) on my way to go see a Jessy Dixon concert in Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh. I'd only recently discovered Family Christian Stores — this was probably my second visit — and I felt like a kid in a toy store looking at the incredible selection of books and music. I never would have imagined that one day ApologetiX CDs would be in those stores and many other Christian bookstores all over the country and elsewhere. We played our share of concerts inside of Family Christian Stores in the late 1990's and early-to-mid 2000's as well. Come to think of it, we also played a concert in Market Square in the mid-90's. But back to the Meltdown album, I popped the cassette into my car's tape deck right away, and it may have been the first album — Christian or secular — I ever heard where I liked every song at first listen. I remembered Steve doing some of the selections at Creation a couple weeks earlier, but all of the other songs on Meltdown appealed to me instantly as well. He was yet another artist who could switch from silly to serious in a second and still stay stellar. Although I liked all 10 tracks, my favorites were "Meltdown (at Madame Tussaud's)," "We Don't Need No Colour Code," "Am I in Sync?," "Over My Dead Body," "Sin for a Season, "Guilty by Association," and the incredible "Hero." The dude was Taylor-made for my tastes.

950. Face the Music - Mylon Fefevre & Broken Heart
Although seeing Mylon Lefevre & Broken Heart at Creation '88 inspired me to buy their '87 LP, Crack the Sky, they actually had a brand-new album at the time, Face the Music. I eventually bought that one and liked it even better than the other two I already owned. My favorite tracks were "Won by One," "Sixteen," "Modern Man," "Change," and "Mercy Seat." The first four of those were rockers, and the guitars and synths seemed to have a ZZ Top flavor. "Mercy Seat," however, was a quiet, delicate, worship song. Back in 1990, during the earliest days of the band that would eventually be called ApologetiX, we used to play and sing it at our practices. But this still isn't my favorite Mylon album. Three down, one to go.

951. So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt? - Keith Green
Although this was Keith Green's third LP, it was probably the fourth I heard, courtesy of Tim Hart. The title track, "So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt," contains some of Keith's funniest lyrics, but the rest of the album is pretty serious, aside from "Lies" and "You Love the World" which still cover heavy topics but at least use an upbeat musical approach. In addition to "Egypt" and "Lies," my favorite track is "Pledge My Head to Heaven," featuring a surprise appearance by Bob Dylan on harmonica, although that's not why I like it. I enjoyed "If You Love the Lord," too. However, the song on this album that has probably made the most lasting impact on the church is "Oh Lord, You're Beautiful," which seems to have become a standard worship song in many places. I also learned some good Bible lessons from "Unless the Lord Builds the House" and "Romans VII," a chapter of the Bible ApologetiX has cited many times, most notably in our song "Seven Romans." Released in 1980, So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt was Keith's first album on the Pretty Good Records label. After releasing two successful LPs with Sparrow Records in 1977 and '78, he decided he would no longer charge money for his concerts or albums and negotiated a release from his contract. Keith and his wife, Melody, mortgaged their home to finance this record, which was only available through mail order and concerts, rather than conventional outlets like Christian bookstores. There was no official price — just whatever the recipient was willing to pay. Of the initial 200,000 copies shipped, over 60,000 were given away for free. That's the way Keith operated his music ministry from then until his death in 1982. It's also the main thing that inspired ApologetiX to start our "downloads for a donation" series of singles in 2013, which still continues today. What we did there is minor compared to what Keith did with his entire music ministry, but I wanted to give credit where credit was due.

952. So Long Ago … the Garden - Larry Norman
I think I first heard of Larry Norman in passing from my senior-year college roommate, Lance Craig (Yes, they both have last names that are also first names). I know Lance listened to Randy Stonehill, and those two artists collaborated quite a bit in their early days, so it would make sense. Lance didn't listen to much Christian rock, but he had eclectic tastes and may even have played some of Larry's music during a road trip we took in the summer of '87, but it didn't leave much of an impression on me, aside from my thinking that Larry Norman was an unusual name for a rock star. Less than a year later, at some point in the spring of '88, I became friends with a guy name Dana through our Bible study group. He had the most extensive Christian music collection by far of anybody I'd ever met, and he knew all kinds of information about the various artists. Although I didn't realize it fully at the time, Dana and I were heading in opposite directions musically, as I was listening to more of the Christian rock he'd grown up with, and he was becoming increasingly involved in the secular rock I'd grown up with. I suppose it's fitting that the artist I give him the most credit for getting me into is the aforementioned Mr. Norman, who had previously been one of the lead singers of the secular rock band, People! ... best known for their 1968 hit song "I Love You" (#14 pop). The promo video for the record prominently features Larry and can be viewed online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25k_ayuL9f4. In 1969, after leaving the group, he put out what many consider to be the very first Christian rock album. I'll get to that one later on this list, because Dana introduced me to other Larry albums before it, starting with this one. Released in 1973, So Long Ago the Garden was Larry's third official LP, and the second in a trilogy. Dana apparently had the 1980 edition, which included a couple rerecorded vocals and an extra song. My favorite tracks were "Up in Canada," "Nightmare," "Christmastime," and "Peacepollutionrevolution." The second tier for me would probably be "Baroquen Spirits" and "Lonely by Myself." Larry wrote lyrics reminiscent of Bob Dylan and sang in style that sometimes sounded similar to Leon Russell. Just like Keith Green, Steve Taylor, Carman, and Don Francisco, he could be quite comical one minute and super-serious the next. He did some controversial things and had his share of detractors but was every bit as influential on my songwriting style as those other four men. You'll be reading a lot more about his albums in entries to come; the Norman Invasion had just begun.

953. Bootleg - Larry Norman
I taped this double-album from a homemade cassette my friend Dana owned. I suppose that's the way it should be, considering the title. Released in 1972, Bootleg featured selections from 1968-72, including demos done while Larry Norman was still with Capitol Records, live tracks, recordings made with friends, and interviews. It contains some of my favorite Larry tunes: "I Think I Love You," "What Goes Through Your Mind," "No Change Can Attend," "A Song Won't Stop the World," and "Taking My Time." Many of the other cuts would later be redone on his official albums, and they're great, but I generally prefer the newer versions ... except for "Without Love You Are Nothing," later retitled "Righteous Rocker." The version on Bootleg absolutely rocks. The interviews were all great, too. Listening to him speak back then in '88, I never dreamed I'd have a face-to-face, one-on-one conversation with Larry myself a dozen years later ... and not at one of his concerts, either. But I'll tell you more about that in a future entry.