Debunking Petra Myths

[fcollazo]

I had the honor to talk to Bob Hartman for about an hour after Classic Petra's concert Friday night in Merrit Island Florida, and I had the chance to ask many questions that I had burning in my head for years. Bob was very nice and gave me all the attention I wanted, and very engaged in the "interview". With his permission I will debunk some myths, as said by the man himself:

1. Back To The Street was not writen nor recorded for Greg. It was all done after Greg left with John onboard from the start.
2. John Slick is very proud of his work with Petra, and sees it as a "great acomplishment in his life for God". Bob and him have been in touch regularly.
3. The backward masking in Judas' Kiss was all Bob's idea.
4. Petra used to do backward masking live by: having all members of the band put on masks in the middle of the show and turn their backs to the audience in the early 80s as a parody to the hardliners that were having a witch hunt on them due to Judass Kiss.

There you have it. It was very interesting talking that much with Bob. He is a very intelligent man with a heart for God, and very gracious in the way he treated me and my wife last night. What a blessing. And yes, he still lurks around here, and reads our posts, and our sillyness getting a laugh about our arguments every now and then.

[LivingRock]

God love 'en

That was amazing, getting to spend that much time in conversation with Bob! I'm sure you'll remember that forever!

So he still lurks on occasion? Yikes, maybe we better all watch what we say from now on, haha!... Big brother is watching...

[executioner]

I had the honor to talk to Bob Hartman for about an hour after Classic Petra's concert Friday night in Merrit Island Florida, and I had the chance to ask many questions that I had burning in my head for years. Bob was very nice and gave me all the attention I wanted, and very engaged in the "interview". With his permission I will debunk some myths, as said by the man himself:

1. Back To The Street was not writen nor recorded for Greg. It was all done after Greg left with John onboard from the start.
2. John Slick is very proud of his work with Petra, and sees it as a "great acomplishment in his life for God". Bob and him have been in touch regularly.
3. The backward masking in Judas' Kiss was all Bob's idea.
4. Petra used to do backward masking live by: having all members of the band put on masks in the middle of the show and turn their backs to the audience in the early 80s as a parody to the hardliners that were having a witch hunt on them due to Judass Kiss.

There you have it. It was very interesting talking that much with Bob. He is a very intelligent man with a heart for God, and very gracious in the way he treated me and my wife last night. What a blessing. And yes, he still lurks around here, and reads our posts, and our sillyness getting a laugh about our arguments every now and then.

Good questions to ask; I've gotten to talk with Bob after shows a few times over the last 10 years or so and I always come away very impressed and with new set of info. BTW the #1 item on your list has been a known fact since the 80's and has been talked so much about over the years here that I'm surprised you didn't know that. I know some around here say they can see/hear Greg signing the songs from BTTS but they are clearly to edgy for him and his vocal style. The one question that I've asked him several times is about songs written for certain albums, but never made it on the final product, and his answer is always something like I have stuff(ideas) laying around but nothing no where near to be being finished and probably rightfully so. There not worthy to be completed I guess you could say.

[Boray]

I know some around here say they can see/hear Greg signing the songs from BTTS but...

It's not very strange though. Same composer + Almost same point in time + Same musicians = Similarities.

Add to that that he was used of writing for Greg even if he now wrote for John.

[executioner]

I know some around here say they can see/hear Greg signing the songs from BTTS but...

It's not very strange though. Same composer + Almost same point in time + Same musicians = Similarities.

Add to that that he was used of writing for Greg even if he now wrote for John.

Good point, but go and listen to Greg Era stuff and then listen to BTTS(leaving vocals out of the focus) you hear a notable difference across the board. The writing style & the production staff is different. I think Bob went into BTTS thinking he had to reinvent the Petra sound, not only because of John, but because with the way the 80's style trend was going to the harder/edgier stuff. If you were a new fan I bet you would have thought that these were 2 totally separate bands. I've always felt except for Beat The System that the Greg Era catalog was about 3-4 years behind with what their secular counterparts were doing.

[Boray]

I think that mostly has to do with the change in producers. Listen to something else where John & Dino Elefante were involved around that time, for example Sweet & Comfort Band - Perfect Timing. That too is quite a change from that groups previous albums and actually more like Back to the Street.

[executioner]

I think that mostly has to do with the change in producers. Listen to something else where John & Dino Elefante were involved around that time, for example Sweet & Comfort Band - Perfect Timing. That too is quite a change from that groups previous albums and actually more like Back to the Street.

Changing producers is always huge and in this case I believe brought out a better quality band sound vs the previous few albums. Bob talks about intentionally changing the style, so in this case I do believe changing producers did have an affect of the sound, but I think Bob had more to do with it than anything. Bob's writing musically & lyrically are a drastic change from anything they had previously done.

[brent]

Yeeeaaaah. Re: Slick....He must have had a bad day when he made his posts on youtube and when he replied to me and others about Petra.

I know that he was proud of what he did at one time. He was the musical focal point in BTS and NOTW. He was the best keyboardist Petra had.

Backward masking was never a myth AFAIK. I thought everyone knew the story.

[Mountain Man]

The only myth I'm not entirely clear on is Greg Volz's involvement with REO Speedwagon. I've heard so many different versions from so many different sources that I'm not sure what the real deal is.

-An official Petra songbook from the 80's states that Volz rejected an offer from REO Speedwagon to become their lead singer. Volz said something similar in a radio interview that I heard years ago.

-A friend of mine who is good friends with Volz told me that Volz lost the gig when he blew an audition by literally and figuratively falling on his butt when trying to make a big entrance.

-I've heard from other sources that REO Speedwagon has said that they never once considered him for anything and are somewhat amused by the rumors.

And, of course, everybody insists that their version is the true version. I don't have a clue.

[brent]

The story, as I know it, was that REO was just a local bar band, recording in the studio. An engineer knew of Greg, and called him in. Of course, this could have been before Greg's conversion. Who knows? Nobody can be specific about any more than this. AFAIK, there was no live audition. It was more of a try out in the studio. He could have fallen in the studio I suppose. The thing to remember is, none of us remember things the same way as they happen the first time, let alone decades down the road. Of course, REO is going to diminish anyone or anything that would be viewed as a detriment to their success. They didn't hardly mention Kevin's issues, him coming and going. All bands gloss and PC PR things so they look good. It's too bad that Christians feel the need to make their near misses in the world a selling point, to legitimize themselves. I love Greg. But there is no need for Greg to have EVER said this story, right or wrong. Greg did what he did for Petra. If someone didn't like Greg in Petra, they wouldn't have started to like him automatically, just because Greg tried out for another band. REO sucked back then. They weren't even the same people really. Almost the whole original line up had changed a couple of times the band had their first single.

[Preacherman777]

I honestly don't think there is a huge difference between the way Bob wrote for BTS and BTTS. Yes, they sound quite a bit different because of all the techno type stuff on BTS, but bare bones, I don't think there is a huge difference. The style didn't really change in huge way until TMW. I have been one of those who have said that Greg could have easily sung the songs on BTTS and I stand by that. TMW though was clearly designed for a whole new vocal style.

[brent]

Yep.

[Mountain Man]

It's too bad that Christians feel the need to make their near misses in the world a selling point, to legitimize themselves.

I don't know about that. The Apostle Paul talked at length about his qualifications as a pharisee as a way of contrasting his humble servitude to Christ, which is more or less how the Volz radio interview played. In the case of official Petra material promoting the REO Speedwagon connection, I could see it as a gambit to draw in non-Christian listeners who would never listen to Christian music otherwise -- although non-Christians aren't likely to be reading a Petra songbook in the first place, so who knows.

Here's the page in question, if anybody is curious.

volz.jpg (69.61 KiB) Viewed 7576 times

[brent]

Pauls deal is different. Paul made the point that he was the antithesis of what was wrong and missing the mark in Judaism. Paul did not market his past as a bragging point. He regretted his past. Modern Christians sell books and videos about their past, capitalizing on it, using it as a bragging point almost. They sensationalize it. This is wrong. The saving grace of Jesus Christ has the same affect for and on any human. I think that is the overall point that Paul was trying to make. His past was given to give hope to those that knew him before. "Hey, you guys know me and what I did. Now if God can save ME, he can save you." He did not market his past to sell slings and coat racks.

[Mountain Man]

O.K. I see what you're saying. There is something cynical about celebrating your past when trying to promote the message of Christ. It's the main reason I'm not a big fan of the "personal testimony" brand of evangelism.