1982 - Petra Live in Atlanta

Talk about Petra albums, songs, and concerts.
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Re: 1982 - Petra Live in Atlanta

Post by brenthandy » Fri Oct 23, 2020 5:36 pm

Great memories there. I remember that shtick. Back then, that was cutting edge.
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Re: 1982 - Petra Live in Atlanta

Post by Mountain Man » Sun Oct 25, 2020 10:17 am

I wish we had more professionally recorded live material from Petra, but I suspect they simply didn't have the budget for it, or the demand. You look at bands like Journey, U2, Pink Floyd, even the Beatles, and there is a ton of high quality live recordings that span their entire careers, but Christian bands, we have almost nothing.
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Re: 1982 - Petra Live in Atlanta

Post by Progfan » Sun Oct 25, 2020 12:17 pm

It’s not even a matter of bands not having the budget, it’s more of the fact that Christian music was ignored by the recording industry and radio. A lot of those mainstream bands had tons of recordings made by parties outside of the sphere of the band. So it would have been great if there had been the Christian rock equivalent of King Biscuit, Westwood One, and other such providers of live content.
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Re: 1982 - Petra Live in Atlanta

Post by Diehardpetrafan:) » Mon Oct 26, 2020 7:32 am

Progfan wrote:
Sun Oct 25, 2020 12:17 pm
It’s not even a matter of bands not having the budget, it’s more of the fact that Christian music was ignored by the recording industry and radio. A lot of those mainstream bands had tons of recordings made by parties outside of the sphere of the band. So it would have been great if there had been the Christian rock equivalent of King Biscuit, Westwood One, and other such providers of live content.
Exactly
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Re: 1982 - Petra Live in Atlanta

Post by brenthandy » Tue Oct 27, 2020 1:38 pm

Progfan wrote:
Sun Oct 25, 2020 12:17 pm
It’s not even a matter of bands not having the budget, it’s more of the fact that Christian music was ignored by the recording industry and radio. A lot of those mainstream bands had tons of recordings made by parties outside of the sphere of the band. So it would have been great if there had been the Christian rock equivalent of King Biscuit, Westwood One, and other such providers of live content.
Well, wait a sec.

Think of this in context. Secular artists used to record religious or spiritual records and win awards for them, even Grammys. The only time religious music was really allowed on the airwaves was on secular stations in the lowest of the low rating slots. For a long time, Christian radio stations were categorized as non-profit. The FCC limited the applications, licenses, and bandwidth for non-profits. It wasn't until much later that CCM stations were able to compete. That had nothing to do with anything more than demand and money greasing the right hands. The ONLY reason the secular artists were doing those sacred music albums was to appease a NICHE market that bought both products. They were seldom profitable, but the secular sales washed the losses.

As far as the Christian industry being neglected by the recording industry, I don't agree with that at all. Christian artists were using the same studios, engineers, musicians, equipment, tape, etc, etc everyone else was using. This is how Toto, Michael Omartian, and their friends wound up on so many Christian albums. There have been lots and lots of Christians playing in secular bands, running in the same circles. Now, if you mean they weren't represented in the awards shows, you would be correct. That again is due to money and affiliations. Grammy awards are not "the people's choice" or fan award. They are decided by people in the business, for people in the business, to get more business. It's a boys club.

Even in the early to mid-80s, the "establishment" that was conservative American Christianity did not want CCM. Some denominations still don't. These same people would tolerate a pill-poppin' Johnny Cash and his rule breakin' wife on stage with Billy Graham singing "spirituals", but they wouldn't have a Christian band playing secular music, or a Christian band playing Christian music. Elvis did more to expose the world to CCM (The Imperials) than any other artist, and the only Grammy he won was for their album he covered. That was ok. But The Imperials could never sell the same record as well. But think of it. If the primary target audience didn't demonstrate a need, the industry wasn't going to create product to sit on the shelves.

It took time for CCM to become desirable. It took time for The Church to see that it wasn't The Devil's music. It had little to nothing to do with the industry. The industry is for whoever and whatever makes it money. That's what radio plays. That's who promoters buy. The world doesn't want to pay the same big money to have someone come put water on their hell-raising party.

Now, there were Christian radio shows like RockLine and such back in the day. Some of those old cats have had podcasts on iTunes. Some of the live albums back in the day had multiple artists on them. There were Christian video shows. There were lots of CCM concerts, festivals, etc. Again, all lower budget because the money was not there because the demand wasn't there on the same scale as their secular counterparts. Live records were released with multiple artists to maximize the pop and reduce expenses. Lesser known artists were on some records with two other heavy hitters in a couple of cases, to "break" them.

What you young people have to understand is that much of what was made in the old days was funded by drug money, mob money, dirty money, bribes, blackmail, extortion, etc. The secular record industry was a nasty, nasty business. So was the Christian music industry to some extent. But CCM sales have never ever been what secular sales have been. Without the means to cover your nut, there's no reason to do it, whatever it is. God doesn't just shower cash out of the sky. So, without some of that under the table stuff, some of the things you like most might never have happened. It's not fair to compare.
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Re: 1982 - Petra Live in Atlanta

Post by Progfan » Tue Oct 27, 2020 8:25 pm

Yes to everything you said, brent. A lot of things I was thinking about, but didn’t take the time to write. Given the negative aspects of the industry, thank God for the few bright spots and great recorded moments that we do have from the world of CCM!
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