Interesting interviews

[p-freak]

http://clorechronicles.wordpress.com/20 ... interview/

Here's an interview with Mark Hollingsworth, who used to manage Petra back in the 80s. Interesting read. He even mentions Petra a few times.

http://www.progrock.org/elefante/interview2.html

And an interview with John and Dino Elefante from the early 90s.

[brent]

"From a historical standpoint, in CCM (contemporary Christian music) I am chagrined by lack of acknowledgement, let alone understanding, of where it all came from. Whether it’s the call and response gospel music from the cotton fields of the deep south that then melded into the blues, then rock and roll; or even just being able to trace the beginnings of the Jesus Movement in the late 60’s that was anchored in many ways by the heartfelt music from converted hippies. For Pete’s sake, very few Christian radio music directors today even know Larry Norman, or Petra, or Amy Grant. This lack of heritage also means lack of deep catalogue, and hence, there is diminishing returns when it comes to ongoing sales and touring capabilities for artists longer than about a decade (at best). When you look at Billboard you see so many classic artists still selling in the millions of units, but there is absolutely no correlation in CCM…and it all starts at the feet of Christian radio which allows no room for playing any of those heritage acts that paved the way for where we are now. It’s sad."

Hmmm. Sounds familiar. Gee, I wonder who has posted that before right here? He doesn't go back far enough. We have roots older than Norman, Grant and Petra. WAAAAY older, back into the 60s.

It was nice to hear him lay out the reason why Christian music cannot pop like it used to: competition. When Christians do not listen to Christian music, it is hard to get a sale. When Christians do not know about Christian music, it is hard to get a sale. Somehow I think this is tied together somehow, but what do I know. This chap is tied into all of the old radio guys running the networks and they aren't foing anything about it? Seems like the doctors are pointing to the sickness without dispensing the cure.