Gospel Music Channel Rocks!

I recently discovered a new channel on DIRECTV - the Gospel Music Channel. From the name I assumed, erroneously, that it was a southern gospel channel (sorry, not really a fan of that style). While there is some southern gospel on the channel, there is a lot of great rock and roll.

Front Row Live is a great concert program - Hawk Nelson and Jars of Clay were both great shows, and there are plenty of other great artists on this hour long program. The other evening I watched a great interview/video/concert program with Fireflight. Faith and Fame, a kind of Behind the Music style show, has shown some great segments on Amy Grant and Toby Mac.

And the best news, it's a music channel that actually plays music! No reality shows here, just great music. If you have DIRECTV check out this channel (338). I don't know if it's on Dish Network or not, but take a look if they're your satellite provider.

And, in really great news, the Dove Awards will be broadcast live on the Gospel Music Channel. It's hard to find a replay of the Dove Awards and I've never seen it live. Definitely looking forward to that show.

Gotta go. Right how there's a great video by Kristyn Leigh - "In Jesus' Name." Look it up on YouTube; it's a very nice song and a good video.

The Rasperries - The Greatest Pop/Rock Band In History

It was the spring of 1976 and my college roommate and I were cruising around in his big old gas-guzzling Chevy listening to the 8-track at ear-bleeding volume. In the tape deck was I'm A Rocker by The Raspberries, arguably the greatest pop/rock band in history.

I loved The Raspberries and never understood why they didn't become huge stars. They certainly enjoyed some success - Go All the Way (their biggest hit), I Wanna Be With You, Let's Pretend, and Overnight Sensation (just about the perfect pop song) were all legitimate hits. Beyond these well-known songs, though, there were a lot of other truly great songs - Tonight, I Saw the Light, Don't Wanna Say Goodbye, Drivin' Around, Hard to Get Over a Heartbreak, Ecstasy, Party's Over, Starting Over, Play On, and All Through the Night are all classics, in my opinion.

As seen in the picture above, the band's tendency to wear matching outfits probably didn't help them any. In the 70's matching outfits were associated with the Bay City Rollers and other bands that had no credibility among rockers or serious music fans. But The Raspberries are a band whose music holds up incredibly well. Take a listen to Tonight and you'll hear production qualities and rocking music that beats most everything on the radio these days. Put on Overnight Sensation and marvel at the huge sound, terrific production, and truly great songwriting and musicianship. The song is so great that John Lennon offered the services of himself and Ringo Starr to do some independent promotion work for the band. Can you get any better seal of approval than that?

If you want to check out their music start with the Capitol Records Collector Series 2CD set. It's got all the hits and most of the album classics (although with so many great songs some, such as Play On and All Through the Night didn't make the cut). Also, you might want to pick up their 2007 reunion set Raspberries Live On Sunset Strip. A magnificently produced set, you can do yourself a favor and seek out the deluxe edition that contains a bonus DVD with the songs I Wanna Be With You, Tonight, Overnight Sensation, Ecstasy, and of course, Go All the Way. Really great stuff.

So here's to one of the greatest - and most underrated - bands of the 70s - The Raspberries. Do yourself a favor and pick up some of their music. I still keep it in heavy rotation, though it's now on my iPod rather than 8 track.