The New Wave
“And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind and the waves, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” Mt. 14:28-30
“I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now”. – Bob Dylan; – The Byrds, My Back Pages
We live in the most exciting time in music history, but you wouldn’t come to that conclusion if you took seriously all the negative press the biz has been getting lately. The old systems of producing hits and music stars has been changing radically for the last number of years. The internet has taken its share of blame for the loss in record revenue and the division of today’s attention span. There is nothing you cannot find on the internet and nothing you cannot get for free if you are the least bit creative. The days of true loyalty to artists by their fans has adapted to the same ‘loyalty’ that artists have to their fans. I know such a statement is not politically correct in the industry, but to the readers of this blog, they know exactly what I am talking about. How many artists today are genuinely loyal to their band and crew, let alone their general fan base ? Like others, I always had a tendency to fall back on the excuse, that this was an ego driven business and we couldn’t expect the business to measure up to the same standards of integrity that we expect of our personal relationships or aspire them to be. Now I can adamantly say – nonsense !
The new record labels and artists are going to have to radically change their paradigms to make sense of this age we are living in or they will just fall into the archives of history like everything else that was once a good idea. I was contacted in early July of 1982 by Keith Green to work as his tour manager for a world tour he was planning for the fall of that year. I had worked several shows w/ him at large festivals on the West Coast. I was intrigued by his radical spirit that was the trademark of his shows, in my opinion he was definitely a loose cannon, but one of the most passionate performers I had ever known. July 28 1982 Keith died the way he lived, always on the edge and taking things to their limits, he was killed in a small plane crash, the plane was overweight and hot capable of gaining enough altitude after take off, this particular day the “limits” won out. Keith Green was signed to Contemporary Christian music label Sparrow Records in 1976. In 1979, after negotiating a release from his contract with Sparrow, Green surprised many in the music industry by refusing to charge money for concerts or albums. Keith and his wife, Melody, mortgaged their home to privately finance Green’s next album, “So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt”. The album, which featured a guest appearance by Bob Dylan, was offered through mail-order and at concerts for a price determined by the purchaser. By May 1982, Green had shipped out between 600,000 to a million records. Keith Green’s policy for the sale of the record… was simple: ‘Records are free. If you can, donate something. Feel free to make copies.’ Fans unanimously approved while industry types were skeptical. But who could argue? Recorded, manufactured, and mailed to your door for nothing. But stunts like that aren’t usually pulled by artists who are interested in the bottom line in the first place. In the end the move brought in considerably more money than he would have selling the records at retail prices. The record landed at the top of the Gospel charts and stayed there for over six months.
Like never before, people are searching for answers of how to turn the music business around. Most of their answers are misguided and empty, the yearning of the human heart ought to remind us that God has wired us for something a little higher than we seem to be achieving right now in the music industry and for that matter, life in general. The new wave has the potential of being something so fresh, so new, and perhaps, closer to the yearning of the soul. The time has come to step out of the boat.