CROSSOVER CHR/INSPIRATIONAL SONGS YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH ON A RELIGOUS STATION!

[firepoint525]

I should mention here that many songs these days are written and recorded specifically with the crossover market in mind, so it shouldn't be too big of a surprise when they actually do cross over.

DC Talk is one group that specifically comes to mind. Their song, "Just Between You and Me" became a crossover pop hit about six months to a year after Christian music listeners first heard it. And their cover of Bill Withers' "Lean On Me" is so similar to the Club Nouveau hip-hop version that I must ask why Christian stations play the DC Talk version, but not the Club Nouveau version? And vice versa?

Secular/Christian "crossover" is often a highly controversial topic! Because those who cross over from Christian to secular music are often considered too "worldly," or are accused of "selling out." DC Talk once said in an interview that if they "cross over" they want to take the cross over (meaning the cross of Jesus) with them.

 

[firepoint525]

Kansas : 'The Devil Game'... actually a surprising number of the early Kansas songs had inspirational underpinnings, not surprising that several years later Kerry Livgren left the band when he became 'born again', although I think he may have gotten over it and is back with the band now.

For that matter, how many mainstream artists have turned their backs on 'secular' music only to return when they found that Christian music didn't bring in quite the same amount of coin?

Bob Dylan
The aforementioned Kerry Livgren
Jonny Lang

Others?

George Harrison comes to mind again. He was really into Krishna in the 70's, then in '79
"Blow Away"(which can be added to the list) was an inspirational one. Then "All Those years Ago", a tribute to Lennon came out & crossed over, hit #1, then around '88 the "Cloud Nine" album which had some religous stuff like "Devil's Radio", still had a couple regular pop hits, "When We Was Fab" featuring Ringo & Paul, and the big one "Got My Mind Set On You" "It's gonna take plenty o' money...to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it right girl" wasn't your usual George but it sure was refreshing when it came out to hear him making CHR stuff again.

As strong a religous faith as Michael Sweet of Stryper had, he went and took over as lead singer for Boston after Brad Delp commited suicide. It'd be odd to hear him singing "Smokin', smokin', we're cookin' tonight, just keep on tokin'!

Anne Murray & other country artists have always bounced back & forth too. Like Boxcar Willie.

Inside Edition did a story not too long ago about a guy who worked for a Home Depot in North Carolina who became the new lead singer of Boston after the rest of the band heard his covers of their songs on his MySpace page! (Just for the record, Journey also acquired their new lead singer in a similar fashion, after they discovered him on youtube!)

 

[firepoint525]

Kansas : 'The Devil Game'... actually a surprising number of the early Kansas songs had inspirational underpinnings, not surprising that several years later Kerry Livgren left the band when he became 'born again', although I think he may have gotten over it and is back with the band now.

For that matter, how many mainstream artists have turned their backs on 'secular' music only to return when they found that Christian music didn't bring in quite the same amount of coin?

Bob Dylan
The aforementioned Kerry Livgren
Jonny Lang

Others?

Johnny Cash is one who comes to mind, although I'm not sure if he ever recorded an entire album of gospel music.

And what about the Oak Ridge Boys? They crossed over from gospel to country to pop! About the only thing the Oaks have in common with the original Oak Ridge Boys is the name! I remember seeing a photograph of the Oaks from the 1950s looking all clean-cut, and thinking how out of place William Lee Golden (whose hair and beard haven't seen a pair of scissors in many many years!) would seem in that group! And not only that, but their subject matter changed! They went from gospel to the "y'all come back saloon" and were singing about eloping with "Bobbie Sue" just six months after their hearts were on "fire-a" for "Elvira"! (I always thought that was a lousy rhyme, made even funnier when people thought they were singing "hell-fire," and not "Elvira"! ;D And remember, this was a gospel group, at one time! :)

 

[nightfly61]

Tanya Tucker also did gospel stuff...

How about the Soggy Bottom Boys from the Oh Brother Where For Art Thou Movie(never liked the movie OR the Sndtk)...

I guess "Like A Prayer" by Madonna wouldn't work. But I could start another thread of songs that SPEAK of God or religion & have nothing to do with it, like that "Like A Prayer, Rapture, Sister Christian, etc".

oop! just thought of another for THIS thread...
"He's Got The Whole World In His Hands-Laurie London.

 

[Retro]

Kansas : 'The Devil Game'... actually a surprising number of the early Kansas songs had inspirational underpinnings, not surprising that several years later Kerry Livgren left the band when he became 'born again', although I think he may have gotten over it and is back with the band now.

For that matter, how many mainstream artists have turned their backs on 'secular' music only to return when they found that Christian music didn't bring in quite the same amount of coin?

Bob Dylan
The aforementioned Kerry Livgren
Jonny Lang

Others?

George Harrison comes to mind again. He was really into Krishna in the 70's, then in '79
"Blow Away"(which can be added to the list) was an inspirational one. Then "All Those years Ago", a tribute to Lennon came out & crossed over, hit #1, then around '88 the "Cloud Nine" album which had some religous stuff like "Devil's Radio", still had a couple regular pop hits, "When We Was Fab" featuring Ringo & Paul, and the big one "Got My Mind Set On You" "It's gonna take plenty o' money...to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it right girl" wasn't your usual George but it sure was refreshing when it came out to hear him making CHR stuff again.

As strong a religous faith as Michael Sweet of Stryper had, he went and took over as lead singer for Boston after Brad Delp commited suicide. It'd be odd to hear him singing "Smokin', smokin', we're cookin' tonight, just keep on tokin'!

Anne Murray & other country artists have always bounced back & forth too. Like Boxcar Willie.

Inside Edition did a story not too long ago about a guy who worked for a Home Depot in North Carolina who became the new lead singer of Boston after the rest of the band heard his covers of their songs on his MySpace page! (Just for the record, Journey also acquired their new lead singer in a similar fashion, after they discovered him on youtube!)

Yeah, they are both going to be singing in the band.

 

[Retro]

I should mention here that many songs these days are written and recorded specifically with the crossover market in mind, so it shouldn't be too big of a surprise when they actually do cross over.

DC Talk is one group that specifically comes to mind. Their song, "Just Between You and Me" became a crossover pop hit about six months to a year after Christian music listeners first heard it.

And their cover of Bill Withers' "Lean On Me" is so similar to the Club Nouveau hip-hop version that I must ask why Christian stations play the DC Talk version, but not the Club Nouveau version? And vice versa?

I think that had more to do with Forefront's deal with Virgin more than its so-called purposeful Cross-over appeal. The CD after all is called Jesus Freak.

 

[Bongwater]

I should mention here that many songs these days are written and recorded specifically with the crossover market in mind, so it shouldn't be too big of a surprise when they actually do cross over.

DC Talk is one group that specifically comes to mind. Their song, "Just Between You and Me" became a crossover pop hit about six months to a year after Christian music listeners first heard it.

And their cover of Bill Withers' "Lean On Me" is so similar to the Club Nouveau hip-hop version that I must ask why Christian stations play the DC Talk version, but not the Club Nouveau version? And vice versa?

I think that had more to do with Forefront's deal with Virgin more than its so-called purposeful Cross-over appeal. The CD after all is called Jesus Freak.

You know, I'm surprised nobody's mentioned U2. Their song "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" got a lot of airplay on Christian rock radio. U2 also has probably the largest Christian fanbase of any secular rock group.

"All You Zombies" The Hooters actually got airplay on KCMS, Seatlle in 1985. The DJ good humoredly pointed out the song's playful teasing of born again Christians......

 

[Retro]

Really, KCMS played that one? The song is fun!

 

[firepoint525]

I should mention here that many songs these days are written and recorded specifically with the crossover market in mind, so it shouldn't be too big of a surprise when they actually do cross over.

DC Talk is one group that specifically comes to mind. Their song, "Just Between You and Me" became a crossover pop hit about six months to a year after Christian music listeners first heard it.

And their cover of Bill Withers' "Lean On Me" is so similar to the Club Nouveau hip-hop version that I must ask why Christian stations play the DC Talk version, but not the Club Nouveau version? And vice versa?

I think that had more to do with Forefront's deal with Virgin more than its so-called purposeful Cross-over appeal. The CD after all is called Jesus Freak.

You know, I'm surprised nobody's mentioned U2. Their song "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" got a lot of airplay on Christian rock radio. U2 also has probably the largest Christian fanbase of any secular rock group.

"All You Zombies" The Hooters actually got airplay on KCMS, Seatlle in 1985. The DJ good humoredly pointed out the song's playful teasing of born again Christians......

Wasn't aware of that, but I believe I had heard that "Still Haven't Found..." made some Christian charts and got some Christian airplay, although I can't recall ever hearing it there.

But I have recently heard "How to Save a Life" by the Fray over the FISH here in Nashville. Someone may have to explain that one to me!

 

[firepoint525]

I was not familiar with the situation with Kerry Livgren, but I was aware that John Elefante, also of Kansas, wrote and recorded Christian music. He wrote the disco-sounding "Love the Lord," which Greg Long recorded. I remember WNAZ playing John Elefante, and one of the announcers making the "wizard of Oz" joke, "He's not in Kansas anymore!" ;D

Aaron Benward got some criticism, first when he went solo from Aaron Jeoffrey, the duo of him and his dad, then when he "went country" with Blue County. He said in an interview that some fans resented him for going to Blue County, but also that some Blue County fans remembered his Aaron Jeoffrey days quite favorably. Jeoffrey Benward also said in an interview that the intention all along was for Aaron to go solo as soon as he was ready. And Aaron's own son Luke Benward was in that movie a year or two ago about eating worms!

 

[nightfly61]

You Raise Me Up-Josh Groban (I know it's crossover anyway)
We Are the World-USA for Africa

 

[andreajesus]

Yes, yes, yes on BOTH!! (iirc, Salvador did the "Christian" version of "You Raise Me Up...")

Andrea

 

[nightfly61]

here we go...
Turn Turn Turn-Byrds...(quote from right out of the Bible)
Kyrie-Mr. Mister(from the book of,(spelling train wreck)...Ecclesiastes
(stretching it) God Gave Rock & Roll- Argent and Kiss
(stretching it) Counting Blue Cars-Dishwalla (tell me all your thoughts on god, 'cause I'd really like to meet HER)...I bet THAT'd cause a little uproar in the studio!

Amy Grant bounced around a bit...known as the Madonna of Christian music...
1. (love will) Find a Way-gospel
2. The Next Time I Fall-w/ Peter Cetera-pop
3. Baby Baby-pop/kinda both
4. Every Heartbeat-gospel
5. That's What Love Is For-pop
6. Good For Me-pop
7. I will remember You-pop
8. Lucky One-pop
9. House of Love-pop/country/gospel
10. Takes a Little Time-pop/inspirational ("to get the TITANIC turned back around"???) ???

 

[andreajesus]

"Turn Turn Turn" is an OBVIOUS choice for such a station - the ENTIRE song is practically from the first chapter of Ecclesiastes... 8)
"Kyrie" I would have to listen to or at least get the lyrics for - I don't recall it being a Christian song...
"God Gave Rock and Roll" - I don't know....I once heard someone say that Kiss actually stands for "Kids in Satan's Service"....
The Dishwalla song shouldn't even be played because it would be taking the Lord's name and disrespecting it...

I AGREE with you TOTALLY on Amy - even though she's crossed over back and forth musically speaking over the years, she is a SLAM DUNK for a format like this...

Andrea

 

[firepoint525]

You Raise Me Up-Josh Groban (I know it's crossover anyway)
We Are the World-USA for Africa

Interesting to note that God never "turned stone to bread" as Willie Nelson sang in "We Are the World." That line was actually a convolution of Satan's tempting Jesus for 40 days and nights saying something along the lines of, "If you are God, save yourself by turning this stone into bread!" :

Hey, I'm looking for any excuse not to play "We Are the World"! :

 

[firepoint525]

Mindy Smith, "Come to Jesus."  A pretty song, but with a dark, brooding video.  Played heavily on AAA radio, and voted by Lightning 100 as their #1 song of 2004.  But I don't recall ever hearing it on "Christian" radio, which is interesting because she more freely mentions "Jesus" than many "Christian" artists.  Here, take a look at the video if you are unfamiliar with it:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=EszkFu1WPHw

Also, "Let It Be" by the Beatles was considered by some to be sacred, probably because of the Mother Mary references, but many believe Mary was a reference to his own mother. 

And Phil Gernhard, co-producer of "Let Your Love Flow" by the Bellamy Brothers, claimed to have received a letter from a church council praising the song for its religious aspect.  This from the Billboard Book of #1 Hits, written by Fred Bronson.

Also, I'm kind of surprised that no one has mentioned "Put Your Hand in the Hand" by Ocean, but I suppose less surprising is no mention of "Stop and Smell the Roses" by Mac Davis.

Here's a slide show of "Hand in the Hand":
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=7_uYXSAbFWY

 

[andreajesus]

Mindy Smith, "Come to Jesus." A pretty song, but with a dark, brooding video. Played heavily on AAA radio, and voted by Lightning 100 as their #1 song of 2004. But I don't recall ever hearing it on "Christian" radio, which is interesting because she more freely mentions "Jesus" than many "Christian" artists. Here, take a look at the video if you are unfamiliar with it:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=EszkFu1WPHw

Also, "Let It Be" by the Beatles was considered by some to be sacred, probably because of the Mother Mary references, but many believe Mary was a reference to his own mother.

And Phil Gernhard, co-producer of "Let Your Love Flow" by the Bellamy Brothers, claimed to have received a letter from a church council praising the song for its religious aspect. This from the Billboard Book of #1 Hits, written by Fred Bronson.

Also, I'm kind of surprised that no one has mentioned "Put Your Hand in the Hand" by Ocean, but I suppose less surprising is no mention of "Stop and Smell the Roses" by Mac Davis.

What about "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night? If you listen to the first line of the song, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog, was a good friend of mine", I believe that it was an indirect reference to the book of Jeremiah in the Bible....

Andrea

 

[firepoint525]

So far, no mention of "Why Me Lord," by Kris Kristofferson, and covered by others.

Gary Chapman's "Finally" became a Christian hit for him about a decade and a half after it was a country hit for T.G. Sheppard. ("T.G." supposedly stood for "the good.")

And I have a CD by a Christian music singer named Kristy Starling that contains "I Need You." This is the same "I Need You" that was also recorded by LeAnn Rimes.

 

[sonnyT]

early 70s Jesus Movement gave us
That's the Way God Planned it - by Billy Preston (great version on Concert for Bagladesh)
Put Your Hand in the Hand - pop hit for OCean
Day By Day - Godspell soundtrack
O Happy Day - Edwin Hawkins
I'll Take You THere - Staples Singers

also:
Have I Told You Lately - Van Morrison
When God Shines His Light - Van Morrison/Cliff Richard
Full Force Gale - Van Morrison
40 - U2 (psalm 40 re-written); Gloria U2; so many U2
Every Grain of Sand; Serve Somebody - Dylan * for those slagging on Dylan not making enough "coin" on Christian music; SLow Train Coming was one of only a handful of non-greatest LPs of his that went platinum.
Dylan's Christianity flows through a lot of his work since then too.
the new Coldplay album reveals a lot of Christian-themes, especially Cemeteries of London
Dan Lavery of Tonic (now playing with The Fray) has a great solo song - "To Give Love"
"Bridge over Troubled Water" phrase was lifted from Paul Simon listening to gospel music
"free Ride" Edgar Winter (guitarist Rick Derringer is a Christian) bit of a stretch, I know
"one Love" - Bob Marley
"just remember I love you" Firefall (the lyrics work whether intentional or not)
"people get ready" the Impressions
"bless the broken road" rascal flatts
all sorts of country: Believe/Brooks&Dunn; When I get Where I'm Goin/Paisley&Parton; I Saw God TOday/Strait;

from the least expected places: "Jesus" by Velvet Underground 1969; the lyrics talk about a need for a Savior. GLen Campbell just covered it on his new album (which is actually very good)
and from Mick Jagger's solo album froma few years back, a song called "Joy" that he wrote with Bono. yeah really
here is one of the lines:"I looked up to the heavens/And a light is on my face/I never never never/Thought I'd find a state of grace."

i know many of these are not hits, but it would make for a great (albeit narrowly focused) format...but "narrow is the gate" after all....

my 2 cents

great thread........

 

[firepoint525]

What about "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night? If you listen to the first line of the song, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog, was a good friend of mine", I believe that it was an indirect reference to the book of Jeremiah in the Bible....

Andrea

Mariah Carey used a few lines from that one in her rendition of the Christmas song, "Joy to the World."