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Top 40 Religious Themed Songs that would never make on the radio today :)

ya know in all the years I spent playing all these songs..I never once paid any attention to references in the tunes...they were in the "box" by the board and I played them like every other record there..and never once did the pd, gm, or any listener question what we were playing..it's much ado about nothing..maybe in other markets it was a big deal..and no reason it should be unless listeners ARE tuning in to be upset..but I don't hang around with people like that..you don't like a song..there's a knob or button on that radio to change stations...use it !!!!! if your pi$$ed off about a song..that's YOUR problem...now back to " "normal" programming...up next...the Hombre's..Let It All Hang Out"....... ;D
 
How about...

"Wings of a Dove", by Ferlin Husky
 
I don't know how I missed these obvious ones, because they were such big hits and staring me in the face, but the later Tommy James and the Shondells:

Crystal Blue Persuasion
Ball Of Fire
and especially Sweet Cherry Wine
 
I worked for an oldies station owned by a minister. We went a few rounds with said owner over Sweet Cherry Wine. The owner believed it promoted alcohol, and wanted it pulled, even with the explanation of the spiritual meaning of the song
 
Jay F said:
I am not religious or Christian yet I find this site entertaining because it is so over the top and he covers every era and genre of music from classic rock/classic hits to current artists like Ke$ha and Selena Gomez.He even considers CCM Satanic!

www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils in America/devils_music.htm
THanks for that site, I got a good laugh about most of that.

This One was pretty funny
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20America/Rock-n-Roll/shame.htm said:
Elvis Presley: sexual degenerate, fornicator, music promotes lewdness and immorality
The Beatles (immoral, drug-addict, Communists)
Jimi Hendrix: hypnotizing people through music, voodoo rhythms, rebellion, violence, "If 6 Was 9" used in interstitials
:D
 
I Still Believe was done by The Call, but Russ Taff did the CCM version, although it may have had some secular airplay as well.

Kansas had several members who were Christians in the 80's and a lot of their songs reflected it.

George Harrison's version of My Sweet Lord is questionable among Christians because it was sung about Hare Krishna rather than God or Jesus, but Leon Patillo (Former Santana member) redid it with Christian lyrics.

Other songs that were redone by CCM artists:
Jesus is Just Alright - DC Talk
People Get Ready - Darrell Mansfield, Margaret Becker, possibly others
Are You Ready - DeGarmo and Key
Love is the Answer - Sheila Walsh

DC Talk's label Gotee Records also reissued the soundtrack of Godspell to the Christian market.

Jimmy Swaggart was and possibly still is anti-rock and CCM, but he did his own version of Put Your Hand in the Hand. He also did a reworked version of Paul Simon's Gone at Last. I've never figured those out.  ???

Some anti-CCM sites like the one mentioned above will resort to half truths, rumors, and even outright lies to try to claim that CCM is from the Devil. I've said before that when they get to Heaven I hope their next door neighbor is a long haired NIV toting Christian rock singer.  ;D
 
I appreciate this thread, as "Day by Day" by Godspell has been stuck in my head for a few weeks now, which was a relief, because "Clair" by Gilbert O'Sullivan had got stuck there weeks before...
 
anotherguy said:
I Still Believe was done by The Call, but Russ Taff did the CCM version, although it may have had some secular airplay as well.

Kansas had several members who were Christians in the 80's and a lot of their songs reflected it.

George Harrison's version of My Sweet Lord is questionable among Christians because it was sung about Hare Krishna rather than God or Jesus, but Leon Patillo (Former Santana member) redid it with Christian lyrics.

Other songs that were redone by CCM artists:
Jesus is Just Alright - DC Talk
People Get Ready - Darrell Mansfield, Margaret Becker, possibly others
Are You Ready - DeGarmo and Key
Love is the Answer - Sheila Walsh

DC Talk's label Gotee Records also reissued the soundtrack of Godspell to the Christian market.

Jimmy Swaggart was and possibly still is anti-rock and CCM, but he did his own version of Put Your Hand in the Hand. He also did a reworked version of Paul Simon's Gone at Last. I've never figured those out. ???

Some anti-CCM sites like the one mentioned above will resort to half truths, rumors, and even outright lies to try to claim that CCM is from the Devil. I've said before that when they get to Heaven I hope their next door neighbor is a long haired NIV toting Christian rock singer. ;D


Never heard of The Call, but the Russ Taff version was played on WEBN in Cincinnati years ago when it was a good station. They didn't play it for very long but I taped it be accident one afternoon and always liked it
 
"I Still Believe" was oringinally recorded by The Call. Russ Taff covered it a few years later and pretty much did it note-for-note. They sound very similar. Personally, I like both versions.
 
Crystal Blue Persuasion
Ball Of Fire
and especially Sweet Cherry Wine
guess i missed the Religious connection on these..I don't get it...
 
deltas69 said:
Crystal Blue Persuasion
Ball Of Fire
and especially Sweet Cherry Wine
guess i missed the Religious connection on these..I don't get it...

All these reference a deity in an indirect way. This avoids making a deal (big or little) over the lyrics
which will be taken differently by listeners according to their beliefs, traditions and open/closed minded-ness.

Anyone who ever bought a Tommy James and the Shondells album could hardy miss the mildly evangelical leaning.
 
firepoint525 said:
Phil Gernhard, one of the producers 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 aspects." Go figure. ???
Revisionist Universalism
 
All these reference a deity in an indirect way. well i guess a lot more people are paying attention more closely than i ever did...but then on the air during a song..you were looking at the log, loading carts, watching the clock...a lot more than actually listening to the tunes..
 
All these reference a deity in an indirect way. well i guess a lot more people are paying attention more closely than i ever did...but then on the air during a song..you were looking at the log, loading carts, watching the clock...a lot more than actually listening to the tunes..
 
anotherguy said:
George Harrison's version of My Sweet Lord is questionable among Christians because it was sung about Hare Krishna rather than God or Jesus, but Leon Patillo (Former Santana member) redid it with Christian lyrics.
I seem to recall reading that the Chiffons did a cover of "My Sweet Lord" in the wake of the publicity (notoriety?) from the "My Sweet Lord"/"He's So Fine" soundalike lawsuit, but I can't recall ever having heard it.

I remember the Union City FM station (MOR/easy listening/"soft" whatever at the time) playing "My Sweet Lord" back in the '70s, but cutting it before it got to the Hare Krishna references. Probably cutting it before it even got to George's guitar solo! :eek:
 
deltas69 said:
Crystal Blue Persuasion
Ball Of Fire
and especially Sweet Cherry Wine
guess i missed the Religious connection on these..I don't get it...

I always thought "Crystal Blue Persuasion" had a different kind of meaning.
 
radioman148 said:
I always thought "Crystal Blue Persuasion" had a different kind of meaning.

I think the religious aspect of "Crystal Blue" is more of a secondary aspect. But I really don't know...as was pointed out earlier, religion is something of a common thread....if frequently understated...in later Tommy James songs.
 
Thank God I'm A Country Boy by John Denver
Rock And Roll Heaven by The Righteous Brothers
Knockin' On Heaven's Door by Eric Clapton
Heaven Is A Place On Earth by Belinda Carlisle
If You Wanna Get To Heaven by The Ozark Mountain Daredevils
That's The Way God Planned It by Billy Preston
God Bless The Child by Blood, Sweat & Tears

and the one burned by all the churches when it came out:
Stairway To Heaven by Led Zeppelin (yeah, I know... it depends on who's asking if it shows up in the list)
 
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