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PRLog (Press Release)– Jul 15, 2011– What do The Lifesavors, Andy McCarroll and Moral Support, The 77s, No Laughing Matter, and Weber and the Buzztones all have in common? If you don't know, it's probably because you've never heard of them.

For some strange reason, Christian alternative rock music listeners suffer from an intense sense of either… ignorance… or at least amnesia about the past. A guy named C.S. Lewis used to define this malady as "chronological snobbery." Someone said to me a number of years ago in a place far, far away… "I guess in the 80's the only Christian rock band you had to listen to was Petra… ha ha ha – he he he." Um… wrong :). Long before Relient K, alfa romeo and even much earlier than the O.C. Supertones there was such a "dish" being served which can be dubbed Christian alternative music.

Don't get me wrong, I like Relient K and cohorts, but… MEMO: These chaps really didn't inaugurate Christian pop-punk. Neither did MXPX. Some might argue "they've done it better." Ok - in some ways, perhaps, but like Green Day built on ground broken by The Clash, newer Christian bands have their predecessors to thank for churning up some early dirt. Beyond that, I'm reminded of something Jack White (of White Stripes) once said in an interview (I'll paraphrase) - "most bands look back and like their demo tapes better than the finished recordings - what we decided to do was just release our demos." There is an undeniable value of "demo tape" innocence that can't be measured, and this rings true with the early years of Christian Alternative music. A famous film director once said "if you want to get into film-making, just use what you have and start making movies - there's a lot you can do with just a cam-corder." I look back on the early years of Alt. Christian artists and so much of it has that wonderful, "cam-corder" - esque, no boundaries approach to writing and recording. In comparison, much of what you'll hear on current mainstream Christian radio is chock full of hopelessly, chevrolet polished fences.            

Fortunately, there's a new movement going on. One could even say it's an "old" movement. It's a Christian alternative rock old "school" movement. To get "schooled" in the genre of Alternative Christian Retro, one might try checking out Regeneration Radio live 365 by going right here: http://www.live365.com/stations/jeanibond. Ms. Bond… Jeani… Bond, of Lloyd, Florida has a phenomenal, even incomprehensible, collection of formative, underground, and indie (etc) cuts that would embarrass most people's surface level view – or recollection – of that era of tune-age. Both the music and the graphics are as deeply retro as one can imagine. Even though I was an active participant in the "scene" during that time, I'm blown away by my own shallow remembrance of everything that was going down back then. For instance, Ishmael United – what a great band. They rocked. I mean – what a… great band. corsa Or try Johnny Quest on for size. Or experience Crayzed Bunni ferrari es, The Magnetics, Blush, Blue Trapeze, Pietro Dinzee, or the Felix Culpa. Indies, demos, upbeat and offbeat. This is No Laughing Matter (in case you've heard of them?). People will not hear this on corporate radio – and by that I mean virtually anything you can tune into on your FM dial. There are also many people who still own these records and might get inspired to break them out again to discover they still deliver - including bands such as Andy McCarroll and Moral Support. But what about Opinion 8? New December? And Go Go Street? As Butch and Sundance said; Who… are… those guys? People now have a free opportunity to check them out.

For a more extensive list of Regeneration Radio's artists, go here: http://www.acmjournal.net/more_radio_regeneration.htm

You can also find a playlist that combines alternative Christian music both old and new by checking out one of Tom Stephenson's ACM Journal stations on 365 live. Mr. Stephenson has been a long-time DJ patriarch of mainstream and off-beat Christian music, and with seven stations to his name online, most of them play an across the board mixture of edgy current and retro. An entryway link to his stations can be found right here: http://www.acmjournal.net/more_artists.htm

In case you think this era/genre with its bands is irrelevant, you might note how at least one knowledgeable on-line music reviewer credits several of the Regeneration Radio play-list bands as having produced some of the top 50 Christian albums of all time – including even less obvious acts such as the Altar Boys, Adam Again, The LifeSavers, Andy McCarroll and Moral Support, Steve Taylor, and The 77's (among others): In fact, read the book "Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2" by Irish author Steve Stockman, and you'll discover that one of the aforementioned 531276856  bands (Andy McCarroll and Moral Support) was an early influence on the Irish icons during their formative years. Here's an excerpt:

"It seems The Edge was especially taken with McCarroll's magnetic stage presence, natural songwriting ability, and the spiritual intensity of the production. The Edge would eventually invite McCarroll to Dublin for a weekend just to shoot the breeze about the purpose of what they were trying to achieve" (Walk On, p. 25)

Christian music fans would do well to get schooled – or at least re-schooled. It's possible some might even get regenerated (when was the last time you chewed on lyrics like those of Steve Taylor's "Whatever Happened to Sin?" as part of your normal Christian music diet?).

Chow.

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