Mike Rimmer reflects on the music of Chuck Girard, Larry Norman, Bryn Haworth, Seawind, After The Fire, Ishmael United, Cliff Richard, Writz and Bob Dylan.

As the so called winter of discontent stretched from the fag end of 1978 to the beginnings of Christian music's year zero, something very strange happened on TV. Year Zero had its own TV programme highlighting the talents of Christian musicians!

Garth Hewitt

'Pop Gospel' was a weekly TV show on ITV at teatime and for some reason I could never fathom, it was presented by wholesome Berni Flint who'd been a one hit wonder in 1977 and didn't have any direct connection to the Christian music scene. Once a week, the best of the British Christian music scene played their songs on TV hosted by the toothsome Flint and with regular appearances from Garth Hewitt, who penned the show's theme song "That's Why We're Here". There haven't been many times in the last three decades when TV paid so much attention to Christian music but 1979 was one of those times.

Bryn Haworth

On one edition of the programme, Bryn Haworth appeared and played a song called "Standing On The Rock". Before I was a Christian, I had caught him performing on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1978 and remembered him. A quick search of the Christian bookshop indicated that I'd have to go and buy his A&M released albums at a "proper" record shop. There was a new independent shop that had opened on Northumberland Street where the assistant was friendly so I paid him a visit and found two Bryn Haworth albums, 'Grand Arrival' and the brand new 'Keep The Ball Rolling', in the racks.

Seawind

You have to remember that I was a new Christian and full of evangelistic vigour with a desire to tell people about Jesus so I decided to chat to the guy serving me and tell him that Bryn Haworth was a Christian. In reply, he said, "Well, if you're into things spiritual, let me play you these.". He then pointed me towards two albums from the American jazz funksters Seawind. Though not well known, I later discovered that their horn section was legendary and provided horns on Michael Jackson's 'Off The Wall', 'Thriller' and 'Bad'. The albums quickly became two of my favourites in my fast growing collection.

In 1979, there was a thriving live music scene for Christian bands with a circuit of Christian youth events and churches willing to put on concerts. There was also the "coffee bar", a hangover from the '60s where a church hall would be transformed into an informal venue where church coffee would be served, people would sit around tables and some form of entertainment was provided.

My church ran a monthly coffee bar evening called Centrepoint which was one of the more popular events in Newcastle in the late '70s. On reflection, I cannot fathom why! I cringe now as I remember some of the things that went on but it was all well meaning. You'd get a collection of singer/songwriter grassroots folkie types who'd come and sing a set of songs and share the Gospel at the event and people did respond and become Christians. There were quite a few artists who would play live but never dreamt of recording anything and the organisers would hear a good word of mouth report about an artist and they'd be invited to play. I have a memory of an act called Rex & Friends who came more than once to visit Centrepoint though I am pretty sure that he was a solo performer despite the name!

This was my initiation into the live Christian music scene and there were some good nights. In 1979 I even persuaded the organisers to book a loud rock band I'd seen at Newcastle Poly called Thin Ice. They were from Stockport and played a memorably loud gig. It would be the first time I "hung out" with a Christian band and little did I know then that this would become part of my working life! The band itself later changed their name to The Predators and recorded a couple of albums in the early '80s for the Marshalls label.

The low point of the Centrepoint event would be the singing of a song called "Father Abraham" where the audience would be required to stand up, sing along and perform the actions of the song as it sped along ever faster. For a now 18 year old rock fan, this seemed like a cheesy activity and I wondered whether I was permanently emotionally damaged. Even today, I struggle with any worship songs that require me to accompany my singing with any form of actions.

After The Fire

Whilst I was avoiding "Father Abraham", at the other end of the country excitement was rising. Rock band After The Fire had signed to CBS Records and were secreted away in the studio with a number of producers recording their label debut 'Laser Love'. This synth-driven rock band were a revolutionary sound in 1979, hence the interest of CBS and they'd already built a significant audience with their independently released album.

In spring 1979, I got my first opportunity to check out their music when they were featured on a Radio 1 'In Concert' programme. I taped the show off the radio and I was an instant fan! The band released their debut CBS single "One Rule For You" and it charted in the summer. At the time I was at home revising for my A Levels and I remember that Tony Blackburn, then a daytime DJ on Radio 1, made it his Record Of The Week. I was never sure whether this was a good thing or bad but it did mean I could hear the song on the radio every day!

In different parts of the country, there was a new wave of bands emerging who were embracing an edgier new wave style and beginning to make an impact. In the north east, Giantkiller, fronted by Richard Nicholson, were making a splash on the local scene and creating music that wasn't afraid to confront spiritual and social issues. In the north west, the Bill Mason Band were gaining a reputation for loud, aggressive music and spiritual passion. Christian music veteran Ishmael had originally been half of a folk duo with After The Fire vocalist Andy Piercy but by 1979 his band Ishmael United had embraced punk and begun youth ministry with a louder sound. Although punk had mutated into New Wave by 1979 and as usual the Christian bands were largely a little behind, there was something about the new aggressive music which connected.

One of the events that contributed to 1979 being Year Zero for Christian music in the UK was that year's Greenbelt festival. Greenbelt had started five years earlier but hadn't attracted large numbers of people until the 1979 line up at Odell Castle which read like a who's who of the scene at the time.

With the benefit of hindsight, I now understand that my friend Lindsey Kerr wanted to spend time with a young lady called Kim. So when she and her friend Chris agreed to go to the festival, Lindsey needed someone to even up the boy/girl ratio and he wondered whether I'd like to go to a Christian music festival. I did! He provided the transport and the tent and anyway I needed a place to go to distract me from my impending A Level results.

Cliff Richard

August 1979 found me in my bedroom pouring over the huge list of bands and artists performing at the festival. I was in musical heaven since the list seemed to contain nearly every artist that I had discovered over the previous year and plenty more that I'd never come across! After The Fire were headlining and then there was Bryn Haworth, Garth Hewitt, Randy Stonehill, Tom Howard and plenty of other bands to discover. Previous festivals had seen a few thousand punters but in 1979, the numbers leapt to a staggering 16,000 people! This was helped by the festival appearance of a certain Cliff Richard who was making his debut there. In recent years Cliff had begun a musical revival that was seeing him re-emerge as a force in pop music. Ironically the weekend of the festival would see his single "We Don't Talk Anymore" hit number one in the singles chart. Cliff took the stage in triumph, the number one act in the UK performing at a Christian festival!