Mike Rimmer went to Nashville where he talked to the CCM survivor with the number one hit, BOB CARLISLE

Bob Carlisle

Who's the biggest name in American Christian music in 1997? Forget Amy, Michael W and DC Talk and think of butterflies! Bob Carlisle and his song 'Butterfly Kisses' have gone where no Christian music artist has gone before. A song that's caught the imagination of a nation like no other. From its humble origins as an album track that was nearly never recorded to a mega hit single that knocked the Spice Girls off the toppermost of the poppermost in the USA.

Bob Carlisle has gone from being a Christian music artist considered past his best to household name through one song. And now the men in suits at London's Jive Records are hoping he'll do the same thing over here. A mainstream release for the single means that Bob is sitting in a London hotel room on the interview trail. Fleet Street, TV, radio stations and little old me all want to know what the secret is! He's busy but he's happy! "It's been wonderful. It's been crazy but that's okay. I'll sleep later!"

Thankfully in the midst of the media feeding frenzy, Bob's managing to stay fresh and he's not lost his sense of humour as he laughs and says, "I'm a big star now buddy! I have all my clothes dry cleaned! I don't like to brag..." The story of how Carlisle could have reached such a place of sartorial cleanliness is one of the most remarkable stories in the history of Christian music.

At a stage in his career where he was simply chugging along selling albums without really setting the scene on fire, Bob was almost the forgotten man of Christian music. He explains, "I was putting forward what I thought was my best effort. I write and sing songs out of my own passion. There were times when I felt kind of forgotten but not to the point of bitterness. There are no telethons for me. I was making a good living."

In fact artistically, Bob had begun a new phase of his career when he was invited to produce his own album by his new record company. He set about selecting material. Entertaining record company people at his home, it was his wife who encouraged Bob to play "Butterfly Kisses". Carlisle had penned the song for his daughter Brooke's 16th birthday and had felt that it was too personal for general consumption. How wrong could he be! However, with his wife's prompting, Bob put the tape of the song in the player and actually left the room while they listened. Returning, he found everyone moved by the song and so it was that it came to be included on 'Shades Of Grace'. That was the first indication that the song had the capacity to speak straight to the heart.

The song itself is a father's view of his child growing up and a recognition of how precious that relationship is, but the key line which stops the song simply being sentimental is Bob's recognition of his own imperfection when he sings, "With all that I've done wrong/I must have done something right to deserve your love every morning and butterfly kisses at night." There is a touching humility contained in the lyric.

And it's that humility which seems to have wormed its way into the hearts of those who hear the song, the manner in which it has become a hit is an old fashioned tale that in these days of high tech radio marketing and computer generated playlists just doesn't seem possible! The daughter of a radio programmer heard the tune and played it for her father. Like Bob's record company bosses, he was touched and decided to spin the disc once to see what reaction it got. The phones lit up for half a day and soon news spread to affiliated radio stations.

Once they realised that mainstream radio stations had picked up the song, Carlisle's record company kicked into action and the song built from huge to mega! Suddenly Carlisle.was receiving television invitations for big shows like Oprah, Jay Leno and Good Morning America! Now he's a celebrity face and there are country music cover versions hitting the country charts!

I wonder whether the new recognition means that Carlisle has to adopt a disguise when he wants to shop. He laughs and explains how his newfound celebrity status feels, "People treat you as if you have a terminal disease. I'll go to the airport and get my boarding pass and get on the plane and the stewardess will look at me with a sad expression on her face and they'll say," he pauses for effect and adopts sorrowful tone, '"By the way, I love your song.' It's like, 'By the way, I'm sorry about the head transplant!'"

He is down to earth in reflecting about success. "It's wonderful to have written a song that people have taken to heart and made a part of their lives," Bob says. But when it comes to people's perception of him changing, he resists the idea. "I've always been careful to make sure that people know that I'm nothing other than Brooke and Evan's dad and a guy who loves to write music and loves Jesus. I don't travel around as Bob Carlisle Ministries and put myself on a pedestal. I'm just a guy who likes to write music about things that are important to him and that's always going to come from, a perspective of being a Christian because that's who I am."

But success must bring some pressure. Doesn't it mean he has to change his stage act when he will be drawing more people who don't share his faith? "I am still the same guy but I don't have to apologise for anything or explain anything. I present my faith in the same way as I always have. I didn't write 'Butterfly Kisses' as a witnessing tool, I wrote it as a song for a child. I wouldn't have changed the lyrics if I'd known it was going to go some place else. I had no idea that the song was going to be heard by anyone but one child. My live presentation is the same as it's ever been. I've changed not. The greatest testimony to the existence of our God is a life that's changed. All the verbiage in the world can be nonsense if you're not representing a lifestyle because people are going to want to know why you are the way you are."

But surely something must have changed; it's impossible to be surrounded by all the craziness of mega success without something being different. I push the point! And finally Bob sighs and concedes, "The pressure comes from time to time, there aren't enough hours to do everything you want to do so I'm learning how to delegate. I've always been very hands on so that's a biggie! Obviously I miss my wife, but we're secure, we've been married for 20 years and we know the drill!"