The story behind a very large Christian music collection, CROSS RHYTHMS MUSIC LIBRARY & ARCHIVE

Cross Rhythms Music Library
Cross Rhythms Music Library

Every radio station has a library of CDs which it makes use of for its broadcasting. But the Cross Rhythms Music Library & Archive goes much further than a standard radio library. Housed at Cross Rhythms HQ in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent the library and archive is a unique collection of music and related material. Assembled over 30 years the music library consists of over 25,000 albums while the archive houses a vast assemblage of DVDs, music books, magazines, photos and cuttings, covering Christian music of every type. This huge reservoir of material has been a crucial resource in Cross Rhythms' broadcasting and website coverage of music. And in 2013 researchers, authors and discographers will be given access to the library and archive. Cross Rhythms' music editor Tony Cummings explained something of the history of the library and archive and the thinking behind them.

"After my conversion in 1980 I began working for Buzz magazine, which in the '60s and '70s was one of the few publications covering Jesus music, later named contemporary Christian music. It quickly became apparent that music made by Christians was largely ignored both by radio stations and by music historians and journalists. This was very strange. There were radio stations playing wall-to-wall rock music, encyclopaedia of jazz music, TV programmes about blues singers. But whole swathes of music made by Christians - from sacred oratorios to Christian thrash metal - was largely ignored by the mainstream media and given scant regard by most of the Christian media. So I began to build a collection of Christian music albums and, so I could write about the music, archive any information I could uncover about the artists who made this music.

"After starting Cross Rhythms magazine in 1990, in 1991 God led me to converge it under the governance of an existing media ministry led by Chris Cole. So I sold it to Chris for a £1, who then decided to change the name of his radio work and a festival he was running at the time, to Cross Rhythms. Chris had already accumulated a lot of Christian albums since starting his pioneering radio show in 1983, so I donated my music and print collection to the ministry, and thus we had the foundation of what is today probably the largest assemblage of Christian music anywhere in Europe."

Down the years numerous Cross Rhythms readers and listeners have added to the archive. Those gifts have ranged from small quantities of ancient vinyl releases rescued from garages and attics to two recent acquisitions of which the Library & Archive are about to take possession. Explained Tony, "Paul Davis was one of the seminal figures in the growth of Christian music in Britain. His work as a broadcaster, magazine publisher, album compiler and event organiser was crucial in sustaining the scene down the decades. Paul went to be with the Lord last year but now his widow Hazel has generously donated many albums from Paul's collection, filling in many key gaps in our collection."

Tony Cummings in the Cross Rhythms Archive
Tony Cummings in the Cross Rhythms Archive

Another key acquisition by the Library & Archive is a substantial quantity of records donated by Crossways Music, the mail order concern run for many years from Leigh-on-Sea by David and Diana Causton. Said Diana, "Music is an international language that crosses worldwide boundaries. We've always felt Christian music to be a key means of taking the life-changing message to the world. Crossways Music is honoured to be contributing to Cross Rhythms' music library. It is especially necessary to have this resource in the Christian marketplace. There has long been a need for a comprehensive archive of this music to be assembled, similar to archives that already exist for jazz or rock music, so that academics, authors and fans alike can listen to, study and research the rich history of Christian music."

In the new year the first of several researchers will be visiting Cross Rhythms HQ. One of them will be examining the library's extensive collection of albums for a voluminous black gospel discography for future publication. Another researcher will be visiting to examine the archive's complete set of Buzz magazines for a forthcoming book on church youth culture. Said Tony Cummings, "We are certain that more people will avail themselves of our resource. We are keen to see the library and archive continue to grow. There are still countless thousands of recordings we don't currently hold in our library. In fact, any Cross Rhythms readers who have music, CDs or vinyl, which is languishing in their lofts or garages, we would ask them to consider donating these albums to Cross Rhythms. This music is too important to end up in a skip or a car boot sale."

Tony continued, "God has given Cross Rhythms the opportunity to assemble its unique Christian music collection and given us a building large enough to house it. We want the Library & Archive to be a resource which will benefit the whole music community. So, as it grows, more and more people will learn about the art and the anointing of countless musicians." CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.