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Rake
Thoughts
Now that POINT OF GRACE are
being marketed as a general market commercial country act, does that signal
an end to whatever experimentation the gals did in disco'y dance music?
Take a clue from ladies, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood,
__et al__, and me and resolve that such needn't be the case (however occasionally),
OK?
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Would you rather hear a
song about female body image acceptance by a reasonably handsome guy (JOHNNY
DIAZ's "Beautiful You") working in adult-contemporary-compatible pop or
by a trio of pretty cute sisters, at least one of whom who looks to have
a facial piercing that kind of works on her (EVERLIFE's "Whats Beautiful")
with a firm grasp of PARAMORE/Avril Lavigne emo/pop-punk rockingness? One
may have possible hunkiness and sympathy, but the other may have real life
experience in the subject matter. So, is it a draw?
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How many of you are with
me in congratulating RYAN TEDDER on being a brother in the Lord with general
market songwriting success with his band, ONE REPUBLIC, and other acts
but generally not finding his work all that compelling?
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Now that MILEY CYRUS has
revealed to Parade that she is apparently not too well versed on the salvific
exclusivity of Christianity and has been exploring Buddhism with her boyfriend,
is it time for me to 1)stop covering her, @ least as a lil' sister in Christ,
in this august venue and/or 2)just keep praying for the kid?
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Now that JASMINE SAGGINARIO
(though you might only know her by her first name if you bought her CD
EP on iShine) looks to be a smash among the Disney Channel's and Radio
Disney's throng, will she jettison her commitment to what little there
is of a Christianny 'tween audience/marketplace, or will she, as I rather
she would, give as strong a witness to her faith in the Lord as she can
in her general market opportunities while doing her best to bring everyone
who likes her music under one smiley, flourescent umbrella (and thereby
giving her older sis' in 'tweenpop stardom, the forementioned MiCy, a template
from which she would have done well to operate from the get-go)?
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Assuming the band wasn't
set up as a non-profit, how is it that MERCY ME were able to snag a .org
suffix for their website?
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How did so many current
Christianny rock bands wind up ending their names with DRIVE? I count JULIAN,
MANIC and REMEDY last I checked. There's some good music among them, sure,
but how memorable is it really to name your act for a street or gear position?
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Anyone else recall how I
mentioned in my review here of the atrocious __Fat Albert__ movie a few
years ago that there were no contemporaneous commercial vinyl releases
of music from the filck's source TV show of Albert and The Cosby Kids'
cartoon escapades? I owe you an apology. Perhaps I misread the essay where
I thought the author said no such thing exists? Maybe, because not long
ago I bought an LP of songs from the show's first season at one of
my favorite thrift shops. In better condition, it might get me $100 or
more on an auction website. That is NOT going to happen. Anyway,
sorry again.
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Mentioning that movie reminds
me to ask: might the easily distracted focal point of __Albert__ star Keenan
Thompson's intermittent "What's Up With That" skit on __Saturday Night
Live__be a spoof on Al Sharpton or a certain subsection of Afrimerican
preachers in general?
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If TOBY MAC is so interested
in fostering diversity (racial, stylistic, however) among CCM's audience,
why does he tend to tour with fellow Euromerican Christianny adult-contemporary
and contemporary hit radio mainstays such as JEREMY CAMP and CHRIS TOMLIN?
Nothing against Camp and
Tomlin (OK, I've never quite understood much of the fuss over Camp, which
isn't to say a concert couldn't shift my perception). But isn't Mac enough
of a ticket-selling magnet and a unifying demographic draw throughout age
ranges-probably really not the best way to ascertain musical tastes among
believers- that he could all the more live up to some of that call to diversity
himself by bringing more fully immersed hip-hop acts than he is and/or
reggae, R & B (or R & P, as some folks call the gospel variant
"rhythm & praise"), Latin tropical, regional Mexican, jazz, even polka/old
time acts as opening acts? Maybe even share the stage with them?
All that said, Mac's stylistic
cross-pollination with acts including SKILLET and the up and comers
to whom he gives a hand-up on his latest longplayer, __Tonight__, are more
successful than, for instance, those GRITS attempted on their last salvo.
I would quite like to see him play again, but I'd quite like to see him
broaden his taste in roadmates, too.
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How is it that THE JONAS
BROTHERS can play the Easter service for a purpose-driven church in Southern
California (albeit in a Major League baseball stadium, and not the church
building-whoops!-sorry, campus) but getting on the guest list to see a
JoBros concert for this solidly Christocentric e-magazine of reasonably
large leadership was a no-go? Without casting any more aspersions nor suspicions
than may have already been implied, all I will say (until the next time
the guys come close enough in concert again for me to review them here)
is "Hmmm..."
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Hey, do you think I did
OK by a friend of mine's girlfriend's 14 year-old granddaughter by getting
her the latest single CD's by SWITCHFOOT, STARFLYER 59 and MUTE MATH, since
I was told she already likes COOL HAND LUKE, for presents for her Wiscsonsin
Synod Lutheran confirmation? I hope the kid likes what I got her on behalf
of her grandma and her guypal.
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About time for JACI VELASQUEZ
to make a comeback-in the Christian market in English and/or in Spanish
in the general market-isn't it? If she and her other half from SALVADOR
are not too busy caring for their kids, that is. Wouldn't want to take
her away from something more important than singing, y'know?
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