“So which guy is Daniel Amos?”

A few years back I was at The Ark Bible bookstore in Denver Colorado. Being one of those really big Christian stores with a large music selection, I was hoping to get some classic Christian music I had on vinyl that I knew had been re-released on CD.

The young attendant came up as I perused the stacks of cellophane and plastic and asked, “Can I help you?”

“Yeah,” I answered, “do you have any Daniel Amos ?”
The guy just looked at me confused so I elaborated, “You know, like do you have Alarma, Doppleganger, or even Horrendous Disc?

Again, the guy looked perplexed and asked, “What’s the guy’s name again? I can look him up on the computer,” as he strolled back to the safety of the counter.

“Ugh”, I thought, “This is like going into Tower Records and asking where the Pink Floyd CDs are and being told they had never heard of Mr. Floyd but would be happy to look him up in the database.”

“Its not a guy, its the band’s name”, I remarked as the guy starting tapping keys in a way that suggested he was much more familiar with computers than with music.

“Ah” he said triumphantly and made a dash for a corner section of the store where he proceeded to flick threw a stack to produce the one CD they had which was the re-issue of their (thankfully) short foray into country music back in 1978, Shotgun Angel. “Thanks…but no” I said.

Its funny how little today’s young(er) Christians don’t know some of the classic artists that has shaped Christian music for the last 40 years. I mean not every teen likes Led Zeppelin (although they should) but most would at least know who you are talking about.

I remarked a couple weeks ago to a young Christian 20 something that I had just ordered a documentary on Larry Norman from Amazon.

He gave me that quizzical look.

“You know, Larry Norman, the Father of Christian Rock.”

Nope…didn’t know him.

Still another time I was watching a DVD on the life of Keith Green with a church home group and they quickly panned to Randy Stonehill reminiscing on Keith’s life. I think I commented something like “Randy is ageing well” and a young guy in the room asked, “Who is Randy Stonehill.”

The young man asking was a pastor.

OK, I know I’m just showing my age but the music these guys created shaped a generation of Christian believers. Together with some great ministers of the day they helped usher in a movement of God we now look back fondly at as the “Jesus Movement”

Anyhow, maybe its worth it to take a look back occasionally because sometimes to know where you are going, it helps to know where you have been!

(P.S. This post was inspired by Brooke’s post on the 200 greatest Christian Rock albums of all time which you can find here)