Just a few months ago the al bum was completed and Don Ziegler o f Vibrant, Otis Skilling, the arranger and conductor, and myself hoped for an album with a beat, tempo and lyrics that would be the NOW sound — yet with a 2,000-year old message. With a lot o f prayer and hard work, the whole album does throb with the timeless truth that all searchings and longings can be answered in Christ. I now sing those songs for youth rallies and colleges and with amazement watch as God grips hearts just as he does an older audience with the great hymns of the church. Our daugh ter, Laurie, has heard me sing all her life. She has been kind enough to say she real ly likes my singing. (Once she told her whole school her mother sang BETTER than Julie An drews.) But I was really con vinced this new music was reach ing her the day o f our first re cording session. I had just fin ished the first song with all the instruments going full tilt and I left the studio to get a drink of water. Out in the hall Laurie met me as I came through the door with tears streaming down her face. “What’s t h e m a t t e r , Honey?” I asked with consider able alarm. “ Oh, Mom” she sobbed, “ I didn’t know you could sing so good!” Both my children have been deeply touched by this new music and I have decided that I’ll do anything I can to turn them in Christ’s direction. I cannot take them to Heaven (I wish I could) but I can steer them in the right direction — and provide music along the way. I’m excited by this new world of music and now that I have begun to understand it, I feel the possibilities for reaching kids with the Gospel of Christ are endless! Joyce Landorf has a daily 15-minute program for ladies, “ Here’s Joyce,” which is broadcast Monday through Friday at 11:45 a.m. on KBBI, 107.5 fm, Los Angeles.
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F a m o u s c o n c e r t pianist, Arthur Rubenstein, recently featured on a television special, was asked by a young music student, “What do you think o f today’s popular music?” Rubenstein’s answer showed his 83 years o f wisdom and great humor as patiently he explained that he and any co-horts his age were not able to understand to day’s music; therefore he did not feel he or anyone else had the right to pass judgment or say whether “ this was good” or “ this was bad.” “ Only when we thor oughly understand a piece of mu sic are we qualified to judge its merits,” he added. In the Christian world today music is experiencing a tremen dous new explosion, but its effect on teenagers is just as timeless as “ Do Lord” was to kids in the 1930’s. Because I’m very involved in the music o f the Christian world I’ve been learning to under stand every new phase of this music expansion. For like Ruben stein, I do not feel I should even pass comment on it if I cannot grasp the meaning o f today’s re ligious music. For the past year I’ve been studying my concert audiences and a pattern has been emerging consistently. If my audience is over the 30 age bracket my an thems, Gospel songs and John Peterson’s favorites are always well received. But a horrible thing has been happening in college ap pearances, Youth For Christ ral lies and youth gatherings in gen eral as I sing. In the fun songs
the kids are with me, but as I go to the songs I dearly love ( “ His Eye Is On The Sparrow,” “ I Be lieve In Miracles,” etc.) the teen agers’ bodies remained in the con cert hall, but their minds and hearts went right out the window and I’d be singing to a whole place filled with empty people. It was then, after M U C H prayer, I decided to see what teen agers (my own two, Rick 16 and Laurie 14, included) were really paying attention to and what would, in the Gospel field, really reach them. Up came the ques tion, can a lady over 30 really understand ? I began by doing two things: really listening to some of the new songs by Ralph Carmichael; “ I Looked For Love,” “ Church Is Finally Over,” Jimmy Owens’ “ Illusive Dream,” Otis Skillings’ “ It’s Great To Be Alive!” and secondly, watching a teenage au dience as they heard these songs. The effect was, as they say, really “ something else” and “ out- ta sight” because the music with its different beat, accents and wild harmonies made up not with the familiar thirds in chords, but fourths and fifths, was reaching the kids hearts and minds. When Vibrant Productions Re cording Company asked if I’d like to record a “ young sound” album I jumped at the chance, not be cause I want to be the Christian’s answer to Petula Clark, but be cause the opportunity to win kids to Christ is an irresistable chal lenge to me!
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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