40 Years On (subtitiled: "How can 1978 be so long ago?")

In the mid to late1970's the tip of the Wirral was a ferment of musical activity. Many unsung heroes crafted songs, constructed electronic music machines, joined bands and put on gigs, mostly in church halls.  From out of that mish-mash, two creative minds, Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphrey, managed to land a gig over the water in Liverpool, at the legendary club "Eric’s" in October 1978.

It was a lucky break that led to a musical career spanning 4 decades. Tonight and tomorrow, OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) will be playing the Liverpool Philharmonic, along with a full orchestra, to 2 sold out shows. Who knew back then where their journey would lead?

Such gave me cause to ponder the journey my own life has taken. Back in 1978 I was trying to balance a newly found Christian faith with my musical skills. I was part of a rocky, punky gospel group called "Bananas." The name came partly as a reaction to people who suggested I'd lost my mind. Maybe so.

As far as most church folk were concerned our musical style was beyond the pale. I recall one person telling me they could feel the presence of Satan as we played our music. (Incidentally 1978 is also the 40th Anniversary of the first Halloween movie.) And gigs outside of churches, weren't likely to happen. My inability to not talk about my faith, didn't make for good bar sales. Was it inevitable I'd end up as a Presbyterian minister?

In retrospect, "Bananas" and the other Christian musicians around at the time, (and there were many) were also breaking musical ground. In the UK, Christian music, to some, remains a source of mockery. In the United States, by the 21st century, CCM (Christian Contemporary Music) was one of the largest selling genres on the planet. There are corners of the church, where the idea of music that isn't played on organs or has the ability to be performed by robed choirs remains anathema, but since the rise of an influential Christian subculture, that has largely changed.

A great read on the growth of CCM, is Eddie DeGarmo's "Rebel for God: Faith, Business, and Rock 'n' Roll."  Eddie was a founder member of DeGarmo & Key, a rock group that  started professionally in 1978. He went on to be in charge of EMI Christian music and become hugely influential in the careers of Christian artists such as DC Talk and Chris Tomlin. (Maybe I should seize the moment and write a book about the unsung heroes of Wirral's Christian music scene back in the late seventies!)

40 years on, I look back and I'm amazed how music has remained a part of my own journey. Writing songs (and even musicals) for youth events, coming up with items for worship services, and even performing occasional concerts has been such a blessing. More recently I've been going along and performing at open mikes and reconnecting with a musical side of me that is outside of any church connection. It remains a part of my DNA to write songs about anything and everything.

I'm looking forward to meeting with a whole group of creative folk as I head out to a writing conference led by Judy Stakee this coming week. There may well be folk in attendance who 40 years on from now will have made their own mark on the musical culture of the future. For myself I'm hoping that the week will inspire my own creative flow, be it for writing a sermon or a song (I've discovered the process can be very much the same!)

If my presence there can be any help to others in their own careers, be it in the world of music or wherever life leads them, that would be awesome. And if by any quirk of fate I get to co-write the next multi platinum song by an international artist then my retirement income will no longer be a source of speculation. lol

Holy Moly. 40 years! Good job OMD. Great work all you folk who were once part of that Wirral music scene, be it as contributors or punters. Let's hear it for the next generation of innovators, song crafters and cultural heroes in the making. Oh my. Where do the years go?