Newsboys
| Newsboys | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Christian popular music |
| founding | 1985 as The News |
| Website | http://www.newsboys.com |
| Founding members | |
| Peter Furler (until 2009) | |
| George Perdikis (until 1988) | |
singing |
John James (until 1997) |
| Sean Taylor (until 1992) | |
| Current occupation | |
singing |
Michael Tait (since 2009) |
guitar |
Jody Davis (1993-2003 and since 2009) |
Drums, percussion
|
Duncan Phillips (since 1993) |
Keyboard , bass |
Jeff Frankenstein (since 1994) |
The Newsboys are a Christian pop and rock band . It was founded in 1985 in Queensland ( Australia ) and today consists of a quartet with Michael Tait (vocals), Duncan Phillips (drums), Jeff Frankenstein (keyboards, bass) and Jody Davis (guitar). They celebrated their breakthrough in the USA with the album Not Ashamed (1992) and the successor Going Public , which has gold status there as well as the later albums Take Me to Your Leader (1996), Step Up to the Microphone (1998), Shine: The Hits (2000) and Adoration: The Worship Album (2003).
Band history
The Newsboys were founded in 1985 on the Australian "Sunshine Coast" (state of Queensland) in the small town of Mooloolaba by Peter Furler and George Perdikis and Sean Taylor. A short time later, singer John James joined them.
At the turn of the year 1986/1987 they moved to the USA, in 1988 their debut album Read All About It (Refuge / Star Song) was released in Australia and America , which followed the demo tape He's Coming Back (only sold at concerts at that time). Since then, albums, videos and books have been released regularly in America and around the world.
The breakthrough came in 1992 with the album Not Ashamed which was nominated for a Grammy in the category "Gospel Rock". It was the first of another four to be produced by Steve Taylor. Taylor also wrote the lyrics for all the songs and also contributed a rap. With this work, they finally established themselves in the CCM scene in the USA and also achieved their further breakthrough in Western Europe and Australia / Oceania. So far, more than 22 number-one radio hits on Christian stations in the United States have followed.
meaning
The newsboys are one of the longest active, most important and popular gospel rock bands today, not only in North America. They have had a decisive influence on Christian pop music through their original, melodic, but particularly idiosyncratic and humorous lyrics. The band members did not hide their Christian faith, although they were partially criticized by conservative Christian circles for their satires and stage appearances. On the other hand, they are considered to be groundbreaking with their groundbreaking show concepts and tours, so they have already been honored many times as “Best Live Band of the Year” by the readers of the renowned CCM Magazine .
The band has already successfully survived countless member changes. The most prominent departure was at the end of 1997 John James, to date singer and front man of the troupe. He was replaced by the drummer (and second singer) Peter Furler, who from then on represented the band significantly until he separated from her in 2009 to pursue his solo career. Another special feature of the band is their rotating, extendable drum kit, where two drummers while playing - belted - turn upside down. This set was introduced in the early 1990s and has been used regularly at concerts in North America since the 1998 tour and is extremely popular with the fan base.
In 2000, for the tour for the album Love Liberty Disco (1999), an inflatable concert hall called the "Air Dome" was developed and used with great success. As the culmination of this concept, a traveling Christian music and culture festival called "Festival Con Dios" was developed from 2001 to 2003. This phenomenon was featured in the cover story of Newsweek magazine in the USA about the Newsboys and other artists of Christian pop culture .
In addition to other popular CCM acts, such as Third Day , Michael W. Smith or Rebecca St. James , the band turned to the so-called worship genre - also commercially successful . Here they released two albums in 2003 and 2004.
Band founder and front man Peter Furler founded the record label Inpop Records, based in Franklin / Tennessee, USA, in 1999 together with Newsboys manager Wes Campbell and Australian friend and businessman Dale Bray. Inpop has been shaping the Christian pop culture in North America since around 2002, as evidenced by interpreters such as Superchick , Mat Kearney , Shane & Shane or Tree63 .
In addition to working in the music business, the band and its members also tried their hand at being successful authors of devotional books, development workers (house building missions for Indians in Mexico) and mediators between cultures and beliefs, such as appearances at a Christian-Muslim festival in Morocco (2005) and at a New Age festival in Israel (2005).
Michael Tait (formerly dc Talk ) has been the new singer and front man of the Newsboys since 2009 .
Critical appraisal
The band is sometimes pejoratively viewed by critics in the USA as a so-called boy group that casts a spell over crowds of teenagers, especially women. In Australia and Europe, however, they are known as a “serious rock band”. Further criticism of the group relates to their many radio hits, which earned them the mockingly intended title of “favorites of Christian radio”. In addition, some conservative churches and parishes warn against the sometimes biting and ironic song lyrics (mostly by lyricist Steve Taylor) and the, in their opinion, immoral stage shows. In contrast, the band is one of the few who can boast a huge fan base in churches and congregations of almost all denominations in America, even across generations, for example through concert visits by entire families or church congregations.
Band members
- Michael Tait (USA) - vocals, frontman (since 2009)
- Peter Furler (Australia) - vocals, background vocals, guitar, drums, main songwriter, producer (since 1985; founding member and no longer an official member of the band since 2010)
- Jeff Frankenstein (USA) - keyboards, bass, programming, mixing, co-producer (since 1994)
- Duncan Phillips (Australia) - drums, percussion (since 1993 - started as a keyboardist!)
- Jody Davis (USA); 1993–2003 and from 2009; on these albums: Going Public , Take Me to Your Leader , Step Up to the Microphone , Love Liberty Disco , Shine: The Hits , Thrive , Adoration: The Worship Album
Former band members
Vocals / front man
- John James (Australia; 1985–1997; included on these albums: Read All About It , Hell Is for Wimps , Boys Will Be Boyz , Not Ashamed , Going Public , Take Me to Your Leader ) - Currently a speaker, pastor and church planter in and active around Brisbane, Australia. In 2006/2007 on tour with "Music Pastor" David Evans and the Cre8ive Worship-Band (from the "Brisbane City Church") in Australia and Great Britain.
Guitarists
- George Perdikis (Australia; 1985–1987) - founding member; left the band before the debut album, but wrote most of the songs for it
- Phil Yates (Australia; 1987-1989; on the album: Read All About It )
- Jonathan Geange (Australia; 1990–1991; on the album: Hell Is For Wimps ) - currently the front man of the Australian up-and-coming cover band "3rd Above".
- Vernon Bishop (Australia; 1991–1992; included on this album: Boys Will Be Boyz , Not Ashamed )
- Bryan Olesen (USA; 2003–2006; on the album: Devotion ) - currently front man, guitarist and songwriter for the Christian rock band Casting Pearls (USA), which he founded.
- Paul Colman (Australia; 2006–2008; on the albums Go , Go Remixed , We Are Go - Live from Houston ) - guitar, bass, background vocals, vocals, songwriter - known as a solo artist and front man of the Australian rock band Paul Colman Trio (1999-2004)
Bass guitarist
- Sean Taylor (Australia; 1985–1992; founding member; included on these albums: Read All About It , Hell Is for Wimps , Boys Will Be Boyz , Not Ashamed )
- Kevin Mills (USA; 1993–1995; on the album: Going Public) - in the late 1990s, bassist and manager of the Christian rock band White Heart (USA); then engagement as an actor in Hollywood ; died in a motorcycle accident in Hollywood in 2000.
- Phil Joel (New Zealand) - bass guitar, backing vocals, vocals, songwriter (1995-2006)
Keyboard player
- Corey Pryor (Australia; 1991–1993, on these albums: Boys Will Be Boyz, Not Ashamed) - after the Newsboys, founded the Christian dance floor duo “SoZo” (USA); SoZo dissolved in 1998.
- Duncan Phillips (Australia; 1993–1994) - Note: Phillips played keyboard in the band before switching to percussion in 1994 when Jeff Frankenstein joined the band, but in late 1997 he became the drummer, when the previous drummer Peter Furler the new Became front man and singer.
Drums
- Peter Furler (Australia; 1985–1997 or 2009; founding member) - Note: Peter was the drummer and partial singer of the band before he took the place of John James as the head and face of the band in late 1997.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US
|
Christian
|
|||
| 1987 | He's coming back | - | - |
First published: January 1, 1987
|
| 1988 | Read All About It | - | - |
First published: December 1, 1988
|
| 1990 | Hell is for wimps | - | - |
First published: July 31, 1990
|
| 1991 | Boys Will Be Boyz | - | - |
First published: August 9, 1991
|
| 1992 | Not Ashamed | - |
Christian11 (113 weeks) Christian |
First published: September 29, 1992
|
| 1994 | Going public |
US-  |
Christian2 (97 weeks) Christian |
First published: July 26, 1994
Sales: + 500,000 |
| 1996 | Take Me to Your Leader |
US35 (20 weeks)US |
Christian1 (91 weeks) Christian |
First published: February 20, 1996
Sales: + 500,000 |
| 1998 | Step up to the microphone |
US61 (20 weeks)US |
Christian1 (65 weeks) Christian |
First published: June 30, 1998
Sales: + 500,000 |
| 1999 | Love Liberty Disco |
US80 (6 weeks) US |
Christian5 (34 weeks) Christian |
First published: November 16, 1999
|
| 2002 | Thrive |
US38 (7 weeks) US |
Christian3 (44 weeks) Christian |
First published: March 26, 2002
|
| 2003 | Adoration: The Worship Album |
US33 (17 weeks)US |
Christian1 (62 weeks) Christian |
First published: April 8, 2003
Sales: + 500 000 |
| 2004 | Devotion |
US56 (7 weeks) US |
Christian5 (36 weeks) Christian |
First published: November 2, 2004
|
| 2006 | Go |
US51 (11 weeks) US |
Christian4 (57 weeks) Christian |
First published: October 31, 2006
|
| 2009 | In the Hands of God |
US28 (9 weeks) US |
Christian2 (32 weeks) Christian |
First published: May 5, 2009
|
| 2010 | Born again |
US4 (33 weeks) US |
Christian1 (75 weeks) Christian |
First published: July 13, 2010
|
| 2011 | God's Not Dead |
US45 (73 weeks)US |
Christian1 (109 weeks) Christian |
First published: November 15, 2011
Sales: + 500,000 |
| 2013 | Restart |
US38 (31 weeks) US |
Christian1 (81 weeks) Christian |
First published: September 10, 2013
|
| 2014 | Hallelujah for the Cross |
US79 (3 weeks) US |
Christian4 (26 weeks) Christian |
First published: November 4, 2014
|
| 2016 | Love riot |
US14 (4 weeks) US |
Christian2 (55 weeks) Christian |
First published: March 4, 2016
|
| 2019 | United |
US20 (1 week) US |
Christian1 (7 weeks) Christian |
First published: May 10, 2019
|
Books
- Pastor Jim Laffoon & Newsboys - Our Daily Blog: Devotions by Pastor Jim Laffoon (2005, Inspirio / Zondervan) [Devotional]
- Newsboys - Devotion - Folio (2005, Hal Leonard Publishing) [Songbook]
- Newsboys - Adoration: The Worship Album - Folio (2003, Hal Leonard Publishing) [Songbook]
- Newsboys - Resplandece: Haz Que Deseen Lo Que Tu Tienes (2003, Whitaker House) [Spanish edition of Shine ]
- Newsboys - Shine: Make Them Wonder What You've Got (2002, Whitaker House)
- Lucas W. Hendrickson - Newsboys (CCM Life Lines) (2000, Harvest House) [Biography]
- Newsboys - The Best of the Newsboys Songbook (1999, Hal Leonard Publishing) [Songbook / Liederbuch]
swell
- ↑ Peter Furler - ABOUT . peterfurler.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
- ↑ Change of front man for the »Newsboys« - Michael Tait follows Peter Furler and many don't understand that
- ↑ Chart sources: US
