Did Anyone Ever Listen To Petra?

[maz]

I think I am going to explore the Christian rock rabbit hole to see what comes up.

I kinda started thinking about this after I started thinking about my youth, and I recalled that one of my uncles had bought me this crazy rock album when I was a little kid. Here's the lead track.

Here's the whole album - Petra - Not of this World

I remember back quite a while back I remember reading a blog post about how pretty much all the new Christian rock groups were all faggots.

I highly doubt Petra were fags, but I have no doubt that they were completely misled by religion and by design. Apparently, the original lead singer was encouraged to do a bunch of cocaine and be more like Jimmy Page.

All of this stuff reminds me of the John Todd music conspiracy stuff. My uncles, the ones who got my into interested in religion and bought me the Petra album, were aspiring musicians and performers and they were pretty damn good at their craft. Back then, they were basically talking a bunch of John Todd Illuminati sex manic stuff and I just thought they were a bunch of nutjobs. Of course, they were right, but they didn't know the Jew stuff. I talk to them today and they still haven't figured it out.

I'll let you guys know if I find anything interesting.

[yankeedoodle]

Used to listen to shortwave radio - before getting on the internet - and the shortwave bands are absolutely flooded with Christian broadcasters.  Sometimes while scanning, I would be surprised to discover competently-done rock music that I had to listen to for a bit to discover that it was Christian rock, after which you sensed that it was very controlled and a bit phony: trying to emulate the rock sound, without the spirit.  Unlike powerful music like gospel, the spirit of which heavily influenced rock and roll + soul + blues = rock. where the singers/musicians let loose.

Don't know what state of mind you would need to be in to listen to much of this Petra stuff.

Of course, much of rock music is about men singing about women, or vice versa, and that wouldn't be the case in Christian rock.   Music without the motivation might leave it sounding - accidentally, maybe, or maybe not - a bit airy-fairy. 

[maz]

Used to listen to shortwave radio - before getting on the internet - and the shortwave bands are absolutely flooded with Christian broadcasters.  Sometimes while scanning, I would be surprised to discover competently-done rock music that I had to listen to for a bit to discover that it was Christian rock, after which you sensed that it was very controlled and a bit phony: trying to emulate the rock sound, without the spirit.  Unlike powerful music like gospel, the spirit of which heavily influenced rock and roll + soul + blues = rock. where the singers/musicians let loose.

That's exactly how listening to Petra sounded after I went searching for them on YouTube. You nailed it-just like rock but without the soul.

Don't know what state of mind you would need to be in to listen to much of this Petra stuff.

It's like they took the best bits from Pink Floyd, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Yes mixed it all up with a bunch of lyrics about the rapture in order to try and win over rock fans. Except that it came nearly a decade later than the progressive rock trend.

No doubt these guys were stoned out of their minds. And in my original post I men to say that the lead singer was encouraged to do coke and act like Robert Plant, not Jimmy Page.

Either way, I look back on this album fondly because it reminds me of the summers I spent visiting family.

[maz]

Dropping back in on this topic for an update.

I eventually stopped looking into the subject of Christian rock because I could find nothing interesting. That was until I stumbled upon a  very unique band known as The Kelly Family.

Surely our European readers will know of them but it's not likely that they will be known by readers outside Germany, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, Portugal and Spain.

When I first heard their music, I had no idea what to make of it but I thought it was odd yet interesting. Their songs are all over the place. The early stuff was mix of mostly gospel, folk, Christmas music and traditional songs from Spain (Basque), Ireland, Scotland, Germany and America. Later the band would incorporate pop and rock songs into their repertoire. 

I think that knowing their history and lore helps to one to enjoy the music much more, and much of their history can be found on YouTube.

Some songs are sentimental sounding and deal with the death of their mother. But even their joyous songs seem to have a mournful quality to them. They were also quite prolific and recorded at least 20 albums so far, with the newest coming in October 2022.

The songs are sung mostly in English, but they also have songs in Spanish and Basque, French and German. In fact, one of their earliest recordings was a children's album sung entirely in German and sounds like a bizarre mix of easy listening and fairy tale music. Really weird stuff, but kind of nice to listen to in an endearing way.

After their breakout success in 1995, the band was filling stadiums and large halls. In 1995 they gave a concert in Loreley, Germany, and the band self-produced and released a video of the concert that fans could purchase.

The concert has a lot of highlights and a stunning folk-rock version of "Amazing Grace" is one highlight. The full concert can be found  here

"Let My People Go" is another one to give you an idea how off the wall they were. [*edit: "Let My People Go" starts at 3:51, I can't figure out how to embed let me at a certain timestamp]

BTW the girl in the thumbnail from the "Let My People Go" video died from a heart related illness in April 2021 and I suspect it was from the vaccine, because at least one of them had admitted to have taken the vax.

Here's a article I found on Reddit.

A Family Called Kelly: The most Amazing Catholic Tale, You Probably Never Heard Of

If you are not from Europe, you probably never heard of The Kelly Family.

Let me tell you their story in brief form, because I think it's interesting from a catholic perspective.

The Kellys are a family of 12 siblings and the parents Dan and Barbara Ann Kelly. Dan and Barbara were born in the US. But in the 1960s they decided to go to Europe and travel the continent.

Soon after the move they took to the streets and earned money with music. The children played traditional songs, folklore and wrote own songs. They started out with nothing, had to work very hard for survival.

From the 1970s to the 1990s they traveled most of Europe, including Spain, France, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy. During their street shows they sold self-made cassettes with their music. 1979 they got their first record deal. In 1980 the Kellys had their first Number-1-Hit. They sung songs in 11 languages including Latin. They also wrote many religious-themed songs like "An Angel", "Santa Maria" and "We love the Pope".

In the 90s they rose to big fame, especially in Germany, where they filled stadiums with more than 20.000 people. The 1994 album "Over the Hump" is still the most sold record in Germany. In 1995 they played for John Paul II in Loreto.

After a decade long break they got back together in 2017 and made a successful comeback.

Dan and Barbara Ann homeschooled all of their children. Through their traveling every sibling is speaking at least 3 or 4 languages. Some of them speak even 7 or 8 languages. All of them play multiple instruments.

For years they lived in a double decker bus and traveled Europe. They lived in cheap hotels in Paris and played the metro-stations. In the 90s they bought a ship and lived on it. In the late 90s they purchased a Castle in Germany, where they stayed for a short period of time.

Father Dan was a member of the Jesuits and for four years studied Theology in Rome. He was a catholic but wasn't a frequent churchgoer.

In the early 80s his wife Barbara Ann was diagnosed with breast cancer. She could have gotten chemotherapy. Because she was pregnant at the time, Doctors advised an abortion followed by treatment. She decided against those things and gave birth to the youngest sibling Angelo. Few months later, aged 36, she died. She sacrificed herself for her child.

In the early 2000s the siblings Paddy, Maite, Angelo, Patricia, John and their father Dan went to Medjugorje and played some shows. There, in the last Weeks of his life, Father Dan was attending daily mass. In 2017 Jimmy Kelly, another one of the siblings, organized a pilgrimage to Medjugorje.

In 2003 Paddy Kelly said in an interview:
"Now for the time being [Note from kath.net: Easter] e.g. my sister Maite is in a monastery in Africa, my sister Barby and Jimmy are in a monastery in France, Angelo and his family are in Lourdes and Patricia and her husband are also in France, in another monastery. And I am here in Medjugorje. Faith is very important to us."

In the same interview Paddy said:
"Any attempt to put into words what I've received through Medjugorje would be a failure, I come here every time my battery is down to zero - and then, with full power, I'm back home."

After their big fame in the 90s, Jimmy Kelly started again from scratch in the 2000s. For almost a decade he lived as a street musician and traveled Europe. In a recent documentary on german TV he revealed, that he slept in his van – with a 20 inch crucifix on his chest.

From 2004 to 2010 Paddy Kelly lived in a french monastery as a monk.

Two times a year Patricia Kelly is going to a french monastery to take some time out. She is also an ambassador for Missio, the Pontifical Mission Societies.

Angelo met his wife, when he was 10. They're still married and have five children.

John is married to his first girlfriend. They also met for the first time, when they were little kids.

Joey is married since 2004 and has four children.

Jimmy is married and has three children.

Maite Kelly has three children, but is sadly separated from her husband now.

Paul Kelly is married and has seven children.

Paddy Kelly is married to the love of his youth.

They are very often on german TV. They are full of humor and love. Every one of them defines him- or herself as very traditional. They clearly have very healthy family values, which is not common at all anymore in Germany.

There are so many more stories to tell about the Kelly Family. If you are interested I suggest to read their english Wikipedia-Page or look them up on YouTube.

Have you ever heard of the Kelly Family before? What do you think of them?

[yankeedoodle]

Good stuff.  Tells us a lot about American "Christians" when such a talented group seems to be unknown.

I saw a video in which Louis Armstrong is interviewed, and he was asked:  "What are you listening to, Louis?"

Answer:  "I got this new Beatles album. Let It Be.  That's church music."

[maz]

It is too bad The Kelly Family aren't more known in America and the rest of the English speaking world. It's been said that the father tried to get on television and radio in the early 80's after they had hit song called "Who'll Come With Me." No labels were interested them so they returned to Europe.

One interesting story I about them was that early on they were signed to major label Polydoor. The label wanted to separate 10 year old lead singer from the family and make him a solo star. The father was smart enough to refuse, and later he had the foresight to establish a label specifically for the family's music to for licensing, publishing and for creative control.

That kind of fierce independence might have been prevented them from success in the US. Through their label Kel-Life and a distribution partnership with Virgin Records, the band made a promotional video that was advertised on some late night television shows in certain markets. Some Americans have remembered them from that time. It's quite possible that I might have seen that video because there is one video from them that is very familiar.

The band didn't get the breakthrough in the US but they did manage to sell 20,000 units of their 1996 pop album Almost Heaven, the follow up to the breakout hit album Over The Hump with little to no radio airplay.

If any Americans end up discovering them at all, it's from one of their early songs they to perform with the youngest sibling. 

It's often shared often as a funny meme on Twitter and other social media websites.

It's a very funny but bewildering song about bed wetting. It really leaves people scratching their heads in disbelief. I bet this humorous performance will be the extent of what Americans will ever know about this band and will not look further to discover their extraordinary music and history.

[tweet]1501837763242459136[/tweet]

As three of the younger original members have moved on with their solo projects, and one having passed away, it's not likely for them to ever have mainstream American success. One of them, Michael Patrick Kelly (formerly known as Paddy), has a very popular solo career and he creates the kind of music that can appeal to much younger audiences. He's the one who could still become popular in America. His 2021 album B.O.A.T.S is a really great album; almost a modern pop masterpiece.