Servant (band)
Encyclopedia
Servant was a Christian rock
group that grew out of the counter-culture Jesus Movement
of the sixties and seventies. The band was founded in Victoria, British Columbia
in 1976 by Jim Palosaari
and performed to audiences throughout North America
, Europe
and Australia
for over 12 years. Originally named “Higher Ground”, the group quickly changed their name to Servant. They were known for challenging the Christian
church to turn back to social justice and caring for the poor.
A Servant rock concert was like a festival event. The band was known to incorporate comedy and short skits in their sets on stage. Servant was also the first Christian rock group to use laser lights, flame tubes, fireworks, fog machines, in addition to an extensive light show and quadraphonic sound (a precursor to surround-sound).
In the early 1980s some critics considered Servant's theatrics, light shows, smoke-bombs and flash-pot stage performances too raucous to be authentically Christian. However, the band's mission was to reach the ears and hearts of those who might not feel so comfortable in church buildings. Shying away from the praise lyrics and easy-listening rock styles that typified most contemporary Christian music at the time, Servant instead attempted to offer edgy, rhythmic, passionate rock and an aggressive stage performance filled with an evangelistic Christian message, and spiced with strong social commentaries.
A CCM Magazine
review of their 1981 release, Rockin Revival, stated that the band's lyrics reflected Christian communal subculture, and contained elements of social protest and criticism.
Servant toured extensively throughout America, Europe and Australia in concert halls and at music festivals like "Creation" and "Greenbelt". They recorded 6 studio albums with songs that ranked in the Top 40 Contemporary Christian Music Charts including "Come Jesus Come", "Holding on to You", "Thank God", "We are the Light", "Surrender", "Harder to Finish", and "I Will."
From 1981 to 1985, opening acts for Servant included Grammy Award winning Petra
, DeGarmo & Key, Joe English
(of Paul McCartney
& Wings
fame), Will McFarlane (recorded with Jackson Browne), Randy Matthews
, Jerusalem, and Steve Camp
. Petra opened for Servant on tour in late 1981 and early 1982 just as Petra's breakthrough album, Never Say Die
was being released.
The band reunited to perform a one-off concert at Cornerstone Festival in July 2011.
. Servant's first song to hit the Top 40 CCM charts (Come Jesus Come) was first recorded in 1973 on Lonesome Stone's LP. Lonesome Stone was an outreach of Jesus People Europe, which came out of Jesus People Milwaukee. (Jesus People Milwaukee also formed the basis of what eventually became Jesus People USA
in Chicago
.) After Jesus People Europe broke up, Palosaari and others formed the Highway Missionary Society a year later, based in British Columbia, Canada, with Servant the primary outreach of the Society, based on the West Coast of North America. In 1984 they were renamed The Servant Community in Cincinnati, Ohio
.
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...
group that grew out of the counter-culture Jesus Movement
Jesus movement
The Jesus movement was a movement in Christianity beginning on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and spreading primarily through North America and Europe, before dying out by the early 1980s. It was the major Christian element within the hippie counterculture,...
of the sixties and seventies. The band was founded in Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
in 1976 by Jim Palosaari
Jim Palosaari
James "Jim" Michael Palosaari was an evangelist and performer, one of the leaders in the Jesus Movement of the late 1960s and 1970s.-Early life:...
and performed to audiences throughout North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
for over 12 years. Originally named “Higher Ground”, the group quickly changed their name to Servant. They were known for challenging the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
church to turn back to social justice and caring for the poor.
A Servant rock concert was like a festival event. The band was known to incorporate comedy and short skits in their sets on stage. Servant was also the first Christian rock group to use laser lights, flame tubes, fireworks, fog machines, in addition to an extensive light show and quadraphonic sound (a precursor to surround-sound).
In the early 1980s some critics considered Servant's theatrics, light shows, smoke-bombs and flash-pot stage performances too raucous to be authentically Christian. However, the band's mission was to reach the ears and hearts of those who might not feel so comfortable in church buildings. Shying away from the praise lyrics and easy-listening rock styles that typified most contemporary Christian music at the time, Servant instead attempted to offer edgy, rhythmic, passionate rock and an aggressive stage performance filled with an evangelistic Christian message, and spiced with strong social commentaries.
A CCM Magazine
CCM Magazine
CCM Magazine was a monthly magazine published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications. It was first published in July 1978, and it has always been a Christian music magazine. On January 16, 2008, Salem announced that the April 2008 issue would be the final printed issue of the...
review of their 1981 release, Rockin Revival, stated that the band's lyrics reflected Christian communal subculture, and contained elements of social protest and criticism.
Servant toured extensively throughout America, Europe and Australia in concert halls and at music festivals like "Creation" and "Greenbelt". They recorded 6 studio albums with songs that ranked in the Top 40 Contemporary Christian Music Charts including "Come Jesus Come", "Holding on to You", "Thank God", "We are the Light", "Surrender", "Harder to Finish", and "I Will."
From 1981 to 1985, opening acts for Servant included Grammy Award winning Petra
Petra (band)
Petra is a music group regarded as a pioneer of the Christian rock and contemporary Christian music genres. Formed in 1972, the band took its name from the Greek word for "rock"...
, DeGarmo & Key, Joe English
Joe English
Joe English is an American musician who, during the 1970s, played drums in Paul McCartney's band Wings and in the Southern Rock/Jazz group Sea Level, among others....
(of Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
& Wings
Wings (band)
Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....
fame), Will McFarlane (recorded with Jackson Browne), Randy Matthews
Randy Matthews
Randy Matthews is a Christian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and pioneer of Jesus music. He was born into a family with at least five ordained ministers, including his father, Monty, a founding member of the Jordanaires. When Randy was in high school in Lamar, Mo., he sang in a quartet called The...
, Jerusalem, and Steve Camp
Steve Camp
Steven J. Camp is a prominent American Dove Award and Grammy Award-nominated contemporary Christian music artist with an adult contemporary pop sound. He was very popular in the 1980s and early 1990s, where he has sold more than a million albums, who also has written or co-written 21 number one...
. Petra opened for Servant on tour in late 1981 and early 1982 just as Petra's breakthrough album, Never Say Die
Never Say Die (Petra album)
Never Say Die is the fourth studio release of the Christian rock band, Petra. It was released in 1981. "The Coloring Song" was a radio hit for the band and sales were higher for this album than the previous...
was being released.
The band reunited to perform a one-off concert at Cornerstone Festival in July 2011.
Formative Years
Servant has some origins in 1973 from “Lonesome Stone”, a Christian rock musical touring Europe billed as a multi-media production of the Jesus generation portrayed in music, film and drama to rival the likes of the musical GodspellGodspell
Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...
. Servant's first song to hit the Top 40 CCM charts (Come Jesus Come) was first recorded in 1973 on Lonesome Stone's LP. Lonesome Stone was an outreach of Jesus People Europe, which came out of Jesus People Milwaukee. (Jesus People Milwaukee also formed the basis of what eventually became Jesus People USA
Jesus People USA
Jesus People USA is a Christian intentional community in Uptown, on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1972, coming out of Jesus People Milwaukee in the Jesus Movement, and is the largest of the few remaining communes from that movement...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.) After Jesus People Europe broke up, Palosaari and others formed the Highway Missionary Society a year later, based in British Columbia, Canada, with Servant the primary outreach of the Society, based on the West Coast of North America. In 1984 they were renamed The Servant Community in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
.
Band line-up
- Sandie Brock: Lead Vocals
- Bob Hardy: Lead Vocals (1979–1984)
- Bruce Wright: Lead Guitar, backing vocals 1977-1985)
- Owen Brock: Rhythm Guitar, backing vocals
- Rob Martens: Bass, backing vocals
- David Holmes: Drums, backing vocals (also lead vocals on early albums)
- Matt Spransy: Keyboards (1981–1986)
- Eric Odell: Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, 12-string Electric (1984–1986)
- Tim Spransy: Lead Guitar (1985–1987)
- Sam (Evan) Evans: Drums, backing vocals (1985–1988)
Discography
- Shallow Water (1979), Tunesmith
- Rockin Revival (1981), Tunesmith
- Remix (1981), Horizon (A project roundly rejected by all members of the band as being of poor quality.)
- World of Sand (1982), Rooftop Records
- Caught in the Act of Loving Him (1983), Rooftop Records
- Light Maneuvers (1984), Myrrh Records
- Swimming in a Human Ocean (1985), Myrrh Records