Servant was a

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...

group that grew out of the counter-culture

Jesus Movement The Jesus movement was an evangelical Christian movement which began on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and primarily spread throughout North America, Europe, and Central America, before it subsided in the l ...

of the sixties and seventies. The band was founded in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

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 later changed their name to Servant. The lyrics of their songs were known for challenging the

Christian Church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a synonym fo ...

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 Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic and sometimes quadrasonic) sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of a listening space. The system allows for th ...

(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'' is a twice-monthly online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music, published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications. History ''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has bee ...

'' 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 Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

and

Greenbelt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which h ...

. 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 The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

Award-winning

Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...

DeGarmo & Key DeGarmo & Key was a Christian rock band/duo formed in 1977 by Eddie DeGarmo and Dana Key. The group is notable for having the first Christian rock album nominated for a Grammy award and the first American Christian group to have a video entered ...

, Joe English (of

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

fame), Will McFarlane (recorded with Jackson Browne),

Randy Matthews Randy Matthews (born 1950) is an American 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. Wh ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, and

Steve Camp Steven J. Camp (born April 13, 1955) is an American contemporary Christian music artist and pastor. In the tradition of Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses, Camp sent out his own 107 theses on Reformation Day (October 31), 1998, calling for a re ...

. 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. In November 2013, Servant was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award from

GMA Canada The Gospel Music Association of Canada or GMA Canada (formerly known as the CGMA) is a not for profit association, founded in 1974, whose purpose is to promote Christian music in Canada. History GMA Canada is created in 1974 in Ontario with ...

during ceremonies held during the 35th Annual

Covenant Awards The Covenant Awards are awarded to the Canadian gospel music industry by GMA Canada, the Gospel Music Association of Canada. The association is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the growth and ministry of Christian music in C ...

. On hand to receive the award were band members: Sandie Brock, Owen Brock, Bob Hardy, Rob Martens, Matt Spransy and Eric Odell.

Formative years

Servant has some origins in 1973 from Lonesome Stone, directed by Jim Palosaari, 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

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical composed by Stephen Schwartz with book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hymn ...

. 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 (both lead by Jim and Susan Palosaari), the latter forming the basis of what eventually became

Jesus People USA Jesus People USA (JPUSA) pronounced: ǰ-pu-sa is a Christian intentional community in Uptown, on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1972, coming out of Jesus People Milwaukee during the Jesus movement, it is one of the largest cont ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. After Jesus People Europe disbanded, Palosaari and others formed the Highway Missionary Society a year later, based in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada, with Servant an outreach of the Society, based on the West Coast of North America. In 1984 they were renamed The Servant Community in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Ohio, as Servant became the primary outreach of the community.

Band line-up

* Sandie Brock: Lead Vocals * Bob Hardy: Lead Vocals (1979–1984) * Bruce Wright: Lead Guitar, backing vocals (1977-1985) (died 1993) * Owen Brock: Rhythm Guitar, backing vocals * Rob Martens: Bass, backing vocals (1977-1988) * David Holmes: Drums, backing vocals (also lead vocals on early albums) (1977-1985) * 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) * Randy Brown: Keyboards (1986-1990) * Tim McAllister: Lead Guitar (1987) * Ric Hordinski: Lead Guitar (1988-1990) * Linford Detweiler: Bass, Keyboards (1988-1990) * Brian Kelley: Drums (1988-1990) Source: ; Timeline ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:15 right:0 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1976 till:12/31/1990 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:1976 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1976 Colors = id:voc value:red legend:Vocals id:gtr value:green legend:Guitar id:kbd value:purple legend:Keyboard id:bss value:blue legend:Bass id:drm value:orange legend:Drums id:alb value:black legend:Studio_album BarData = bar:Sandie text:Sandie Brock bar:Bob text:Bob Hardy bar:Bruce text:Bruce Wright bar:Owen text:Owen Brock bar:Rob text:Rob Martens bar:David text:David Holmes bar:Matt text:Matt Spransy bar:Eric text:Eric Odell bar:TimS text:Tim Spransy bar:Sam text:Sam Evans bar:Randy text:Randy Brown bar:TimM text:Tim McAllister bar:Ric text:Ric Hordinski bar:Linford text:Linford Detweiler bar:Brian text:Brian Kelley PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Sandie from:01/01/1976 till:end color:voc bar:Bob from:01/01/1979 till:12/31/1984 color:voc bar:Bruce from:01/01/1977 till:12/31/1985 color:gtr bar:Bruce from:01/01/1977 till:12/31/1985 color:voc width:3 bar:Owen from:01/01/1976 till:end color:gtr bar:Owen from:01/01/1976 till:end color:voc width:3 bar:Rob from:01/01/1976 till:12/31/1988 color:bss bar:Rob from:01/01/1976 till:12/31/1988 color:voc width:3 bar:David from:01/01/1977 till:12/31/1985 color:drm bar:David from:01/01/1977 till:12/31/1985 color:voc width:3 bar:Matt from:01/01/1981 till:12/31/1986 color:kbd bar:Eric from:01/01/1984 till:end color:voc bar:Eric from:01/01/1984 till:end color:gtr width:3 bar:TimS from:01/01/1985 till:12/31/1987 color:gtr bar:Sam from:01/01/1985 till:end color:drm bar:Sam from:01/01/1985 till:end color:voc width:3 bar:Randy from:01/01/1986 till:12/01/1989 color:kbd bar:TimM from:01/01/1987 till:12/31/1987 color:gtr bar:Ric from:01/01/1988 till:end color:gtr bar:Linford from:01/01/1988 till:end color:bss bar:Linford from:01/01/1988 till:end color:kbd width:3 bar:Brian from:01/01/1988 till:end color:drm LineData = layer:back color:alb at:01/01/1979 at:01/01/1981 at:01/01/1982 at:01/01/1983 at:01/01/1984 at:01/01/1985

Discography

* '' Shallow Water'' (1979), Tunesmith * '' Rockin' Revival'' (1981), Tunesmith * ''Remix'' (1981), Horizon (A project unauthorized by the band members. Produced by Tunesmith after Servant left the label to start their own recording company, oofTop Records) * '' World of Sand'' (1982),

Rooftop Records Rooftop Records was a Christian music record label, founded in 1982 by the Highway Missionary Society, the parent organization of the band Servant (band), Servant, and distributed by Benson Records. The label was formed to gain greater creative c ...

* ''Caught in the Act of Loving Him'' (1983),

* ''Light Maneuvers'' (1984),

Myrrh Records __NOTOC__ Myrrh Records (also known as Myrrh Worship) was an American Christian music record label. According to ''Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music'', the label was instrumental in developing a popular following for contemporary Christian ...

* ''Swimming in a Human Ocean'' (1985),

source:

References

External links

Christian Music Archive, Servant

Video of Servant's song "Human Heart"

Video of Servant's song "The Dance"
{{Authority control Canadian Christian rock groups American Christian rock groups Myrrh Records artists