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My First Blog

One of my colleagues here at CHRI (blogger extraordinaire Ashley Elliott) has gently "suggested" that I write my (first ever) blog, on the recent passing of Dana Key. You see she's too young to remember Degarmo & Key (aargh) but I, like so many others from my generation (X), grew up on their music.

It would not be an overstatement to say that Degarmo & Key played a pivotal role in what I now think of as my "rock phase"... which, by the way, comprised nearly all of my teenage years, and then some. There were many hours spent in my bedroom cranking songs like "Let's Get Upset", "Rock Solid", & "Boycott Hell". (And yes we said "cranking" with pride back then)

Today, as I reflect on those years in my bedroom with D&K (this is what the true fans call them), I think about the fact that this was a different era. An era of boldness. In those days you weren't a real Christian rock band unless you gave an altar call at each of your concerts. And rarely, if ever, were your song lyrics couched in metaphor for purely "artistic" reasons. Now please don't hear me wrong. I'm not saying this to pass judgment on the way the Christian music industry handles things now, or, for that matter, the way it did things then. As I said, this was a different era. Things change. And perhaps I'll write on that subject some other time.

But the point I do want to make is simply this...Dana Key, and those of his generation (Petra, Whiteheart, WhiteCross, Allies, Mylon Lefevre & Broken Heart, Guardian) changed my life. I would not be in Christian radio today if it weren't for them. Period. In fact, I am fairly convinced, I would have left the Christian faith altogether. And this is perhaps the best and most fitting tribute I could pay to Dana Key today.

Click here for the announcement. 

Click here for the release on ChristianityToday.com

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