Notable Quotables 2007

By Bobby

A computer crash removed so many quotes I can't believe how dumb I was! But I had enough quotes from 2007 to compile an entire season of Notable Quotables! A computer crash removed so many quotes I can't believe how dumb I was! But I had enough quotes from 2007 to compile an entire season of Notable Quotables!

“Have we secularized Christmas to the point that at schools and churches, we permit Elmo and Patsy sing ‘Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,’ we let any type of bogus vocalist perform ‘Frosty the Snowman,’ or other winter music tunes of snow (‘Santa Baby,’ or ‘Let It Snow’) replace songs of Christmas such as ‘Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion’ (as sung by The Mississippi Squirrel), or The Brittnee lead us in ‘O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion’?

“Of course, the two songs from Messiah are appropriate for Christmas; the winter songs are for the winter season, and could be played once it snows or has ice! Santa Baby, on the other hand, is awful and the only time I've heard it was a 2003 CapitalOne Holiday on Ice event at the Colonial Center that was taped for an InterSport / NBC special.

-- On Messiah.

"Händel's Messiah is the great masterpiece that symbolizes God's greatness. Sadly, today's Emergent Church attitudes dislike such masterpieces while rewarding pieces that lack theology and are based on the beat. These majestic masterpieces with live accompaniment and sound doctrine and theology form the backbone of the Christian life and the Christ Child. The second and third parts are suited for Easter."

-- Another Messiah quote.

"It should be exciting as Helen (an older student of my voice teacher, by two years) wears the 'C' and I wear the 'A' for this event of hope, which is in a way a great way to minister to these adults, when considering the song I sing is 'O Rest in the Lord' from Mendelssohn."

-- On a benefit at Still Hopes (an Episcopal retirement home). The "C" and the "A" are hockey references. The captain's sweater has the "C" and the alternate captain has the "A". Helen is older and has more experience. She sings at her church and in the choral society, something we don't have at home, sadly.

"Five years from now, who will remember 'He Reigns' from the Newsboys, or even the latest Chris Tomlin piece which is the #1 song on the radio, or the current GMA Dove Award winner for Song of the Year? Do you remember the popularity of the latest song off the radio from five years ago?"

-- A question to those about 'modern worship' and the trends of pop that fade away quickly. This was asked in a controversial letter I wrote to the church about the dangers of the Emergent movement.

"Too many 'modern' musicals have adult themes inappropriate for the kids who are in attendance."

-- On the inappropriate themes of modern musicals such as "Hairspray," transvestites) and "Mamma Mia!" (same-sex unions)

"I noticed how even people in my generation and the newer ones have bought hook, line, and sinker the entire idea that the theology-lacking modern rock worship is better than the hymns. In a meeting brought after some younger church members wanted me disciplined for questioning the theology of the songs, one person referred as 'dead music' that children will not listen as Bach, Händel (love participating in the sing-along!), Mozart, and Mendelssohn (whose 'O Rest in the Lord' was sung by me at a recent event at Still Hopes), while the music called 'relevant' is the latest song they hear from the rock radio station, especially (Chris) Tomlin or a wild rock star.

“At this rate, church music singers should ditch the lessons, ditch the classics, and sing or scream only the latest songs off the radio, and even dance to them. I questioned our music leader's decision to tell children 11-17 that they will not be singing -- the only music opportunities will be to dance to pop/rock songs or hip-hop tunes (which they call a great opportunity) or be puppeteers. If they had a choice between singing Händel and dancing to Chris Tomlin tunes (a popular modern rock musician), they would dance to Tomlin. Their MTV philosophy has sadly struck the church, and money, not God, has taken priority in church music it seems.

“I think today that 'relevance' only means relevant to today's secularist minds, as they are taught a diet of secularism in schools today."

-- Reponse to "God, Mammon, and The Worship Wars" by Warren Smith, The Charlotte World.

"Often times, unfortunately, the legacy of a person can be attained to comments made later in their life, especially when the nation is at war. Unfortunately for Beverly Sills, one of her last appearances on television was a November episode of ABC's 'The View,' when she supported the show's outrageous co-moderator, Rosie O'Donnell, days following the Liberal Revolution, which cemented her disgraceful comments to a national audience."

-- On Beverly Sills' death.

"(Spirit in the Sky) violates basic Biblical principles, and after talking to friends at our church's Santee outreach (which is now a full-blown church), the pastor and I both agreed are we sacrificing the Message of the Bible in favor of the danceable beat of pop radio?

“It's a far cry from Bach, who wrote songs to glorify God, and the great composers who set the Bible to music. When you are a classically trained vocalist, you need to learn to sing songs with proper message and theology in church."

-- An investigation of the song "Spirit in the Sky" after it was questioned by a member at church over its lack of theology led to an investigation. It was inappropriate for it to be used in church was the main objection.

"Women have it easy when it comes to fashion over men when they are singing, and that showed when I found myself wearing a shirt that was a little too tight on the collar, because it interferes with my singing, especially when I am wearing a tie!"

-- After a performance went awry because of a collar that was too tight, I noted women don't have the problem of collars! When do you see a female vocalist wearing a blouse that covers the neck the way men's shirts cover their collars?

"The best of those at Darlington was Ann Benson (who sang the Anthem at the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400; Mike McCarthy of the old motorsportstv.com, now a NASCAR public relations official, asked what demographic the track was aiming with an 'opera singer in a zebra suit'); I was chatting with Ann at 'Postcards from Morocco,' and my voice teacher was talking about 'Ann's national television appearance' with a friend when she saw me, luring me to her. I was about to break into 'Have you ever?' when she talked about Ann's appearance. "

-- While attending Postcards from Morocco, my voice teacher had nobody to sit with her, and I had nobody to sit with me. She was talking about Ann Benson (her boss) to a friend about her national television appearance my voice teacher has been on our state's public television, and that's about it) while I chatted with Ann, and my teacher and I seated ourselves together at the opera. This reference came after Carol Einarsson of Race Journal Online criticized Lisa Hudson's bad performance of the National Anthem at the Dodge Avenger 500 May 12 on her site. "Have you ever" refers to Mike Joy's comments in the aftermath of the finish at the Florentine circuit in 2003 (margin of victory .002 seconds, closest finish in motorsports), and was repeated after the wild 2007 Daytona 500 finish, again by Joy.

"I asked myself this weekend if making sanctuaries friendly to rock bands makes them unfriendly to classical singers. Note how many of the stages now include $25,000 loudspeakers on stage and around the church so the 'house can rock to the wicked subwoofers' (a comment by pop singer Wes King, the brother-in-law of the former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris). If people are saying we don't need a Christin Owens, Cynthia Hanna, Walter Cuttino, Marc Rattray, Marina Lomazov, or a Stephen Beall, but we do need boom boxes, As I Lay Dying (the name of a rock group very popular with church youth), Toby McKeehan (another leader of a rock/r&b/hip-hop group popular with the youth), and the latest off the pop charts, that's worth flinging my jacket from the suit and asking this: What good is it for people to be bombarded with loud rock music for 45 minutes before going to church?"

-- Written after a newspaper article referred to a church's sanctuary being revised for rock music.

"So, Sanjaya (Malakar) has met his Waterloo, ironically, on Country Night."

-- An Idols incident. Know your history to understand this quote.

"It tried to make its way down Richard Dawson's Creek, but instead, it was XXX on the board and found itself in the Room of Doom, busted. Miss Troccoli . . . Mr. Waltrip!"

-- An AOL Music site called "Kiss Me" one of the 111 worst songs ever. The reference of the former two would be to a certain RTL game show hosted currently by John O'Hurley. The latter referred to the GMA Dove Awards' notorious inspection of that year and the Song of the Year presenters.

"The church music ministry is not a dance club; what the leader is doing is converting it into a dance club, which is not the goal of music ministries at church."

-- My comments in an official commentary about the church music ministry's troubles.

"(The book by the mother of the Spears sisters) is the type of book I knew would be a signature product of the Thomas Nelson publishing régime after it was sold to secular liberal interests in 2006. Leo Hindery Jr, a top liberal venture capitalist, took over sole control from the Moore family when he bought Nelson Publishing in a leveraged buyout deal in taking the firm private.

“As a private firm, there is no accountability required in the way it was required when it was a public company . . . It's not the Sam Moore people anymore. I don't think Sam Moore or the Board of Directors would have approved this book in the past."

-- On the publishing of a book on parenting by the mother of the Spears sisters in the light of Jamie Lynn, an MTV star, being knocked up by a boy.