Hair Metal vs. Top 40

See if you can make it all the way through this post. It's a glimpse into my past.

Plans go wrong for lack of advice;
    many advisers bring success.
- Proverbs 15:22 (NLT)

My very first music store boss, Jeff Lindsey, passed away recently at a relatively early age. My sincere condolences and prayers for strength and healing go to his family.

Jeff owned a guitar, keyboard, and drum store in Madison (a town just outside of Huntsville), AL, and wanted to grow his business by selling tapes and CDs. At the time I was one of two teenagers working for him, and I was the music enthusiast out of the two of us. I assume that Jeff didn't know too many teens at the time, because he asked for my advice on what tapes to buy and apparently stocked exactly what I said (along with some of his favorite music).

I was not into "mainstream," Top 40-style music. I loathed it, for the most part, thinking that it was generic and simply manufactured to be hit music. Instead, I enjoyed hard rock (heavy metal, glam metal, or now "hair metal," if you prefer to call it any of those, although I wasn't into the hardcore sub-genre). I always wore a trenchcoat and ripped-up jeans and did my best to fit that mold. I was in the minority.

I loved the music of a band called Black 'n Blue. They were essentially an unknown group. I assume this is because, frankly, they were a rather ugly band -- must not have made for good PR, videos, etc. But that didn't bother me (remind me some time to make a post about the fact that, when I was a kid, I thought all good musicians were "beautiful people"). I loved them. Taking an educated guess as I look back, maybe seven people in the greater Hunstville area had probably ever even heard of them (that'd be my family and a few friends).

So I advised Jeff to stock lots of the upcoming Black 'n Blue album. I told him how great it was going to be, that they were the next big thing, etc. I don't know if I thought it would sell, or if I just wanted to be able to buy it as soon as it came in. Apparently Jeff thought that other music in this genre would also sell well, because he wound up stocking a lot of niche heavy metal albums, along with material by the Gordon Lightfoots of the world and other musical odds (literally) and ends.

Eventually Jeff stopped selling tapes and CDs. For some reason the people just weren't buying.

Had any other teenagers or young adults been consulted on which music to stock (or just one teenager who cared about what was actually popular and sellable), my guess is that that portion of the business would have been at least moderately successful.

I have known a number of Christ-followers who have derailed themselves by taking misunderstandings of Scripture and looking for counsel from friends who were not Christ-followers. I also know people who have been seriously damaged in their walk with Christ because of close relationships with Christians (or "Christians") who did not make it a practice to follow and obey God.

Don't do this.

My dad always told me, "Your best friend should be a Christian." That is so correct on so many levels. Not only are we to seek counsel from Godly people when the time comes, but we are to be Godly, studious people ourselves so that we can offer not only encouragement, but Spirit-filled wisdom and understanding.

Posted in: Christianity, Wisdom