On casual listen, the lyrics for "Turn On to Jesus" by City Boy are oddly ungodly. On the wrong side of the border, a city boy finds a house full of "ladies of the night." But what thrills are they into? One of them cries out, "HEY MAN! Turn on to JESUS!"
The inspiration? Lol Mason and Steve Broughton, the band's lead vocalists, were touring America and got stuck right in the middle of the country. Broughton:
"Lol and I spent time in a dry area of Kansas. There’s no bars, the only place you can get a drink is one of these ‘religious’ clubs, with topless waitresses with dollar bills stuffed in their G-strings, and out of the jukebox is blaring this ‘Jesus is the Saviour’-music. It was bizarre – I mean, that kind of thing just doesn’t happen in Birmingham."
Birmingham, England, not Alabama.
"Turn On to Jesus" was offed by the band's record label, over worries that the song could be interpreted as profane. New lyrics were written. The result was "5-7-0-5," the band's only hit single. God moves in mysterious ways.
In another twist, the lead vocal was not from Lol or Steve, but Roy Ward, who had been brought in by the band's producer Mutt Lange (yes, of later Shania Twain infamy) who wanted a better drummer and perhaps a new sound as well, since the band's harmonizing had been accused of sounding too much like 10CC or Queen.
In the spirit of Christian charity, two more Jesus songs are added for you, having been previously highlighted on the blog: "I Heard the Voice of Jesus" by Turley Richards and the optimistic and ominous "Jesus is Coming" from Andy Pratt.
CITY BOY- TURN ON TO JESUS
I HEARD THE VOICE OF JESUS
JESUS IS COMING
2 comments:
Btw...Roy Ward was not brought in by Mutt Lange. He was chosen after a series of drummer auditions.
Mutt was responsible for bringing in Tony Braunagel as a session drummer for the recording of City Boy's third album, Young Men Gone West as he was not enamored by original drummer, Roger Kent. After that album was completed we conducted extensive auditions and settled upon Roy Ward as the replacement, full-time drummer. During the recording sessions for the fourth album, Book Early, Mutt suggested that we take advantage of Roy's extraordinary voice and have him try singing on "Turn On To Jesus" which later morphed into "5705".
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