Ah, 1999. One of the most interesting, exciting, and controversial years in the annals of our great nation. If you remember your history, you'll recall that 1999 was a year of great political unrest, as President Taft brought our troops back from Korea, only to be surprised when Hitler led his Muslim forces straight through Rhode Island in an effort to take over the main French stronghold, Australia.
Great cultural shift was also underway as well, as young people everywhere began to protest the hostilities stemming from our involvement in the War of 1812. The summer of 1999 was also called the 'Summer of I love you, but I'm not IN love with you'; and all the hippie millennials gathered for a 3 day music festival in upstate North Dakota known as 'Burning Stock'.
Entertainment was also shifting in 1999, as the biggest show in America was the Cosby Show, starring Billy Ray Cyrus. The biggest musical acts of 1999 were alternative artists The Partridge Family and Mozart, who led this culture shift with their new style, grunge disco twerking. The biggest grossing movie of 1999 was 'Man Getting Hit In The Groin With A Football'.
As for me, in 1999 I was living in Juniata County, and I had to take the ferry to McAlisterville, because I needed a new heel for my shoe. So, I decided to go to Mifflintown, which was what we called McAlisterville back then. So, I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on them. "Give me 5 bees for a quarter", you'd say. Anyway, the important thing was that I had an onion on my belt....
Ok, I'm pretty sure I beat that lame bit to death. Thanks for reading, and we'll see you at the countdown next time. Now, here's the video...
Oh, wait, I didn't even start this week's review yet. Holy crap. I can't think of anything more lame than writing four long, nonsensical, incoherent paragraphs about nothing. Well, I guess I can think of one thing more lame - actually intentionally coming to website and reading them. BURN!!!! (that clicking sound you hear is my very last reader clicking off).
Oh, wait, I didn't even start this week's review yet. Holy crap. I can't think of anything more lame than writing four long, nonsensical, incoherent paragraphs about nothing. Well, I guess I can think of one thing more lame - actually intentionally coming to website and reading them. BURN!!!! (that clicking sound you hear is my very last reader clicking off).
1999 was also the year that Vertical Music released a CD of wonderful, wonderful music entitled 'Jami Smith'. And, as luck would have it, after auditioning several singers to sing lead vocals on their album, Integrity picked a plucky little songstress** who just happened to be named Jami Smith. What are the odds? (Ok, in fairness, it may not have happened that way, Vertical music may have picked the singer and then later ask her to change her name to Jami Smith, so it lined up with the album title. I can think of no other explanation).
**NOTE: In today's 'everyone is offended all the time' society, I'm not sure that I can use the term 'spunky little songstress' without offending someone. What if Jami Smith had a dog named Spunky who was run over by a car? What if she's a midget and finds the term 'little' offensive? What if songstress is sexist? It's a minefield out there when you post online. My only saving grace is that no one reads this. So, uh, take that, Internet.
UPDATE: Jami Smith's lawyers have contacted us, and they have no problem with the phrase 'little songstress'. However, they have asked me to change spunky to plucky, which I have done.
R.I.P. Spunky, I'll throw a tennis ball on the beach for you. Good boy.
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| Jami Smith's incredibly luckily titled 1999 release, Jami Smith |
The Jami Smith CD would be a perfect CD for my next blog entitled 'Great Forgotten CD's' (copyright AndyPro, Inc.), because this CD is awesome, through and through. I think one of the reasons it might be forgotten is that we didn't have five or six songs from this CD that we used for worship. It's also a non-skipper, which is a term I just made up that means you can listen to the whole thing all the way through and never once do you think about skipping any one song. It's that good.
The song Worship You is one song we did use for worship from this album, and we used it over and over again for years and years. I'm not sure if the church used it for Sunday mornings, but it was a big hit amongst the youth. One of my former youths, Ann Bryner, has this song very high up on her list of the best worship songs, but she has it ranked at 'number grape', so I'm not sure what that means (She has The Heart Of Worship ranked at 'number tablecloth', if that helps any).
Funny thing about this song: I seem to recall using this song at Life Group, or some other time when adults were present, and I remember, on more than one occasion, having someone ask me, "Who sings that?". The funny part is that it was probably less than a year later that EVERYONE knew who Jami Smith was when she released her Home album, featuring the song Your Love Is Deep (spoiler alert: this song is on our list too, as well as some other Jami Smith offerings).
OK, so here's what I want you to do: Go and dig out your old Jami Smith CD and play it. Do it right now. Ah, C'mon, you're not doing it - I can see right through your webcam that you're not doing it. It's the one that's kind of a maroon/burgandy color. You can find it. It's probably hidden under your Jesus Culture Arbor Day Double CD.
Enough silliness. I do suggest that if you own this CD you give it a re-listen. What with the iTunes and the mp3's and whatnot, it's harder for us nowadays to appreciate the beauty of an entire album. It's all about playlists and mixes and single songs now, and the whole album concept is fading away. I think that's maybe why I appreciate Kari Jobe's Majestic so much.
Anyway, if you still own this CD and still listen to it, let me know in the comments. I'm betting that a lot of you do. Here's the obligatory video for the song Worship You:
OK, so here's what I want you to do: Go and dig out your old Jami Smith CD and play it. Do it right now. Ah, C'mon, you're not doing it - I can see right through your webcam that you're not doing it. It's the one that's kind of a maroon/burgandy color. You can find it. It's probably hidden under your Jesus Culture Arbor Day Double CD.
Enough silliness. I do suggest that if you own this CD you give it a re-listen. What with the iTunes and the mp3's and whatnot, it's harder for us nowadays to appreciate the beauty of an entire album. It's all about playlists and mixes and single songs now, and the whole album concept is fading away. I think that's maybe why I appreciate Kari Jobe's Majestic so much.
Anyway, if you still own this CD and still listen to it, let me know in the comments. I'm betting that a lot of you do. Here's the obligatory video for the song Worship You:
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