1990s Christian Music!

[WannaWitness]

The '90s was the decade of my late teens and young adulthood. I had a lot of difficulties during that particular period in life, but that's also when my Christian music collection started to grow, and much of this music brought me joy and helped me cope.

So... this thread is to post our favorite and well-loved '90s music with a Christian and/or inspirational slant. They can have strong or subtle messages, and yes, Christian "crossover" hits (a common practice among prominent artists around that time) are allowed as the lyrics of such tunes may not be explicitly Christian-themed, but are at least wholesome and family-oriented. I also welcome light-hearted tunes! Feel free to use your own judgment on this in your posting. We're not here to debate; we're here to kick back and relax while sharing and encouraging one another with great music recorded between 1990 and 1999!

Okay, come on in, peeps!

Here are a few I like to start off:

 

[WannaWitness]

A few more:

 

[WannaWitness]

 

[WannaWitness]

 

[Gregory Thompson]

 

[Gregory Thompson]

 

[Gregory Thompson]

 

[WolfGate]

Did well on the secular charts also.

 

[WannaWitness]

Celtic pop by UK band Iona in 1993.

 

[WannaWitness]

I regard Amy Grant as my first real influence in CCM, attending a concert as a preteen in the mid-1980s and prompting an interest in collecting her music and starting a CCM library of my own after entering my teens. These are from the 1991 album Heart In Motion. This is one of the so-called "crossover" albums, with only two tracks with explicit Christian messages, and the rest being the innocent fluff of Top-40 radio (not that there is anything wrong with that, as I have come to discover later on). I remember there used to be a lot of criticism of "crossover" artists, being accused of "compromising their faith" by recording secular songs and nothing more than "shallow" on their Christian-oriented songs. As a result, I would buy the albums and skip over the songs that did not mention God or Jesus at least once (or at least give the implication of such) or contain subject matter on Christian culture as a whole (praying, reading the Bible, going to church, and so forth), and created my own mix-tapes of CCM songs that in my mind passed the test for being a "Christian" song. Later on, I did my own study regarding music issues, and discovered a lot more, resulting in my expanding my music collection to include wholesome secular mainstream songs, as well.

Okay, enough of my rambling. Here are some tracks from Heart in Motion. The first two have Christian messages without a doubt, and the other two are hits that achieved success on Top-40 radio but are still wholesome in that they contain no messages that go against the Bible but is still considered to be sweet family-friendly fun pop tunes.

 

[WannaWitness]

Karthi is one of the more rare artists who entered the CCM scene briefly, with one album to her credit (that I know of). In fact, it really surprised me to have found it on Youtube. I really love her singing; wish she would have recorded more.

 

[WannaWitness]

Retro video, circa 1990. Actually saw this guy opening for a DC Talk concert (when they still did hip-hop). Sadly, there wasn't a good turnout.

Youtube is full of surprises; I found this not too long ago.

And thanks to you who have contributed so far. Please be encouraged to share as much as you would like!

 

[brinny]

Another song of the same title:

 

[brinny]

Lovely list of songs, WannaWitness.

 

[WannaWitness]

Lovely list of songs, WannaWitness.

Thank you.

 

[brinny]

Thank you.

Thank you for posting them.

 

[FenderTL5]

...Please be encouraged to share as much as you would like!

In the 90s (91-00) I worked in Christian Radio, had a morning show in a major US market. I remember this era very well. I never cared for the direction CCM took in the late 90s away from pop/rock entertaining music toward what we now call P&W music. You said, "I regard Amy Grant as my first real influence in CCM..." I've had a meal in Amy Grant's kitchen...

Iona is probably the only group that I consistently go back to/still listen with any regularity.
However, I was a huge fan of Whiteheart in the 80s/90s.

 

[WannaWitness]

In the 90s (91-00) I worked in Christian Radio, had a morning show in a major US market. I remember this era very well. I never cared for the direction CCM took in the late 90s away from pop/rock entertaining music toward what we now call P&W music. You said, "I regard Amy Grant as my first real influence in CCM..." I've had a meal in Amy Grant's kitchen...

Iona is probably the only group that I consistently go back to/still listen with any regularity.
However, I was a huge fan of Whiteheart in the 80s/90s.

Thanks for sharing your story. It's interesting to know of people who have had personal encounters or, like you, are acquainted with some of the prominent names in the CCM industry. That must have been a special moment for you.

I'm familiar with Whiteheart, as well. I have that album! So much great music!

 

[FenderTL5]

a favorite, still.

 

[FenderTL5]

imho, not only is this a great song with great production;
It has one of the best guitar solos in all of CCM (2:45 - 3:18)