Chuck Girard , Tommy Coomes , Jay Truax 2017 : Live Concert at The Upper Room venue , SoCal attend the weeklong training and evangelist outreach held at the Cotton Bowl stadium . Another 200,000 would overrun a parkway for the “ Jesus Sound Explosion ” concert . This massive music festival was dubbed , “ The Christian Woodstock ”. Chuck Girard recalls , “ It was the first time many saw hippie Christians with long hair minister with rock and roll type music .” Once Billy Graham , the keynote speaker , came to the podium after LoveSong had performed , it was a sign of acceptance , “ Many attendees said , well if it ’ s okay with Billy Graham it must be okay with God ,” says Girard , “ and that became a tipping point , in my view .”
LoveSong , Like the Beatles in The Philippines As LoveSong ’ s first album took off and became widely successful for its time , the group was invited to tour in the Philippines . Little did they know how popular they had become . One of the songs from the album , “ A Love Song ”, would hit # 1 on the secular pop charts in Manila . Once they landed , they were mobbed from the moment they stepped off the plane with screaming fans and press . They played to
tens of thousands of people in a sold-out soccer stadium for four nights in a row with military security to get them on and off the stage . They also played at a university campus quad , to tens of thousands of screaming fans . Through it all , the band was never asked to compromise their message of faith in Jesus . It was a concert tour like no other and sadly , there was precious little local and national media coverage since the Philippines were under martial law at that time and the media was severely restricted and censored .
The Legacy of LoveSong LoveSong , along with Andre Crouch , Larry Norman and a select few , were pioneers of an emerging new kind of music . “ They helped change the status quo of what was acceptable to be played in churches ,” comments Chad Butler , drummer of the band Switchfoot . Pastor and author Skip Heitzig of Calvary Albuquerque , New Mexico says , “ The Beatles and Bob Dylan were a voice of a generation , and LoveSong became the voice of our ( Jesus People ) generation .” Skip would go on to say , “ Just as the British Invasion was not possible without the
Beatles … the Worship Invasion would not have been possible without LoveSong .” Perhaps Chuck Girard summed it up best when asked to comment on their enduring legacy , “ I think that we successfully communicated the gospel very effectively through music . To me , that ’ s what LoveSong has always been about .”
LoveSong ’ s music would go on to inspire a generation of new believers and the Jesus Music they helped give voice to has become what we recognize today as Contemporary Christian Music . Well known and successful artists of today from Amy Grant , Michael W . Smith , Steven Curtis Chapman , Third Day , Switchfoot , MercyMe , Jeremy Camp , TobyMac , and so many more , stand on the shoulders of LoveSong and their fellow music trail blazers of the Jesus Movement . It ’ s a legacy worth tipping your hat to as a believer , pastor , teacher , evangelist , youth leader , and worship leader .
So , the next time you hit play on one of your favorite Christian tunes , “ Lend an ear to a love song .”