Steve Taylor
| Christ died for our articles about Christianity |
|
| Schismatics |
| Devil's in the details |
Steve Taylor (1957–) is a Christian Rock musician most infamous for his series of 1980s albums, musically influenced by new wave acts like Oingo Boingo, but with lyrics straight out of the Moral Majority's playbook.[1] His first album in particular was rather full of homophobic and anti-abortion lyrics. While he certainly liked to satirize the hypocrisy within evangelical churches, most of his sarcasm was aimed at liberal boogeymen like secular humanists.
Then he aimed his fire in the opposite direction, so to speak, and hit his stride. He slammed Bob Jones University's racism in one song ("We Don't Need No Colour Code"), Christian churches who demanded excessive legalism of their followers ("I Want to be a Clone"), Jimmy Swaggart's and Jim Bakker's scandals ("Guilty By Association" and "On the Fritz"), Jimmy Carter's born again status ("It's a Personal Thing"), name it and claim it theology ("You Don't Owe Me Nothing"), and abortion clinic bombers ("I Blew Up the Clinic Real Good").
It was that last song, from his fourth album (released 1988) that got him into hot water with both his evangelical audience (who thought he had turned against the pro-life position) and with mainstream feminists (who mistook his sarcasm for a serious endorsement of blowing up clinics). The title of that album, I Predict 1990, was also a jab at Christians repeatedly trying to set dates for the rapture, which didn't help him with his evangelical audience either (Allmusic.com says the Christian music scene "all but disowned him" due to that album). After a bout of defending his reputation on the Sally Jesse Raphael show and expressing frustration at being repeatedly misunderstood, he called it quits as a Christian musician and started the short-lived alternative rock group Chagall Guevara. Chagall Guevara got some critical acclaim but only one real hit, "Tale o' the Twister" from the soundtrack to Christian Slater's 1990 movie Pump Up the Volume.
He has since returned to Christian music, as well as acting and film production.
Fundamentalist websites opposed to "Christian rock" are fond of citing Taylor's lyrics, especially "I Want to be a Clone", as examples of why Christianity and rock & roll don't mix and lead to rebellion and worse.