Music Notes 11-3-24
Once again we welcome our wonderful band back to our worship. This week we’ll get a chance
to hear our master of the guitar, Stan Ayeroff, serenade us at the end of the service. Stan was one
of the original co-founders of Oingo Boingo with Danny Elfman, has a variety of things you can
listen to on YouTube, and you can learn more about him on his website at
https://www.stanayeroff.com/ . Check it out.
Mark Hayes is a composer/arranger/pianist based in Kansas City whose music is renowned
around the world. He got his degree in piano performance at Baylor University, moved to
Kansas City to work as a music editor for Tempo Publishing, and now spends his time writing
music for the church and traveling around the world as a clinician and guest conductor. When I
met Mark in the late 80’s, I was struck by his pianistic skills – more specifically, the way he
manhandled the piano into submission to produce the most wondrous sounds. Mark’s writing is
superbly crafted, with influences of black gospel and jazz. He’s one of my favorite
contemporary writers, and I try to program something of his on a regular basis. If you play piano
and want some music that will both challenge you and satisfy your appetite for delicious piano
music, pick up a book of Mark Hayes piano improvisations. You’ll love it. The anthem for this
week – Swingin’ With The Saints – is one of his early products. It was written in 1981 and
combines two old favorite hymns – Swing Low, Sweet Chariot and When The Saints Go
Marching In – and makes them groovy. It opens with a bouncy, bluesy setting of Swing Low and
morphs into a groovy swing setting that combines both tunes. It’s a toe-tapper that the choir
enjoys singing.
The song Operator – not Jim Croce’s version – was written by William Spivery in 1959 and was
recorded and released that year by his vocal group The Friendly Brothers. It floated around the
cosmos for 16 years until it was recorded by The Manhattan Transfer on their debut album in
April of 1975. The 1959 single had ended up in the hands of a young Cleveland DJ named Tim
Hauser, who remembered it when The Manhattan Transfer was developing their first album. He
and Janis Siegal, who did the lead vocal, developed the arrangement, and the rest is history. It
became a monster hit and went on to be covered by everyone from Anita Lindblom, the Cotton
Club Singers and Tennessee Ernie Ford to Sandi Patti. Spivery was not forgotten, however.
Manhattan Transfer contacted him, gave him a piece of the profits from the release and held a
banquet in his honor here in Hollywood to celebrate their mutual hit. In a business that has a
history of shady deals, this story is truly heartwarming.
Hailing from Marietta, Georgia, Third Day is a Christian rock band formed at YMCA Camp
High Harbour in 1991 by high-schoolers Mac Powell and Mark Lee. The name Third Day is a
reference to Jesus’ resurrection on the third day after crucifixion. Over the years, like most
bands, they had several different musicians playing with them and released their first
independent album, Long Time Forgotten, in 1994. In 1995, they signed a contract with Reunion
Records and released their second album Third Day in 1996. That year they were nominated for
a Dove Award for New Artist of the Year and their video Consuming Fire won a Billboard Music
Award for Best Christian Video. In 2004, they released their seventh album Wire, toured the U.S.
and Europe, collaborated on Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ, played at the
Republican National Convention and were featured on 60 Minutes. Their hit single, Soul On
Fire, is from their album Soul On Fire of 2014, and spent 19 weeks on the Billboard charts,
peaking at No. 2 on Hot Christian Songs and No. 3 on Christian Digital Songs.