"THAT AIN'T WHAT I CALL ROCK 'N' ROLL."

In one of his comedy routines, Bill Cosby related how his mother used to put raisins in his Cream of Wheat porridge so he wouldn't notice the lumps. That didn't fool Bill's throat one bit. The lumps still made him gag.

In a similar fashion, one church elder thought she could lure me away from the supposed evils of rock music. In this excerpt from my upcoming memoir, I knew that whatever she wanted me to hear wouldn't satisfy me.

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Sister Eileen dropped the subject but Sister Roberta phoned several days later.

"You really shouldn't listen to that horrid rock music," she admonished. "Why don't you listen to nice wholesome records?"

I sighed and then replied, "Well, I happen to like rock music better."

"You shouldn't be listening to that worldly music. It's so ungodly. Remember what Paul wrote to the Philippians about thinking on things noble, good, and praiseworthy? There are so many uplifting Christian songs you could be listening to."

Then an idea struck her. "Say, why don't I tape some nice sprightly tunes for you?"

"No, thanks. I like the stuff I hear on CHED."

"Well, if you ask me, you're certainly being influenced by satanic forces when you listen to that unholy racket."

I fumed the rest of that day. "Why, Lord, is it so hard to find Christian rock?" I repeated as I paced my room.

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How I Was Razed is the testimony of how God revealed his true character to me after charismatic house church elders misled me for more than fifteen years. You're welcome to contact me directly for more information about this upcoming paperback.

AUTOBAHN: THE HIGHWAY TO ELECTRONIC MUSIC EXPLORATION.

During twenty-one years of my life, I composed and recorded my own form of electronic music. My passion for this genre began in 1975 when I became an instant fan of the German group Kraftwerk. I first heard their hit Autobahn played on CHED, Edmonton's local rock music radio station.

When I bought their first three albums, I felt inspired to create my own sonic textures. Other electronic artists intimidated me with their racks of expensive synthesizers but Kraftwerk's early music could be produced even by poor musicians such as me.

I began tinkering with various circuits and acoustic sound-making devices in my housekeeping room, during the late seventies, for my own amusement. I couldn't imagine that anybody would be interested in my style of compositions so I never mentioned my hobby to anybody.

In December of 1984, I discovered a program on CJSR radio called Departures. The host, Marcel Dion, played all sorts of fascinating compositions plus he invited "home tapers" to submit their music for broadcast. Believing that my works might have a chance of being played, I copied all of my experiments onto a cassette and hand-delivered it to Marcel in March of 1985 as he was airing his program. Those early recordings were very primitive but as time passed, I bought better gear and improved my technique.

During the summer of 1998, and in honour of my beloved house bunny, Gideon, I recorded an album called Lagomorph. The title refers to the family of animals comprising rabbits, hares, and pikas. When I visited the House Rabbit Society web page containing the word rabbit in different languages, I decided to title each of my new tunes with those names. It took me a few months to finish recording and manufacturing the album at my home, partly due to my freelance writing work, but also because of other interruptions.

Though my music never sold well, I had fun creating it. I now write books and articles but I still have a large number of my electronic music CD-Rs collecting dust in my basement. Please contact me directly if you're interested in this style of music.

I also wrote about how I combined my love of house rabbits and electronic music in my How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity memoir. Please check out the links on the left hand side of this page for details.