Give Me John James or Give Me Death

Call me old fashioned. Call me out of the loop. Heck, even call me irrelevant. But all this talk about Michael Tait with newsboys has got my blood a-boilin'.

The frontman switch came without much warning and without too much reason. It just happened and we were supposed to accept it. I can understand that. But now we're left playing music by a frontman that doesn't sing with the band anymore. What are we supposed to do with that?

The label now has us supporting older music and an older image: wrong lead singer and the old sound of the band. You know that with every member change (maybe with the exception of a drummer) the sound of a band will change. They should have announced Tait being the new lead singer when they had at least one song done with the guy. That way: new sound, new lead singer and new single all at the same time.

And maybe I'm not giving Tait enough time with the band. From all the live accounts on the PD Forum, it sounds like he's a good fit. The weirdest part for me though? Peter is still on tour with the guys! A musician from another band wrote on his Twitter, "Just spent some time talking with Peter Furler WHILE the Newsboys were on stage. Weird." Imagine how Tait feels with Peter sitting on the side of the stage. Talk about pressure. And the pressure will be on whenever they release a new album or song. The song better sound like something the newsboys had written while on tour with dcTalk circa 1995.

Think I have a hard time liking newsboys? You're right. Wanna know what I want? I want the days of John James being the lead singer. How about their album "Hell Is for Wimps"? Bet you can't find that in your local Christian bookstore. And how about tunes like "Not Ashamed" and "Breakfast." I want John James back.