March 1991 – A Look Back
For this month, let’s “turn back the clock” 34 years and take a look at some happenings in southern gospel music back in March of 1991. As always, we’ll use that month’s issue of Singing News Magazine as our guide.
One of the headlines for that month involved the Epperson family, better known as the Singing Echoes. A few weeks prior, on January 17, 1991, they were scheduled to give a concert for troops at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Just minutes before they were to sing, they received word that the U.S. had launched its attack against Iraq. And so, many of the troops that were looking forward to the concert were immediately shipped out – some even during the performance! However, the Singing Echoes were told that many of their cassette tapes (which were shipped to the post a few weeks earlier) had been played for the troops in the days before the concert. In fact, they noted that many of the soldiers even got to take tapes with them to Saudi Arabia. They also recalled a sight that they will never forget:
“We closed the service by everyone singing, “Oh, How I Love Jesus”. The men and women stood united, joining hands, with hands held upward. This special scene will remain in our hearts forever.”
In other news, Singing News sat down for an interview with Danny Funderburk, tenor for the group Perfect Heart, which had just celebrated its one-year anniversary. Despite being an ‘overnight success’ with their number-one song “Somebody Touched The Lord”, the group fell under a bit of scrutiny. Funderburk noted, “The people thought we were being organized just because of a rich man in Mississippi. God used this man to support us for a while”. But he then reassured readers that the group was based on “priorities: God, family, Church, and then ministry”. Once fans attended a Perfect Heart concert and saw these priorities ‘in action’, they no longer viewed them as a ‘super group’ or a ‘million dollar quartet’, but instead a group of men fulfilling a commitment to ministry through southern gospel music.
Just as fans were getting acquainted with Perfect Heart, they also had the chance to experience a popular group from the seventies once again: the Orrells were announcing a limited-time reunion tour. This was a trio of Larry Orrell, Wayne Hilton, and Gordon Jensen. The Orrells were perhaps best-known for recording songs written by group member Gordon Jensen, songs like “Tears Are A Language God Understands” and “Redemption Draweth Nigh”.
The Spencers had just released a live concert recording from the British Virgin Islands: Live In Tortola. A few years prior, the Spencers learned that their song, “Coming Soon”, was number-one on a gospel station on the islands. After developing a friendship with a DJ in St. Thomas, Kevin Spencer of the group encouraged them to visit the islands for a concert tour and live recording.
One popular ‘light-hearted’ article in Singing News was “The Rumormill”, written by Cathedrals’ bass singer George Younce. For March of 1991, Younce reported that Singing News had gotten, “to the bottom of the Gold City lip synching scandal. It appears members of the Trailblazers have actually been singing on all Gold City projects in the past. Since most of the members of the Trailblazers who took part in these actions are no longer members of the group, no charges will be filed.”
Lastly, this was ‘prime’ time to build your collection of Singing News Trading Cards. These collector’s items were essentially southern gospel ‘baseball cards’. Over 100 were released, each featuring a southern gospel artist, with information on the back including their full name, date of birth, performing history, a list of ‘favorites’, and trivia. These highly collectable cards were discontinued around 1992, but Singing News offered reprints in 2019/2020 (which is when I was able to acquire my collection). These are fun to take to concerts to get autographed, even to this day!
(There were mentions in Singing News of a ‘Trading Card Pricing Guide’ being released but, as far as I know, that never came to fruition. I can only imagine the controversy that would have ensued!)
