My First Five (Marcus): Michael W. Smith - The Big Picture

The story is very long, and will be detailed in a short book I intend to write at some point, but the short version is that I was raised in a Christian cult. They controlled most aspects of my life, including my taste in music. I wasn’t allowed to listen to secular music of any kind, and was also barred from listening to Christian music that the church found to be ‘worldly’. Thankfully, I had a rock and roll loving ex-hippie for a stepfather, and the ban of Christian rock was not enforced in our house. 

Despite my evolution into a militant atheist, I still look on this time as crucial to my overall development as a musician and songwriter.

The following is a list of the first five records that I bought with my own money.



It pains me more deeply than I can possibly express to give this cocksucker any credit for anything whatsoever, given that he is now a Hannity puppet and a close personal friend of George W. Bush, but the truth is that in the 80’s I learned a lot about melodic construction from Mr. Smith’s music. This particular record taught me about production and execution. Still a very listenable pop record. Too bad I can’t listen to it without seeing Sean Hannity’s fat fucking face staring right at me.