As a child, I formed the impression that pop music
was considered by those in the Christian circles I moved in to be ‘worldly’, and
hence that in listening to it you would both be indicating a lack of true
spiritual commitment and exposing yourself to a potentially harmful influence. (Although there wasn’t too much concern about the kind of innocuous schmaltzy pop
you heard at the barbers at the foot of Carluke High Street on a Saturday morning where the radio played
songs like My ol’ man’s a dustman and
Puff the magic dragon. )
In my
childhood, I assumed that all Christians thought as we did. I remember once
being with my Sunday School class in the teacher’s house when I was about 12, and
being asked to get something from a wardrobe in the bedroom. I still recall the
sense of amazement and shock which walloped me in the stomach when I came
across a pile of what looked to me like pop
singles – vinyl discs containing a couple of songs – the one on top
performed, I noticed when I glanced at the label by a singer or band I hadn’t
heard of called Loopy de Loop. I felt confusion, but also a tingle of
excitement at having uncovered a very dark secret indeed.
Ironically
of course, I realise now that Loopy de Loop was a series of cartoon shorts about
a gentlemanly wolf produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera in the early
1960s. The disc I saw was probably a song from the soundtrack. Had I known this
I would in all my pre-teen self-righteousness have deemed it acceptable
listening.
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