As a young preacher, one of the most intimidating things was having a brotherhood legend as one of my elders. It took several years and someone telling me what was happening before I stopped getting nervous every time he took a note card out of his front pocket and wrote something down while I was preaching. (Rather than writing down something wrong I said or something he didn't agree with, I found out he was writing down what he liked and would use in his editorials!) One of the things he did that often concerned our worship leaders was to simply bow his head and not sing while we were singing congregationally. This was most noticeable on newer, more "contemporary" -- whatever that really means - songs. This sometimes threw our worship leaders and irritated congregation members. Finally, I just got up enough nerve to go share this information with him. His answer - which I can still hear in his scratchy voice, "Well, I sure don't want to be discouraging, but sometimes I just like to listen." No big problem here. No big theological issue or quarrel with song content. With all he had on his plate, with all his years of ministry, with all his concerns about the future of God's people, sometimes he just wanted to sit there and be blessed. We've lived through several weeks of icy weather in the western and central parts of Texas. Roads have been closed. Businesses, schools, and churches have been closed. On Wednesday evening, our services were cancelled on site, but our HIP service (HIP stands for High Impact Praise) was conducted at a chapel on a university campus in town. The acoustics were great. There were 4 of us over 30 there. As we began to sing with little or no amplification or microphones, the sound of 300 voices melding into one great sound of praise drove me to sit there in silence. I sat there on the verge of major tear duct leakage. As I sat there on the verge of major tear duct leakage, I remembered my elder's old statement and made it my own. "Sometimes I just like to listen!" Like the right salve for an open wound, like a glass of cool water on a hot day, and like a breath of fresh air for someone coming out of a mine shaft, this singing filled a soul need. While I hope I'm never warped by an evil spirit as King Saul was, I sure understand how "the tormenting spirit would go away" when David sang and played for him (1 Samuel 16:23). Sitting there listening to these young adults praising God at the top of their voices in such beautiful harmony on a night when most folks in town didn't venture outside their door sent my tormenting spirits scurrying for cover! I have known for years that praise music juices me in ways that I cannot define. So if you see me with a throng of worshipers and I'm not singing, please know this truth: I'm not angry, I don't dislike the song selection, and I'm not offended by something, it's just that sometimes I just like to listen! God-Bless....

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_{In 1969, Pete Townshend, The Who's guitarist, created the band to play songs written by the former Who roadie, drummer / singer John 'Speedy' Keen (miscredited as "Keene" on the single's label). Keen wrote the opening track on The Who Sell Out album, "Armenia City In The Sky". Townshend produced the single, arranged its strings, played its bass guitar under the pseudonym Bijou Drains, and hired for it eccentric GPO engineer and jazz pianist Andy 'Thunderclap' Newman (born Andrew Laurence Newman, 21 November 1942, in Hounslow, Middlesex) and the fifteen year old Glaswegian Jimmy McCulloch.}

_{Originally titled "Revolution", but later renamed because the Beatles released a single of that name, "Something in the Air" captured post-flower power rebellion, marrying McCulloch's sweeping acoustic and glowing electric guitars, Keen's powerful drumming and yearning falsetto, and Newman's felicitous piano solo.}

_{The single was Number One for three weeks, holding off Elvis Presley in the process. The scale of the song's success surprised everyone, and there were no plans to promote Thunderclap Newman with live performances.}

_{Eventually a line-up, augmented by Jim Pitman-Avory (bassist) and McCulloch's elder brother Jack (drums), played a handful of gigs. Personal records say the band played live only five times, although Keen referred to a two-month tour, playing "everywhere".}

_{"Something in the Air" appeared on the soundtracks of the films The Magic Christian (1969), Kingpin (1996), Almost Famous (2000), The Dish (2000), The Girl Next Door (2004), and The Strawberry Statement (1970); the last having helped the single reach No. 25 in the United States. The song also appeared in the deluxe edition of the Easy Rider CD. In the UK, a follow-up single, "Accidents", came out only in May 1970, and charted at No. 44 for only a week. An album, Hollywood Dream, again produced by Townshend and released the previous year, peaked in Billboard at No. 163. "Something In the Air" played at the end of the 26 March 2007 episode of The Riches on FX. An episode of the television sitcom, My Name is Earl also featured the song.}

_{The members of the band had little in common. Newman once commented, in a 1972 interview with New Musical Express, that he got on with Keen's music but not with him personally, it was a similar case with McCulloch. Two more singles followed before the band split. One of these singles was Accidents which peaked at No. 46 and spent just one week on the chart in June 1970. This stopped them from becoming a true one hit wonder.}

_{Newman recorded a solo album, Rainbow, in 1971 and appeared on Roger Ruskin Spear's first album, playing assorted instruments, whilst McCulloch had stints with a dozen or more bands, including Stone the Crows and Wings. McCulloch died of heart complications due to a heroin overdose in 1979, at the age of 26.}

_{Keen reappeared with a solo album, Previous Convictions, for Track in 1973, and began recording a double album as a follow-up. Frustrated at his lack of progress at Track, he took the demos to Island Records, which pared it down to the single album Y'know wot I mean? and released it in 1975. Its single, "Someone to Love", received plenty of airplay but failed to sell.}

_{Discouraged, Keen ceased recording after one more single in 1976. He tried the record producer's seat, working with punk band Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers on their debut album L.A.M.F. in 1977, and also produced Motörhead's first album before leaving the music industry. He suffered from arthritis for several years, and was recording his third solo album; however he unexpectedly died at the age of 56 on 12 March 2002. ((youtube id="2pGht71KFkY&feature=related"))((/youtube))}

_{The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960. Primarily consisting of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals) throughout their career, The Beatles are recognised for leading the mid-1960s musical "British Invasion" into the United States. Although their initial musical style was rooted in 1950s rock and roll and homegrown skiffle, the group explored genres ranging from Tin Pan Alley to psychedelic rock. Their clothes, styles, and statements made them trend-setters, while their growing social awareness saw their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s. After the band broke up in 1970, all four members embarked upon solo careers.}  

_{The Beatles are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music, selling over a billion records internationally. In the United Kingdom, The Beatles released more than 40 different singles, albums, and EPs that reached number 1, earning more number one albums (15) than any other group in UK chart history. This commercial success was repeated in many other countries; their record company, EMI, estimated that by 1985 they had sold over one billion records worldwide. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, The Beatles have sold more albums in the United States than any other band. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked The Beatles number one on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. According to that same magazine, The Beatles' innovative music and cultural impact helped define the 1960s, and their influence on pop culture is still evident today. In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of top-selling Hot 100 artists to celebrate the chart's fiftienth anniversary; The Beatles reached #1 again. ((youtube id="2LoYM5OWIqI"))((/youtube))((youtube id="V2UYRoti-tY&feature=related"))((/youtube))((youtube id="fXOsi6gPvDs&feature=related"))((/youtube))((youtube id="Ywg-PdeGVL0&feature=related"))((/youtube))((youtube id="YHBKAyn17vw&feature=related"))((/youtube))((youtube id="YXG83p2nkHw&feature=related"))((/youtube))((youtube id="dHLjYBsl2zA&feature=related"))((/youtube))((youtube id="-EPmQwkeNCs&feature=related"))((/youtube))((youtube id="4oZYqAeIdYk&feature=related"))((/youtube))}