I fell in love with Superdrag on a dreary October night in 1996 when I caught “Destination Ursa Major” on MTV somewhere around 2 am. Maybe it was because I was 13 years old or just bored with the pop songs on the radio, but I was hooked. Obsessed even. Like many moments of unexpected enlightenment, that song single-handedly changed the way I listened to music.
Oddly enough, a similar moment happened for John Davis, Superdrag’s frontman and primary songwriter. But it wasn’t about finding a new brand of music: it was when he found God. Or, as Davis himself likes to put it, God found him.
It doesn’t happen often, but there’s an indescribable sense of panic that sets in when your music idol experiences a spiritual conversion.
I had followed Superdrag for years through their rise and fall of mainstream popularity. This includes magazine interviews, their surprisingly active and tight-knit online community, and even direct correspondence with the band itself. I still have hand-written letters from drummer Don Coffee Jr and bassist Tom Pappas dating back to 1997. I didn’t care if they weren’t atop Billboard or if people only knew them by “Sucked Out”, Superdrag was my band.
Needless to say, I was heartbroken when the group called it quits in 2003. But when word got out that Davis was working on a Christian record, I became more than alarmed. My mind immediately screamed:
“How could John Davis, an artist who embodied equal parts John Lennon and Bob Mould, consider recording music like DC Talk or Carman?”
Before we go any further, I’d like to point out that I’m not anti-Christian. I grew up in church and still attend every single Sunday. In fact, I’ve played guitar and bass in my local congregation since before I had a driver’s license. I’ve often joked that I’m the only person I know who’s active in a ministry while listening to Ministry!
Thus, my Christian background gives me firsthand knowledge that Christian music is mostly terrible. I may as go as far to say that the mere mention of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) gives me the uncontrollable urge to plug my ears and pray it away. Or at least change the channel.
Once again, Christianity in general doesn’t offend me at all. It’s just the execution that puts me off. Secular music can be about many things. Be it heartbreak, lust, anger, or whatever. It can be used to throw shade at naysayers or to rally against conformity. The broad landscape is how it reaches so many people from all walks of life. There’s a song for everything.
Christian music, on the other hand, is pretty much about a single topic: Christianity. And I don’t think God likes most of it.
Then there’s the topic of honesty. In order for music about one’s spirituality to connect, it sort of can’t be contemporary.
The Son of God being born via immaculate conception, dying for humanity’s sins, and bringing their souls to an eternal afterlife is serious business. It shouldn’t sound like the guy from Savage Garden fronting Hootie & The Blowfish. Moreover, the intentions of Christian artists should be to glorify God and win people over to the saved side. Thus, this means the music has to be palatable in order to do that.
By definition alone, most CCM could be technically dishonest to a certain degree. By following contemporary musical trends to make and sell music, they are betraying the eternal purposes of Christianity. That’s not to say Christian music isn’t allowed to be fun or beautiful, it can be and a lot of it is. But not everything in life always is. Limiting an artist’s expression to a single topic is not only a disservice to their personal art but a disservice to the idea of art itself. Worship music is for worship and secular music is for everything else.
On March 8th, 2005, I walked into Best Buy in Orland Park, IL and cautiously purchased the self-titled solo record from John Davis.
Even though I had loved every single thing I had ever heard from John Davis, from the albums to an abundance of 4 track demos, I really didn’t know what to expect. However, 30 seconds into the opener, “I Hear Your Voice”, any shred of apprehension vanished into thin air. The warmth of an acoustic piano sounded coming straight from every church I’d ever attended.
Davis’ vocals channeled equal parts Carl Wilson and Alex Chilton, complete with a harmonized ending that would’ve fit perfectly on Smiley Smile. The track was heartbreakingly beautiful, like the greatest love song ever recorded, and it was only the first track! It had all of the elements I loved about Superdrag, but there was something more.
The Superdrag catalog has always featured Beatles-esque beauty. Fans often cite 1998’s Headtrip In Every Key as the best Beatles record the Beatles never recorded. I am one of those fans! But John’s vocal demeanor had always been slightly on the snottier side of Lennon rather than the gracefulness of McCartney. Most of that can be attributed to Davis’ Husker Du/Replacements influences. Or most importantly, the subject matter of his compositions. After all, outside of 2000’s In The Valley Of Dying Stars, compassion takes a backseat when you’re singing about middle-America angst and the politics of mainstream record labels.
The striking difference with the eponymous solo effort is Davis was now singing from his heart about his heart.
Not long after Superdrag’s major label debut, Regretfully Yours, the music industry changed dramatically, due in part to the fall of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The band’s follow-up album failed to yield an MTV Buzzbin single, and the record label’s lack of promotion certainly didn’t help. Davis quickly found himself in a war to be released from the contract.
With no financial backing and zero support from terrestrial radio or MTV promotion, Superdrag went on a continuous tour to make ends meet. As anyone in the rock n’ roll business could tell you, life on the road has a funny way of encouraging artists to overindulge in their vices. In the case of John Davis, that particular vice was alcohol.
After 4 years of constant touring and lineup changes, Superdrag was done. As was the physical health of Davis.
After feeling the presence of God Himself while driving alone on the highway, Davis chose to stop running, both mentally and physically. In one fell swoop, he stopped using the bottle to fill a void he didn’t know he was trying to fill. This turn of events wasn’t the kind of religious conversion celebrities use to avoid paying taxes or an effort to un-cancel themselves of bad behavior. It was a life-changing decision he has yet to backpedal on.
He documents this decision over and over throughout the self-titled album he decided to record soon after his conversion. You can hear these sentiments most notably on the aforementioned opener “I Hear Your Voice”, “Salvation”, “Nothing Gets Me Down”, and “Too Far Out.”
Even as Davis turned his creative endeavors away from a traveling rock n’ roll show a-la Guided By Voices towards a gospel record, he never had any plans to join the CCM ranks. John Davis is a record that owns its title. If anything, his solo record was simply an honest chronicle of his own personal journey instead of writing songs to change the journey of the listener. Each song represented the desires of his heart: Peace and love through the higher power giving him a second chance at life.
Davis’ personal convictions strengthened his creative trajectory by revitalizing his priorities both inside and outside music.
Regardless of your spiritual beliefs (or lack thereof), you can’t deny that this album is a passion project by a passionate artist. It sounds like love because it is in fact, made out of love.
Personally, the album made me rethink some of my own perceptions. First off, how could I even doubt the artistic integrity of the most important figure in my taste in music? John Davis sounded like a Superdrag record because John Davis is Superdrag. More importantly, it opened my eyes to the fact that any and every form of music can be elevated by strength of character.
Davis would later form the punk trio Epic Ditch, the supergroup The Lees Of Memory, The Rectangle Shades, and reunite with Superdrag (and for the second time, as of writing this article!). However, I believe that his eponymous record from 2005 changed him for the better. It graced him with the ability to stay focused in his personal and professional life.
And you know what? Maybe the record changed me, too. I no longer judge artists by their faith. I also learned that, regardless of my own spiritual beliefs, music from the heart always wins.
John Davis is now streaming on Bandcamp and is available on CD and vinyl from Gold Star Recordings.