Spark in the Dark, Billy Falcon

[Steven Budlong]

Dear Way Corps,

I often get questions about Billy Falcon. He was active, along with his wife Myla, in the mid-eighties in Manhattan when Terry and I were Territory Coordinators.

He was at a hard place in his life and career when I first got to know him. We were walking once from a fellowship we had conducted in Harlem. I asked him then, "what do you need to do right now with your career?" He said, "I miss the studio, I need to record." About ten of us put together an investment plan to produce a tape on his behalf. The arrangement honored "artist rights" and paid the musicians. It further stated that once all investors were paid in full the ownership and copyrights would be relinquished to the artist, Billy Falcon. We did that. In 1987, following the Rock of Ages, we broke even and dissolved the partnership.

Last summer I spent some time with Billy in Nashville. He has flourished as a song writer, working primarily on his own material and with Jon Bon Jovi, both as a credited and uncredited song writer. I would encourage you (just for fun) to go back through the last decade of Bon Jovi's material and see if you can find Billy. I did that several years ago and was right and wrong half the time... interesting though.

Our ministry taught us to dream big when it came to "Word and Culture." Billy did that and his testament is his music, recorded in part in "Spark in the Dark" and more recently in the material you will hear on his web site, billyfalcon.com. I encourage you to go there and listen. Great stuff. You will be inspired and refreshed. I also have to put in a plug for his daughter Rose. She has done amazing work as a songwriter, artist and performer. She had her own album about six years ago which did incredibly well. I also think Billy is on to something, something he calls "The Sowing Circle." You have to go to his website to get a glimpse of that.

Finally, Billy and I agreed to produce a limited number of "Spark in the Dark" CDs last year. We redid the cover art (thanks to Kellie O'Malley), and with Gerry Comito (the original sound engineer) remixed the tracks and added two songs that were not a part of the first release. I am pretty thrilled with it. If you want a copy hit this link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/BILLY-FALCON-Spark-in-the-Dark-NEW-RE-RELEASE-Bonus_W0QQitemZ390074757785QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMusic_CDs?hash=item5ad2447299

On top of that, I have often asked myself "what if" The Way had not demanded the publishing and performance copyrights of their musicians and artists? Look around you at the musicians and artists you loved and respected, and ask yourself this question, "are they not entitled to the fruits of their labor?" Well, according to The Way International, they are not. That attitude is horribly, grossly and pathetically sad. It is evil and ugly. There is no greater violation in life than being lied to, stolen from or raped. That is what The Way did to its artists.

So the next time you hear someone from Pressed Down, Joyful Noise, Branded, Selah or any of the other bands you remember singing a song that changed your life. Go thank them, knowing that in their youth they gave away a most precious piece of their life.

Truly Yours,


Steven Budlong
12th Way Corps (and proud of it)

[John and Janet Ruiz]

A lot of composers do, Jim, for as many different reasons I'm sure and often because they need the money at the time. Historically though a lot of those people have been ripped off in the arrangements upfront and don't retain publishing rights for the songs - that's where the money compounds over the years if the song sells well and especially if other people record it on their own. Many artists sign over the rights to songs as part of the opportunity to record them and get a shot.

Richard Berry and the song "Louie Louie" are an interesting example. He sold the rights for 750.00, at a time when his recording hadn't sold that well. The rest is history and of course it became a huge hit for many different artists and recordings. Wikipedia documents that he was able to regain unpaid royalties years after the fact because he'd retained BMI rights to the song, and he'd never been paid for them. From what I've read it took some effort even at that point.

History can have a dim memory though - nearly everyone has heard the song and they've probably heard the Kingsmen version, not Berry's. They K-men acknowledge that it was Berry's tune, but they recorded the song in 1963 and Berry had sold part of the publishing rights.

[Jim Chevalley]

I think a lot of artists sell the rights to the songs.. I know that the group Alabama did, but I think they can re record it, and they have to pay a few cents for every copy sold.. maybe that's all negotiated when the song is sold..

[Cindy Kuchmy Kelley]

Where do you get the ROA DVD?

[John Richeson]

I purchased Spark in the Dark. Awesome. Thanks guys for making that available.
I will be glad to post one of Billy's song here as a sample to inspire others to purchase but only with Steve's permission. I don't wanna get sued or anything. (Just kidding).

Hey even the Beatles fuxxxed up when it came to rights and royalties didn't they?
Just ask the Jackson estate and Sony who own most of the good ones as I recall.
It's a tough industry, the music business, from what I hear.

BTW - Steve great job on ROA 1984 DVD that you guys produced. It is a one of a kind and it is priceless to have that preserved. Why would any one ever care at this point if it was distributed? Who's gonna buy it out in the world. Who's gonna care about that interesting event but some of us who went. As I see it...there's no potential revenue stream from that DVD. But I see a lot of fun in watching it.

[John Richeson]

Tim Stiles! Another great artist IMO. Here is a sample from his album called "Fellowship" from 1995. When most of you were not around to hear it or obtain it. As I recall, at that time, he was one of the few talented artists left who produced something for the general public. This was only in cassette form until recently when I decided it needed to get into digital before it is too late. Glad to have this one preserved. Bob Lanham, you did a grreat job. Tim will make them available soon I trust. Isnt this a nice melody and awesome words?

[John Richeson]

Amen to some of the songwriting talent and how it affected my life personally. Growing up freakin' Catholic, I had never been exposed to even Gospel music much less Christian music until 1974 in TWI.

Yeah, for a young person who was used to Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd on a daily basis, some of it was boring and corny. I felt as if I was going through rehab at first, (Maybe I was).

But then along would come a gem that changed something in me and inspired me to no end. Many of those I posted on the main page music player.

Has anyone forgotten John Messerschmidt's talents? I recently rediscovered them in transposing his old cassette to CD. It was him and a married couple. John wrote the songs and played and sang. They were called Theophilus and the album I am referring to was called Hope. Quality is not good (Master tape is needed to get this into best quality). But take a listen. Remember this? It was made in 1981. I think good music naturally follows a hot Christian movement.

[Ted Ferrell]

Yes Jim the one that did the leads on trilogy was Barry McCoy

[Jim Chevalley]

...I remember a Rock of Ages, 72 or 73 I think, It was in Sidney, It was the evening meeting, Claudette and what ever they were called then, Joyful Noise? preformed Trilogy , it gave me goose bumps. In my mind only Elvis did it as well.. We had some great talent in The Way.. It had to be God...

[Kevin Nye]

Yeah Johnny, Yeah.. My Life Changed because of youz guys....Thank you so very much...

[John and Janet Ruiz]

That was a fun song Kevin. Skip and Dean opened it with the dialogue.

Someone once told me how they didn't like a lot of the JN tunes, or much of the ministry music in the 70's. Hey, preferences in music are personal, no problem with that from my standpoint. But they made the comment "I can't forget some of those songs, even after all these years. I told them "in the music business, they call that a 'hit'...." : )

I am proud to say quite honestly there were some black belt songwriters came through the Way Ministry over the years. Billy Falcon. Dear Dave Bailey among them. Ted - you could drop Ted off the back of a truck in Alaska on a snowy night with no coat and say "Give me a chorus and 3 verses about bad rides" and he'd have it written before you could let him back in. He's a machine. PDSTRO - ? Forget it. Right there, a history of stuff written by Joe Fair, Ralph Graham and Paul Cuoco that would fill a song book or three. Dean Ellenwood, Mr. Prolific. "Christian Man" could be the Convention theme for the Democrats. Or the Republican's, it's as timely today as it was when he wrote it. Followed up by "Wake Up America", bookends to the last 35 years and both written within a few years of each other. Brian Bliss said it clearly for every grad of PFAL at the time - "We are sons of God with power, raise your head and say it loud". Cliff Adelman wrote the words "Sometimes I forget that I've been given my life's dream". Anyone ever feel like that about their lives? Without even cracking the book for Dan Moran, Mark Hagerling, Richie DiBartolo, and the dozens of others - there's a huge library of music that stands the test of time and could fit into any number of genre's and styles. Music may be one of the most lasting products of the Way's ministry over the years and it was produced by people of every locale, nationality and background and all from the same common ground.