Newsboys

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Newsboys

Newsboys are a Christian pop/rock band formed in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Australia (although they soon relocated to Omaha, Nebraska). Its core members, John James and Peter Furler, originally hailed from Australia where they played in a band together called The News. Phil Joel is from New Zealand.

Newsboys are prominent in the Christian music industry. They have had numerous hit singles on the Christian pop charts and two of their albums are considered among CCM's best: Going Public (1994) and Step Up To The Microphone (1998). They are perhaps best known for two hit singles, "Shine" and "Breakfast". A brand new studio album is scheduled for release on October 31, 2006.

In 2000, they helped start and headlined the annual, travelling CCM festival Festival Con Dios with Audio Adrenaline and The O.C. Supertones. It was known for featuring popular Christian bands and its motorcross stunts.

Steve Taylor has produced many of their hit albums and many of The Newsboys songs("Breakfast", "Take Me To Your Leader") feature Taylor's humor and quaint lyrics.

During the "Step Up To The Microphone" tour, the band featured the drums on a rotating platform that could tilt downward up to 90 degrees. In fact, there were two sets of drums and Peter Furler (the original drummer) and Duncan Phillips would wear seat belts, so they wouldn't fall out, and have a rotating drum-off. This feature is still used on their tours and has grown to be quite popular.

In 2003, Jody Davis left the band to care for his sick daughter, Bethany. For more information, view the interview with fan site newsboysheadquarters.

In 2006, the band announced that Bryan Olesen would be leaving to work on his own band, Casting Pearls. The band announced in January that Paul Colman would be replacing Bryan.

Members

Peter Furler - lead vocals,backing vocals, guitar, drums (1985 - Present)
Phil Joel - bass guitar,backing vocals,lead vocals (1995 - Present)
Jeff Frankenstein - keyboards (1994 - Present)
Duncan Phillips - drums, percussion (1993 - Present)
Paul Colman - guitar,backing vocals (2006 - Present)

Former members

Lead Vocals

John James (1985-1997 On the albums: Read All About It, Hell Is For Wimps, Boys Will Be Boyz, Not Ashamed, Going Public, Take Me To Your Leader)

Guitar

George Perdikis (1985-1987 On the albums: Left the band before their first album, but he co-wrote most of the songs on Read All About It)
Phil Yates(1987-1989 On the album: Read All About It)
Jonathan Geange (1990-1991 On the album: Hell Is For Wimps)
Vernon Bishop (1991-1992 On the album: Boys Will Be Boyz)
Jody Davis (1993-2003 On the albums: Going Public, Take Me To Your Leader, Step Up To The Microphone, Love Liberty Disco, Shine:The Hits, Thrive, Adoration:The Worship Album)
Bryan Olesen (2003-2006 On the album: Devotion)

Bass Guitar

Sean Taylor (1985-1992 On the albums: Read All About It, Hell Is For Wimps, Boys Will Be Boyz, Not Ashamed)
Kevin Mills (1993-1995 On the album: Going Public)

Keyboards

Corey Pryor (1991-1993 On the albums: Boys Will Be Boyz, Not Ashamed)
Duncan Phillips (1993-1994) Note: Duncan used to play keys before switching over to percussionist in 1994 when Jeff Frankenstein joined the band and then drums in 1997 after the departure of John James.

Drums

Peter Furler (1985-1997) Note: Peter used to be drummer before becoming lead vocalist in 1997 after John James left the band. Every now and then Peter will still play drums.

Major Tours

Winter Jam Tour (2006)
Devotion Tour (2005)
Adoration Tour (2004)
Festival Con Dios (2003)
Thrive-It's All In The Word Tour (2002)
Festival Con Dios (2001)
Dome Tour (2000)
Step Up To The Microphone Tour (1999)
Counter The Culture Tour (1997)
Take Me To Your Leader Tour (1996-97)
Going Public Tour (1995)
Heaven In The Real World Tour (1994)

#1 Radio Singles

I Am Free
Devotion
Presence (My Heart's Desire)
He Reigns
You Are My King (Amazing Love)
It Is You
Million Pieces (Kissin' Your Cares Goodbye)
Joy
Who?
Love,Liberty,Disco
Beautiful Sound
Good Stuff
Believe
WooHoo
Step Up to The Microphone
Entertaining Angels
Take Me To Your Leader
God is Not A Secret
Reality
Shine
Spirit Thing
Let it Rain
Real Good Thing
I'm Not Ashamed
One Heart

Discography

Year	Album	Label
1988	Read All About It	Refuge/Star Song
1990	Hell Is For Wimps	Star Song
1991	Boys Will Be Boyz	Star Song
1992	Not Ashamed	Star Song
1994	''Going Public'	Star Song
1996	Take Me To Your Leader	Star Song, Virgin Records
1998	Step Up to the Microphone	Star Song, Virgin Records
1999	Love Liberty Disco	Sparrow Records
2000	The Hits	Sparrow Records
2002	Thrive	Sparrow Records
2002	Remixed	Sparrow Records
2003	Adoration: The Worship Album	Sparrow Records
2004	Devotion	Sparrow Records/EMI CMG
2005	He Reigns: The Worship Collection	Sparrow Records/EMI CMG

DVDs and Videos

Year	Title
1991	Boys Will Be Boyz
1993	Not Ashamed
1996	Down Under the Big Top
2000	Shine: The Hits Live-one Night In Pennsylvania
2002	Thrive: From The Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame

Music Videos

Year	Title
1991	One Heart
1991	Kingdom Man
1992	I Cannot Get You Out of My System
1993	Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (Where You Belong)
1993	Dear Shame
1994	Shine
1996	Take Me To Your Leader
1998	Entertaining Angels
1999	Love, Liberty, Disco
2000	Everybody Gets A Shot
2002	Million Pieces
2002	In the Belly of the Whale
2003	He Reigns

Fan Club

The Newsboys Fan Club, known as the Breakfast Club, has meet and greets during intermissions, and before or after most Newsboys concerts. For more info, visit the official Newsboys website.

The Breakfast Club takes its name from the song "Breakfast" on the "Take Me To Your Leader" album. The lyrics describe a club of Christians meeting for breakfast before school. The upbeat song is a fan favorite at concerts. At many concerts, you will see fans waving boxes of Captain Crunch cereal in the air (due to the fact that Captain Crunch is mentioned in the lyrics as well).

External links

Christian musical groups | Christian rock | 1990s music groups | 2000s music groups

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