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Here is a story that
contains the drama and pathos that inspired
the old cliche,
"Truth is stranger than fiction."
This story is about fame and the loss of it,
separation from family and children, and a
dramatic return to the Lord.
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In 1967, while living in New Jersey and
working in accounting at a local firm as well
as working part-time in a sporting goods
department store, I met a man there who was
the manager of a band. His son was the
drummer. He had heard me humming and singing
to music being played on a radio in the store
and asked if I would be interested in
auditioning for the band he was managing. The
band, Eminent Domain, had been looking for a
new lead-singer so I quickly agreed and went
with him to visit the band while they were in
rehearsal. I auditioned with them the
following weekend with the song
"Unchained Melody," and they
immediately signed me on.
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While maintaining both my full-time job and a
part-time job, I performed with this band on
week-ends. Within a week we started singing
professionally and began singing in schools,
night clubs, radio guest spots, and
Battle-Of-The-Bands, many of which we won.
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Although I had become a Christian at age 19, I
placed my spiritual life on hold. After all, I
was the lead-singer of a successful rock band.
The audiences loved my style, especially when
I belted out renditions of "This Magic
Moment," "The Lion Sleeps
Tonight," "Donna," and other
songs that had been made popular by other top
singers in the 50s and early 60s.
My popularity began to rise and my band was in
demand in nightclubs around the United States
and Canada, and it was during this time I cut
several records. My first attempt did not make
the grade. Then in 1965 I did a remake of
"This Magic Moment," originally
recorded by The Drifters, which became my
signature song, and in 1969 "Smoke Gets
In Your Eyes," a Platters original. My
last recording was "She Cried."
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Somehow in the midst of all this stardom,
there occurred a small, seemingly unimportant,
moment in time which probably planted a seed
for a spiritual renewal that came later. It
happened while I was with my band at a motel
in Las Vegas, Nevada, just before we were to
go on stage at the Sahara Hotel. We had been
practicing all day for our big event of being
showcased that evening when I realized how
hungry I was. When mentioning my hunger to the
band, one of the band members threw an apple
my way and said, "Here, eat!" For a
moment or two I sat there holding that apple
and, considering its beauty and completeness,
realized that something was missing in my
life.
In 1971 after some shocking mistreatment by
the very agent who discovered us and made the
Frankie Valens name, (no relation to Richie
Valens, by the way) my career began a downward
spiral. I fired the agent and he retaliated by
pulling my records from the radio stations and
canceling concerts before we could fulfill our
obligations. By 1972 the Frankie Valens era
had come to an end, and to this day I receive
no royalties for any of my past successes. I
went back into the accounting field and
immersed myself in my work, later in my career
finding time to be an extra in the movies
"Ice Castles" and "Every Which
Way But Loose."
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With a broken career and a broken marriage
behind me, I moved to Colorado and started
attending a local church. When the pastor
spoke of forgiving, I knew that I had to ask
the Lord to help me to forgive. It was there
that I gave my heart back to Jesus and knew
that I had to forgive my agent and ask for
forgiveness for things that I done in the
past. Forgiving was the hardest thing I ever
had to learn, but since our Lord could forgive
those who were killing Him, I certainly had to
forgive those who had hurt me. |
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When Phyllis (my present wife) came to direct
the church choir, she, like me, was a
preacher's kid and had suffered many of the
same traumas as myself. It was love at first
sight! She is an accomplished concert pianist
and song writer who had written for Standard
Publishing's Vacation Bible School courses for
over twenty years, including the theme songs
for 1979 and 1985. That year, 1985, we were
married.
It was only after we were married that I was
able to deal with some of the deepest hurts of
the past and reveal to Phyllis who I had been.
Soon afterward, I felt led to serve the Lord
in the music field, and we started ministering
as a team in churches all across the nation.
We traveled full-time for seven years before
coming "off the road" in 1997 to
assist various churches with their music
programs. We are now again in full-time
concert ministry.
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We have ministered in many situations from
churches to coffee houses, from outdoor
concerts to "Valens-tine" banquets,
and from Christian schools and colleges to
large auditorium gatherings. It is our
heartfelt desire that those who don't know
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives
find that answer and that hope, and those who
do know Him, be uplifted and strengthened and
encouraged in their own personal walk with the
Lord.
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