The Stryper Historian presents...." The History of Stryper "
Originally known as ROXX REGIME, STRYPER was the first Christian Hard Rock band to take the World by storm They were the first to take the message of the gospel in such a bold manner straight out to those people that needed it most. Playing everything from churches to bars and every local rock club in between, truly taking the message to an audience way beyond the realms of the church. In the band's formative years they were often criticized in the media for merely using Christianity as a tool to further their careers, and also on the other side of the coin they would be persecuted by their very own that were skeptical and thought the music was of the devil. Which would result in shows being picketed, churches boycotting there albums and even being denounced from the pulpit by one of the largest TV evangelists. But none the less Stryper would prevail and stand the test of time and ultimately be labeled as pioneers in the Christian music scene.
While the brothers Michael and Robert Sweet’s first musical recording venture would actually be on their father Phil Sweet’s solo recording
The Sweet brothers would actually credit their friend and mentor Kenny Metcalf with giving them the guidance and inspiration to pursue becoming the bold and in your face Christian Rock band that they would become. Kenny was so persistent in his faith that over a period of about a year the boys would eventually drop to their knees as one and accept the Lord as their Savior and ask for His guidance and direction going forward in whatever direction the band would take.
Bassist Tim Gaines, a Portland native and previously with WHITE LACE and YANKEE ROSE, joined the Sweet brothers and Fox from his previous group STORMER in August 1983. The quartet then concocted an image involving heavy use of stripes to establish the fact that the band name would, in normal circumstances, be spelt STRIPER and not STRIPPER! This would become eminent early on as a bootleg vinyl recording would appear entitled ‘Apocalypse’ where the bands name would be incorrectly spelled out as Stripper. The band adopted the number 777, the number of God and perfection, as opposed to 666, the number of the beast, and the colors yellow and black. The latter of course, are used in caution signs on
The STRYPER concept was further enhanced by discovering Isaiah 53:5 in the bible ("But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed") and the band's stripes would represent the marks made on Christ's back from the flogging at his crucifixion.
In an answer to prayer a record deal with Enigma Records would eventually come in 1983, the label became interested in STRYPER after Robert Sweet was introduced to some representatives from the company by one of his friends within the Enigma circles. 'The Yellow And Black Attack' was released in 1984 as a six track vinyl LP and cassette tape. The success of this initial release would allow them the all important breakthrough to the secular market that Christian Rock bands had not been able to tap in to anytime previously.
The band would tour and play as many shows as possible all over the world. Their first show as Stryper would be on
The Yellow and Black Attack era shows would continue through September of 1985 with the last show being at Magic Mountain in Valencia CA, which was another show I would get the privilege of being a part of.
Next up would be the full blown, glossily packaged 'Soldiers Under Command' record and tour, a record initially pressed on white vinyl in 1985. The success of 'Soldiers Under Command' would enable Enigma to re-issue 'The Yellow And Black Attack' album, as the original had become more and more difficult to obtain even after two years, it would be reissued in a revised, circular shaped sleeve with the tracks re-mixed during 1986 and also on limited edition blue vinyl. The soldiers tour would commence on
Next up would come the multi platinum hit To Hell with the Devil release and associated tour. This tour would begin with a few shows at Disney World in Florida in September of 1986 and take them well in to almost a full year of non stop touring all over the world that would end on August 31, 1987 in Boston, MA. In addition to the hard-rocking tunes that Stryper’s core audience would come to expect, the ballad “Honestly” from this 1986 release (THWTD) would hit the Top-40 charts. The video for “Honestly” rapidly became the number one most-requested video on M-TV.
Tim would ultimately leave the band shortly during the To Hell with the Devil period. He would briefly be replaced by Matt Hurich who would quit LEATHERWOLF to take the position, but Tim would later return to the fold after a mere four months and Matt Hurich would ultimately be asked to leave. While Tim did appear on the cover of the platinum 'To Hell With The Devil' album the bassist didn't play on the record. Neither, for that matter, did Hurich, the tracks being recorded by an unidentified session player.
Oz Fox was also asked by fellow Christian Metal act GUARDIAN to produce their debut Enigma records release 'First Watch' which would be released in 1989 during this period.
At the height of their commercial success, the group would find itself under attack from Metal purists as well as from right wing religious advocates and would be under scrutiny constantly for everything from their choice of secular touring partners to the artwork that would be released on the initial pressings of To Hell with the Devil which would ultimately be banned by Christian retailers. For full details on the banned artwork visit the Posters and More section of my page for complete details.
Up next for the guys would be the highly anticipated follow up to THWTD entitled In God We Trust, which would coincide with the next tour that would be even longer and more grueling then the THWTD tour. This tour would again see the boys kick off their tour at Disney World in
Coming off the acclaim of the 1989 tour supporting IGWT, the band released Against The Law (ATL) which shipped gold in the fall of 1990. Despite its sales success, some fans were confused by Stryper’s change in appearance and lyrics. This lead to numerous rumors and questions about the sincerity of Stryper’s faith. “We were making a grab for musical freedom,” says Robert Sweet, Stryper’s drummer. “But we never should have let that been misinterpreted as a change in our beliefs.” The Against the Law tour would be brief and last only a couple of months within the US, it would begin in September and end in early November of 1990.
In 1991, Enigma Records went bankrupt, and Stryper was left without a record company. This was short-lived, as they were quickly picked up by Hollywood Records. In the summer of 1991 they released Can’t Stop The Rock, a “best of” album with two new tracks. In January of 1992, Michael Sweet would leave Stryper to pursue a solo career. Although officially Robert Sweet, Oz Fox and Tim Gaines would continue on through 1992 and 1993 as a three piece, there were no further studio recordings as Stryper once Mike left.
Michael Sweet would re-appear back on the scene, when he secured a record deal with the Christian label Benson Records. (Benson distributed Stryper to the Christian retail stores in the 80’s.) This union produced two albums: the self titled Michael Sweet, and Real. In 1998, Mike put out a full length demo by himself titled Truth. This generated label interest, and he was soon signed to Restless Records. The remastered and updated version of Truth was released early in 2001.
Tim Gaines and Robert Sweet joined legendary Christian guitar player Rex Carrol in the band King James. Although King James released two releases to date, Tim and Bob only performed on the first album which was released in 1994 on the Christian label Star Song.
Absent from the limelight for many years was Oz Fox, who last was seen making guest appearances on several Christian releases including JC & The Boyz, Bride, and Ransom. Oz and Tim joined forces once again in 1995 to form Sin Dizzy. Together with Bobby MacNeil on guitar and John Bocanegra on drums, they released He’s Not Dead in 1998. Tim left Sin Dizzy in 2000 to continue working musically with his wife, Irene Kelly. Sin dizzy’s slef titled CD is scheduled to be re-released with all new artwork in 2008.
Robert Sweet released his solo release titled Love Trash in 2000, in which he plays all the instruments on the album and features Larry Worley on vocals. (Ex-lead singer of Christian rock band Fear Not.) Robert would also form Blissed with fellow members David Pearson, Trevor Barr, and Jeff Miller. Their debut album, Waking Up The Dead, was released in early 2003, and Robert would not appear on future blissed releases.
On May 21st of 2000, history was made when Stryper hit the stage again for an informal jam at the first annual Stryper expo in New Jersey. December 16th of 2000 marked the first full blown set performed by Stryper in 9 years, held in Costa Rica. The second annual Stryper expo was held in Azusa, California on May 18th and 19th of 2001. The two day expo would feature many bands and vendors that had been influenced by the band and concluded with Stryper playing a Full set to a packed house. Shortly after, Stryper would play to one of their largest crowds at Cornerstone at Bushnell, Illinois on July 7th, 2001.
In January of 2003 all of the original members would return to the studio to cut two brand new tracks for a 'best of' compilation. After the release of the ‘7’ best of compilation and the success it was having, STRYPER would reveal plans for a full blown reunion tour later in the year. The resulting tour would be recorded and documented well through out the tour and would result in the album '7 Weeks: Stryper Live in
This show would prove historic in Stryper’s history as it would ultimately be the final performance with Tim Gaines. Tim would ultimately leave the band once again and this time for good. It was an amicable split and Tim would ultimately end up in
With Tim’s departure Tracy Ferrie, who had toured with Michael in the past would step in and become the new permanent base player. Stryper would continue on as a four piece with Michael, Oz, Robert and Tracy in tow.
Next up 'Reborn' would be offered to pre-order customers complete with an autographed STRYPER pocket bible. To promote the album to distributors, STRYPER's Michael Sweet and Oz Fox took the unorthodox but personal approach of meeting with EMI branch employees in early May in both Atlanta and Philadelphia to perform acoustic renditions of 'Open Your Eyes', 'Make You Mine' and 'Passion'. MTM Music took the album for Europe, this version released in completely different cover art. The initial pressing of US copies would unexpectedly give early purchasers a collectors item, as the manufacturer pressed the CD with an incorrect running order to that detailed on the sleeve. 'Reborn' sold over 8,000 copies in its first week of US sales to debut at no. 111 on the Billboard charts. The reborn tour would take the guys out on tour from August of 2005 through November of 2005.
In 2006 the guys would offer an exclusive package to any churches out there that would have them and the guys would embark on the ‘Church Tour’ a semi unplugged tour that would incorporate more worship time and some story telling along with a few rockers thrown in.
2006 would also see Michael release his solo CD entitled Him, which was a play on the word hymns and was a compilation of some of his favorite text book hymns. The CD would be completely reworked arrangements with the Michael Sweet touch, an excellent release I might add.
In early 2007 Sony BMG released a new STRYPER live album, entitled simply 'Extended Versions', featuring live performances from the 2003 reunion tour. Album recordings in September 2007 witnessed the inclusion of BOSTON guitarist Tom Scholz on a cover version of 'Peace Of Mind'. Ultimately Michael would join up with Tom to tour with his band
In December 2007 MICHAEL SWEET solo album 'Touched' incorporated only one original composition, 'My Love, My Life, My Flame' alongside a set of cover versions. Featured would be renditions of JOE COCKER's 'You Are So Beautiful', BILLY JOEL's 'She's Got A Way', HARRY NILSSON's Without You', ROBERTA FLACK's 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face', BETTE MIDLER's 'The Rose' and CHICAGO's 'Colour My World' plus re-works of STRYPER songs 'Together As One', 'All Of Me', 'First Love' and 'Honestly'.
2007 would also see Oz Fox joining as a permanent part of Bloodgood and he continues on to be a part of both bands to this day.
2007 would see the end of the recording sessions for Murder by Pride the band has finished the recording process and turned the masters in to the label and 2008 should prove to be another good year for Stryper fans with a new release hitting the shelves very soon!
In 2008 Michael was asked to go on tour as the lead singer for Boston replacing Brad Delp who had taken his own life prematurely. At the time Micahel was struggling with his own family crisis knowing that if he accepted the tour he would be away from his family as his wife Kyle was struggling for her life fighting cancer. With Kyle's support pushing him forward Micahel would go on the road with Boston for the tour, which was a huge success with many Sold Out performances! (See Boston Page)
2008 Would also see Robert doing many guest apperances on a handful of releases with Bill Menchen, including His Witness, Menchen and a few more. Tim would keep busy going out on a successful tour playing bass for Richard Marx. Oz too kept very busy in 2008 pulling double duty playing for Bloodgood on the Christian Festival Circuit and playing with a successful covers band called 'Playground' which also features Frank Dimeola from Angel!
2009 would start off with some great news of an official release dat for 'Murder by Pride' which wil be out on July 21, 2009 which is 25 years to the day of the Y&B Attack release on Enigma Records. Just as it appeared the Stryper wheels were turning the band would be hit with the tragedy of the death of Michaels wife Kyle.....
The Passing of Kyle Sweet
Wife of Musician Michael Sweet
Kyle Rae Sweet
1956-2009
Kyle Rae Sweet has passed on and is now at peace with her Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. Please continue to pray for the Sweet family. We ask that if you wish to express your sympathies within an e-mail that you send them to the following e-mail address: thesweetfamily@michaelsweet.com
Kyle was diagnosed with cancer in February 2007. She passed away at 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 5, 2009.
Kyle's life was dedicated to caring for her husband and home-schooling their two children. Her heart's desire was for their children to attend college. To best honor Kyle's work as a home-school mom there has been a fund set up called The Sweet Children's College Fund.
In lieu of flowers, donations to this fund can be made payable and mailed to:
Sweet Children's College Fund
Sovereign Bank
50 Cohasset Avenue
Buzzards Bay, MA 02532
Sympathy Cards may be mailed to:
Evangelical Free Church of East Dennis
P.O. Box 755
East Dennis, MA 02641
The Sweet Family wishes to have a private funeral service which will be held in the following days.
After taking some time to grieve and some privacy with his family the band will struggle on as 2009 marks the 25th Anniversary for the band. A Full Tour launched in late 2009 and an apperance at the 2009 Edition of summer's Rocklahoma Festival was a huge success. Mike would have the privilege of introducing his son's band Flight Patterns every night ofthe tour as they were tapped as the opening act forthe whole 25th Anniversary tour! Also Stryper fans would rejoice as the first ever Limited Edition Coffee table book was released entitled 'By His Stripes'.
The 2009 and 2010 tour was also a huge success. Other highlights for 2009 include Oz Fox getting married to his sweetheart Annie and Mike getting engaged to Lisa! Also we saw a very cool new solo CD from Tim called Breakfast at Timothy's and Sonia Vannest would release her solo album which would feature Mike and Tracy Ferrie handling all guitars and bass as well as Michael's very first duet. Lastly a brand new radio show would launch dedicated exclusively to Stryper (www.strictlystryper.com)
Stay Tuned for more in 2010...