How Stryper went against the grain of 80's hair metal

As part of a new book on the 80's hard rock scene, we get a glimpse into how Stryper went against the grain

Written by Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock, Nothin’ But A Good Time: The Uncensored History of the ‘80s Hard Rock Explosion, is coming out Mar. 16 (next Tuesday as I write this). Poison’s Bret Michaels has called it “A backstage pass to the wildest and loudest party in rock history.” Ratt’s Stephen Pearcy says "If you want to relive the explosive decade, this is as close as you're gonna get."  Those two front man were on the front lines of that scene, so they would know.

Among all that glitz, glamour and general excess, one band went against the grain. They produced metal with their Christianity out front. Led by brothers, lead singer Michael Sweet and drummer Robert, Stryper found success.

Via Classic Rock Magazine, here’s how Stryper found their niche, as told by those who were there via an excerpt from Nothin But A Good Time… It’s long, so I’ve actually left some parts out here.

Michael Sweet [Stryper singer and guitarist]: Around 1983, that’s when we had a few of our friends in the music world who had changed their lives come into our rehearsal studio and tell us about God. And that’s when the light went on for us. And Oz [Fox, Stryper guitarist] had grown up in a Christian family. Tim [Gaines, Stryper bassist], his dad was a preacher. And Robert and I came to know God through Jimmy Swaggart. My brother started watching him on television when we were kids, like I’m sure a lot of people at the time.

Robert Sweet [Stryper drummer]:  I would watch the telethons. I mean, he was very famous. He’d sold over a hundred million records, which very few people know. His cousin was Jerry Lee Lewis.

Michael Sweet: We were kinda more drawn to his music than his preaching. My dad’s a big Elvis fan and Jimmy kinda sounded like Elvis.

Robert Sweet: Even as a little kid, something was pulling on me and I remember talking to my family about accepting Jesus. And I did when I was fifteen years old. I think it was April 20, 1975.

Michael Sweet: So we actually accepted Christ, the whole family, and then we started going to church. But the more Robert and I got into music and playing the clubs, the less we were going to church. And that whole cliché that goes along with rock ’n’ roll, you know, sex and drugs, I was doing all that. 

I remember standing out in front of Gazzarri’s [famed Hollywood nightclub] and the Arthur Blessitt folks, they would walk down Sunset Boulevard with this big wooden cross with wheels on the end of it and they would preach to people on the Strip. And I was one of the guys that they preached to. Here I am knowing that what they’re saying is true, at least according to my beliefs. But at the same time I’m standing there with a drink in my hand smoking a cigarette and talking to Stephen Pearcy. So I wasn’t living the life.

Robert Sweet: Then one day I just looked at the guys and I said, “Guys, this is how it’s got to be.”

Michael Sweet: It was an easy thing for us to say, “All right, let’s do it.” We said a prayer, we started rewriting lyrics, and from that day forward we changed everything and went down a different path.

Vicky Hamilton [Guns N' Roses, Poison and Faster Pussycat manager]: After working with Mötley Crüe I became friendly with Wes and Bill Hein. And Wes was like, “Maybe you try and book Stryper and help us with this.” I had never heard of Stryper, but when I figured out it was Bobby and Michael from Roxx Regime who I used to see at Gazzarri’s, the instant rapport was there. But I had no idea they were Christian. 

I went to their rehearsal space in La Mirada, I saw the 777, the Isaiah quote on the wall. It still didn’t dawn on me. And my parents were fundamentalist Christians! You would think that that would not slide by me. But back then I smoked a lot of pot and whatever.

I remember standing out in front of Gazzarri’s [famed Hollywood nightclub] and the Arthur Blessitt folks, they would walk down Sunset Boulevard with this big wooden cross with wheels on the end of it and they would preach to people on the Strip. And I was one of the guys that they preached to. Here I am knowing that what they’re saying is true, at least according to my beliefs. But at the same time I’m standing there with a drink in my hand smoking a cigarette and talking to Stephen Pearcy. So I wasn’t living the life.

Robert Sweet: Then one day I just looked at the guys and I said, “Guys, this is how it’s got to be.”

Michael Sweet: It was an easy thing for us to say, “All right, let’s do it.” We said a prayer, we started rewriting lyrics, and from that day forward we changed everything and went down a different path.

Vicky Hamilton [Guns N' Roses, Poison and Faster Pussycat manager]: After working with Mötley Crüe I became friendly with Wes and Bill Hein. And Wes was like, “Maybe you try and book Stryper and help us with this.” I had never heard of Stryper, but when I figured out it was Bobby and Michael from Roxx Regime who I used to see at Gazzarri’s, the instant rapport was there. But I had no idea they were Christian. 

I went to their rehearsal space in La Mirada, I saw the 777, the Isaiah quote on the wall. It still didn’t dawn on me. And my parents were fundamentalist Christians! You would think that that would not slide by me. But back then I smoked a lot of pot and whatever.

Anyway, I decided that I would help Stryper and that I would start booking them. I booked them at the Country Club to open for Bon Jovi, which was Bon Jovi’s first night in town.

Michael Sweet: They had a decent following. I would like to believe that we pulled a lot of those tickets as well because we did have a big following there. The only thing I remember about that, it’s the only time I’ve ever really met Jon. I didn’t even really meet Jon. He didn’t really have any- thing to say. He just kinda did his own thing. The rest of the guys all said hi and were very cordial and very nice. Jon was just Jon.

Robert Sweet: I remember the drummer for Bon Jovi walked up to me, he looked at my drum set, and he said, “What the eff is that?”

Vicky Hamilton: That night was the first time I saw them throw Bibles at the crowd. They had stickers in them, with the 777. I saw them hit a girl in the head with a Bible and it sort of knocked her back a little bit. I was like, “Okay . . .”

Michael Sweet: Drummers always throw out drumsticks, right? Guitar players throw out picks . . .

Wes Hein [co-owner, Enigma Records]: And people were clamouring for these Bibles. It was pretty amazing. Nobody was throwing them back at the band or anything.

Michael Sweet: In the early days we used to throw out Bibles with no stickers, and they used to get left on the floor of the venues. Then we started putting the sticker on and they would all get taken, because I think people viewed it more as a souvenir than a Bible.

Wes Hein: Sometimes the band would come to us and say, “Hey, can you advance us some money?” They were buying all the Bibles themselves. So I’d cut them a check. Because if they had, you know, twenty shows for a particular tour, think about the number of Bibles they’d need for a show, times twenty.

Vicky Hamilton: After that Bon Jovi show I took a meeting with the woman that was their investor, who was somebody they knew from the church.

Michael Sweet: That person’s name is Daryn Hinton. She was part of a ministry called the Eagle’s Nest. Her dad was an actor, she grew up in Bel Air in the movie industry. She had inherited some money and whatnot and so she invested in the band.

Daryn Hinton [manager, financial backer]: I saw them first at a Bon Jovi concert at a little place called the Country Club. I had already pre-judged in my mind that they were doing this as a gimmick and using God’s name. But after seeing the show, and seeing and feeling the spirit and seeing the reaction from the kids, I was totally turned around.

Michael Sweet: That person’s name is Daryn Hinton. She was part of a ministry called the Eagle’s Nest. Her dad was an actor, she grew up in Bel Air in the movie industry. She had inherited some money and whatnot and so she invested in the band.

Daryn Hinton [manager, financial backer]: I saw them first at a Bon Jovi concert at a little place called the Country Club. I had already pre-judged in my mind that they were doing this as a gimmick and using God’s name. But after seeing the show, and seeing and feeling the spirit and seeing the reaction from the kids, I was totally turned around.

Bill Hein [co-owner, Enigma Records]: A lot of Christian kids liked rock ’n’ roll, and they were bored with a lot of the Christian music they were hearing. It just didn’t speak to them. So Stryper comes out and they’re doing rock ’n’ roll. If you like Ozzy Osbourne, if you like Judas Priest, but you’re a Christian? Well, here’s Stryper. Put it in rotation.

Michael Sweet: We were different, man. We really were. That’s why it’s even more disturbing when people say, “Ah, it’s just a gimmick.” Those people weren’t there. They didn’t walk in our shoes. They didn’t live it. They have no right to say it was a gimmick because they don’t know. They don’t have a clue.

One of Stryper’s best known songs is the power ballad “Honestly”, but if I have a favorite of theirs it’s definitely “To Hell With The Devil.”