Chants and Chords: Top tunes from leaders and devotees, as voted by YOU!

Bronwyn Rideout - 3 July 2023

For every Bill Gothard who terrorises his followers into believing that music with a fast beat will bring them closer to the devil, there is a Sri Chinmoy who is driven to play music, albeit atonally, in order to get closer to god.

Music is a common denominator for many of the groups I have written about, and the ones I’m still scoping out. So, for a little bit of fun, I’ve decided to collate a collection of tunes that feature leaders of both well-known and obscure religious movements. I’ve also included offerings by followers of these groups that are either made for the group, or were mainstream offerings while the musicians were still believers.

This has ended up being a pretty eclectic mix and, to add to the mandated fun, I’ve set up a poll so that you can vote for your favourites. We will share the results on our next podcast episode, as well as on our Facebook page and in a future issue of this newsletter.

So first, the ‘Leaders’:

Zen Master Rama

Born Frederick Lenz, Rama was a former acolyte of Sri Chinmoy who would go on to teach his own brand of American Buddhism. Being active during the 1980s computer boom, Lenz encouraged his followers to become computer programmers. Many were not good at it, but others were able to run very successful companies and earn Lenz a lot of money by letting him serve on company boards or in senior company roles. Like many gurus of the 70s and 80s, Lenz was the subject of sexual abuse allegations by several female members, and was criticised for his highly materialistic lifestyle. Lenz died by suicide in 1998, with Adi da Samraj inviting Lenz followers to join his group in the aftermath.

Ann Davies

Davies, longtime Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) leader, made some very smart moves to keep the group going after the death of their popular and highly-respected founder Paul Foster Case. One of the most successful decisions was recording A Qabalistic Service. In 1963, Frank Goodey of Goodey’s bookstore imported a copy to NZ and shared it with Alastair Wallace. Wallace then commenced a correspondence with Davies, and kicked off the formal establishment of the first international BOTA temple in New Zealand.

L Ron Hubbard

Sri Chinmoy

So, enjoy this 74 piano marathon in which Chinmoy spends an afternoon playing on 74 different pianos to celebrate his 74th birthday. Not a single keyboard amongst them.

ISTA/Highden

I’m playing a bit fast and loose with this one. Ohad Pele is listed as a part of the lead faculty of ISTA, despite the allegations against him. Still, Ohad Pele seems to be the musician of the group. Captain Crazy has made the list as the lyrics were written by New Zealand’s own Bruce Lyons.

Now, to dance with the devotees:

Considering Lily

Considering Lily is a band founded by New Zealand sisters Serene and Pearl Campbell, daughters of Nancy Campbell, founder of the Above Rubies magazine and related ministry and matriarch of a clan that has multiple fingers in multiple Christian culture pies. Serene courted a fair amount of controversy in the early 2000s due to the tumultuous adoption of several children from Liberia.

The band had some success with the single Cup, which was a hit on Christian radio.

Carlos Santana (Devadip) and John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu)

McLaughlin introduced Santana to Chinmoy in 1971. However, not seeing inspiration in marathon running, Santana decided to provide his service in the form of music. Chinmoy would thoroughly use the popularity of both musicians to draw crowds to his church and performances, but, once they were off-stage, so were most of the audience.

During their time with Chinmoy, the musicians collaborated on the album Love Devotion Surrender. The album was a tribute to John Coltrane, while being inspired by the teachings of Chinmoy. They were supported by their respective bands to record the album. The song, Meditation, departs from this theme, as it is a composition of McLaughlin’s with Satana on the guitar and John on piano.

Zazen

Zazen was the Zen Master Rama’s in-house band. While their songs never hit the billboard charts, nor amounted to much in sales, they were well known among the Zen Master’s followers as the background music for meditations, and continue to be promoted as such. While Lenz’s actual contribution is debatable, there was actual talent behind the scenes, such as Grammy-nominated guitarist Joaquin Lievano and Steve Kaplan, who composed for movies and television shows like Jeopardy. Their music is freely available via Zen Master Rama related websites like zazen.com and ramatalks.com, as well as the usual streaming services.

Wai Lana

Apollo Stars

Back when the Sea Org was a sea-based organisation, the Apollo was a former British Royal Navy landing ship that Hubbard had purchased and renamed. The Sea Org itself recruited the most devoted of Scientology’s followers, and kept them in servitude through a billion year contract. The Apollo Stars was a collection of musicians cobbled together in response to Sea Org being asked to put on a musical show.. The band had some legit, professional musicians, such as Luten Taylor, who composed the original Mission Impossible theme.

That first gig was such a success that Hubbard made performing their sole job on the ship. Outside of individual and group rehearsals, The Apollo Stars had a gig a day for two years. However, it was seen as preferable to any other job on the ship, and allowed them more sleep than their fellow cadets. As far as Hubbard’s influence is concerned, his advice seemed to be limited to getting the band to integrate more African-inspired rhythms.

The band only released one album, The Power of Source, in which Hubbard had a lot of input with mixing and producing. There is a catalog of recordings that have never been, and likely never will be, released. The Apollo Stars disbanded in 1975, when the Sea Org and Hubbard returned to the US.

The Church of Scientology

So, when you’ve had a listen, please head to this poll and vote for your favourites!