ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 20, 1997 TAG: 9702200031
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES TIMES
A LAWYER FOR TRINITY network said its viewers had been puzzled and dismayed by the shifting musical genre on the entertainer's weekly show, ``Gospel America.''
Singer Pat Boone, one of America's best known Christian entertainers, has been taken off the air by a national religious television network after showing up at the American Music Awards dressed like a heavy metal rock singer.
Boone's weekly half-hour show was dropped by the Trinity Broadcasting Network on Tuesday after the network received thousands of phone calls and letters from contributors who were shocked by Boone's bare-chested leather costume - augmented by faux tattoos and a studded dog collar - at the awards show, broadcast Jan. 27 by ABC.
``A lot of our [prayer] `partners' had a real problem with that, more than a lot,'' said an employee of Trinity, whose programming is carried by nearly 400 cable systems and television stations worldwide.
Even before the emergence of the black-leathered Boone, a lawyer for the network said, its viewers had been puzzled and dismayed by the shifting musical genre on the entertainer's weekly show, ``Gospel America,'' which has been carried by Santa Ana, Calif.-based Trinity for four years. Boone had moved away from traditional and pop Gospel to more emphasis on lyrics from heavy metal rock hits - versions of which he has released on a new recording.
When they were besieged with the new complaints, Trinity President Paul Crouch and other network executives moved to strike Boone's show from its broadcast schedule, at least until he ``explains'' his actions to their satisfaction. In the meantime, viewers who called the network were being urged to pray for Boone.
Boone said Wednesday that Trinity's move was ``real unexpected,'' and that he told Crouch ahead of time not to be ``stampeded'' by ``people who would jump to the wrong conclusions'' by his appearance on the network show - which most observers construed as a light-hearted spoof on the fresh-scrubbed image that first made him a singing idol in the 1950s at the age of 20.
Known for decades for his squeaky clean, boy-next-door appearance, Boone, now 62, stepped onto the stage at the American Music Awards in leather pants, open vest, the numerous applique tattoos - and the studded dog collar and bracelets. It was all part of Boone's promotion of his album ``In a Metal Mood/No More Mr. Nice Guy,'' in which he combines heavy metal lyrics with what he calls ``a big-band, Pat Boone vocal version of some terrific songs ... ''
Boone said his goal was to introduce selected and inoffensive heavy metal lyrics to his own fans - folks not likely to embrace or understand in-your-face hard rock like that performed by the group Black Sabbath, which many see as evidence of America's moral decay.
As it turned out, what some of Boone's fans didn't understand was him. They couldn't reconcile the hard-rock attire and heavy metal lyrics with the entertainer they had come to admire. By the thousands, they began flooding the network switchboards with complaints.
Trinity officials said Boone still could redeem himself. He has been invited to appear on the network's flagship program, ``Praise,'' formerly known as ``Praise the Lord,'' or PTL, which is hosted by Crouch and his wife, Jan.
``Until that takes place, the overwhelming number of respondents and people who have called into the [network] have complained about the change and have otherwise requested that his program be discontinued,'' Trinity attorney Colby May said Wednesday from Washington. ``Trinity has assented to that request.''
May said that if Boone's explanation satisfies viewers, the network could restore his program - but that if viewers are unconvinced, Boone could be permanently dropped.
Boone, meanwhile, said he remains convinced that he is following Jesus' example in trying to bring the Gospel message to those outside traditional Christian churches through hard rock music.
To hear Pat Boone singing your heavy metal favorites, call Infoline. In Roanoke, 981-0100. In New River, 382-0200. Press category 7810.
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Pat Boone shows off his muscles and a new lookby CNBbackstage at the 24th annual American Music Awards on Jan. 27 in Los
Angeles. color.