Arnel Pineda. You may never have heard of him, but he has just landed what could be a gig of a lifetime. And he found his new position in the most unlikely of places—You Tube.
Arnel Pineda was the lead singer for a 1980s cover band known as The Zoo. They played in and around their home country while earning a reasonable amount of local success. However Pineda and his band were not playing in a small Midwestern music venue, but in the Philippines.
Pineda has some loyal fans who have posted a few videos on You Tube showcasing his impressive renditions of songs from Aerosmith, Boston, and Journey. For those who didn’t grow up in the late 70s—it was these bands that provided the soundtrack for the lives of millions of teenagers. And Journey was one of those big bands to which everyone was listening. The swirling lyrics and crunching riff from their Infinity, Evolution and Escape albums are etched in the musical memories of many of today’s fortysomethings.
Journey, despite what some may say, never really went away. The band has continued on these past 20 years with a succession of singers stepping in to replicate their signature sound. But there are few voices in the business quite like Steve Perry. Perry was their main front man during their 80s heyday, and he has always been difficult to replace.
Recently, the once immensely popular band was again faced with the dilemma of finding yet another singer. Neal Schon, Journey’s guitarist, states that the stress of not having a lead singer led him to an Internet search for a replacement.
“I was frustrated about not having a singer,” explains Schon, “so I went on YouTube for a couple of days and just sat on it for hours. I was starting to think I was never going to find anybody. But then I found The Zoo and I watched a bunch of different video clips that they had posted. After watching the videos over and over again, I had to walk away from the computer and let what I heard sink in because it sounded too good to be true. I thought, ‘he can’t be that good.’ But he is that good, he’s the real deal and so tremendously talented. Arnel doesn’t sound synthetic and he’s not emulating anyone. I tried to get a hold of him through YouTube and I finally heard from him that night, but it took some convincing to get him to believe that it really was me and not an imposter.”
Schon states that it was Pineda’s performance of Journey's Faithfully that convinced him—a video that shows Pineda and his band playing before what sounds like about three mildly interested people in the Philippines. As a result of this and other performances, Arnel Pineda was offered the job of becoming the new lead singer for the band. Journey’s Web site states that they are pleased to announce they will be recording an album and touring next year.
Pineda’s story is an interesting look at the influence of the Internet today. A video of a performance can be posted on a public Web site, and in a couple of weeks there may be an offer of a job on the other side of the world.
The main reason that this story resonates is on a more serious note. Pineda landed his new position as the result of imitating another individual. Despite statements to the contrary, the singer was not offered the position because he could sing like an “Arnel Pineda.”
What would happen if a video of our daily lives was placed on YouTube? Would those who watch find that we are imitating a popular celebrity, a personal hero, or a lead singer of a rock band?
Or would our imitation be something more impressive?
One of the writers of the New Testament suggests that there is a place in our lives for appropriate imitation. The apostle Paul encouraged others to “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). He was clearly asking his readers to make the effort to replicate his own actions, beliefs, words and traditions (see 1 Corinthians 11:2). Those who followed his example were to understand that Paul was striving to live his life as an imitation of Jesus Christ.
While we do not have a video record, we do have the written record of the way that Jesus lived His life in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. One can read these documents to understand the principles, actions and ideas that were important to Him. In many ways, the actual example of Jesus Christ as portrayed in the Bible is strikingly different from what others often state or write about Him today. Of course, a serious attempt at imitating Jesus would mean an extraordinary change in thoughts, beliefs and lifestyle for many people.
There is a place for a sincere attempt of imitation in our lives today. But what if the focus of our imitation could be something greater than a famous voice or sports hero? What if one could follow the example of Jesus Christ as expressed within the written record of the Bible?
That kind of sincere imitation might inspire an audience much larger than the one Pineda first played to on YouTube.
DONALD R. HORNSBY
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