1963 "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"

In October 1963, Salvation Army General–Elect Frederick Coutts said it would be his priority to reach young people. "If we need to, we will take up electric guitars and go into coffeehouses!" he said. He didn't know that within weeks, a great cultural shift would take place when four young, long–haired musicians from Liverpool released their first hit single, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand." In the United States, the "British Invasion" began. Quite by accident, the Salvation Army's Joystrings became part of it. The BBC had asked for a sampling of new Salvation Army sound, so several young officers–in–training—including two men who owned guitars but didn't know how to play them—led by Captain Joy Webb, were thrown into the fray. After several television appearances, The Joystrings' first EMI record release, "It's An Open Secret," hit the pop charts at #32 in February 1964.

Six thousand–plus people held up traffic in central London watching them perform on the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral. Gigs followed in concert halls, coffeehouses, and the Blue Angel and Playboy nightclubs. All the royalties from their recordings and concerts went to help the downtrodden. In the U.S., early video and press releases stressed the novelty of uniformed young people, with girls in poke bonnets, belting out songs and gyrating to never–before–heard Christian rock. They became fodder for late–night comedy shows and lighthearted material to end Sunday night newscasts, with the tag line "Look what England's sending us now!" Christian pop star Sir Cliff Richard, in his foreword to Sylvia Dalziel's recently released book, The Joystrings: The Story of The Salvation Army Pop Group, credits the group for paving the way for other Christian musicians at a time "when guitars in church, let alone music with a beat … were a definite no–no." Dalziel, then Sylvia Gair, married Peter Dalziel. They were two of the five "final" Joystrings from 1965 onward.

Critics abounded. A famous American evangelist condemned The Salvation Army for resorting to such tactics. Conservative Christians, including Salvationists, who forgot about an earlier time when brass bands were considered scandalous, complained that God couldn't possibly like The Joystrings; Wycliffe, the drummer, looked like a beatnik! Retired Major Joy Webb, who was admitted to the Army's Order of the Founder for her musical leadership, still stands by The Joystrings, which lasted until 1968. "Hundreds and hundreds of people made decisions for Christ … and you can't knock that, can you? That's what it was all about. Thank God." 

Daryl Lach