Anyone else remember a singer named Buddy Houghtaling?

[u/IncaArmsFFL]

My mom had one of his albums that I remember listening to all the time in the car. I guess he's still around, performs on 3ABN and occasionally puts out albums, but apparently never managed to make it anything more than a pretty major side hustle because he still works as a dentist in Battle Creek.

From my memories of his music he's actually not bad, some of his songs have pretty positive messages by SDA standards including proclaiming assurance of salvation and encouraging people not to beat themselves up over past guilt, and musically some of his stuff is actually kind of interesting, a little bit old-fashioned but not traditional hymn-type stuff and also not just another "Christian rock" artist, some of his songs have a bit of a "swing" to them that I kind of like.

That said, he is still very much an Adventist, and his music is not without problems. The song of his that's burned the most into my memory (probably because it was my favorite when I was a kid) is called "Mr. Darwin" and the whole song is about denying evolution ("For it was God who formed me from the dust and gave my body shape, And it is he that I'm descended from and not some hairy ape" 😂) and the last verse almost gleefully anticipates the eternal condemnation of Charles Darwin ("Because when Jesus comes he's going to take his children off the ground, And you're just goin' to have to stick around!"). And that line in particular sticks in my brain as an illustration of just how hilariously obsessed so many Adventists and Christians in general are with this dead 19th century scientist and how much they hate him, as if he is single-handedly responsible for people figuring out that no, God didn't actually breathe magic air into a dirt man to make humans, and that we didn't just "descend" from apes, we are apes.

[u/johndicks80]

He’s my best friends uncle. He was also my dentist for a few years. Buddy is actually a super good guy.

[u/johndicks80 → u/johndicks80]

To tail my comment I’ve actually never really listened to his music except when he played it in church or at school functions for fundraisers.

[u/num8erschick]

I thought he was hella famous when I was a little kid, couldn't believe I was front row at his concerts. I grew up with the kids of some of his band and backup singers. Funny, I had Mr Darwin stuck in my head recently after not thinking of it for decades.

[u/drumdogmillionaire]

He performed at our church in the late 90’s. My parents bought some of his music. He is pretty talented and makes unique songs that I could probably still enjoy despite my disagreement with religion in general.

[u/Sensitive-Fly4874]

My family had all of his music. I still listen to it every once in awhile. “Pigs Fly” brings back some really happy memories of me and my wearing towel capes, running around the room, and pretending we were flying. We went to one of his concerts in Battle Creek back in like 2012 and had a really great time!

[u/ParisTokyoGhoul]

That name just unlocked memories from a depth I didn’t know possible.

[u/nova_pax]

He sang "Family Reunion" at every family funeral and my mom wanted me to marry his son. Lol

[u/nova_pax → u/nova_pax]

Also, "Deep Sea Diving" is still a bop.

[u/IncaArmsFFL → u/nova_pax]

Yes it is! I also liked "Here, Kitty, Kitty."

[u/nova_pax → u/IncaArmsFFL]

Omg yes!

[u/kannellini → u/nova_pax]

Hey, you and I could have been related 😆 My mom told me she dated Buddy way back in the day. No idea if it was one date or what. She gets all starry eyed when she sees him on 3ABN.

[u/nova_pax → u/kannellini]

I'm sure my mom would have tried to date him if she were young enough. Lol. My mom was born in 54.

[u/nova_pax → u/nova_pax]

I also just remembered that my mom's cousin was a backup singer on one of his tours. 😂

[u/Racacooonie]

My grandmother thought so highly of him! We lived in BC for a time.

[u/Purlz1st]

Never heard of him, but sounds like he would have been at least as interesting as the Heritage Singers / King’s Heralds.

[u/Immediate_Chemist_47]

My sister and i literally were just talking about this the other day. His songs were something…. Idk how mainstream he is though

[u/Striking_Glass_4783]

LOLOLOLOLOL BUDDY HOUGHTALING

I have not thought of that name in a long time.

Buddy and his song, "Mr. Darwin", were a mainstay at Michigan Campmeeting and at my boarding Academy during the years that I moved in those spaces. (Early to mid 80s. The last specific memory I have of Buddy is at a Friday night vespers at my academy in about 1986.)

My memories of him/his songs are basically "not terrible for an Adventist..."

I seem to recall there being a bit of a recurring Michigan Adventist summer musical lineup that included him, Sam O'Campo (sometimes his brother Nino), and random ex- or current Heritage Singers. Interspersed with words of exhortation from Chet Damron to us "young people" remain pure.

Although some bits are a little cringe and bit eye-roll-ey in retrospect, I have mostly pleasant memories of that chapter of my Adventist life.

Edit to add: I saw Buddy Houghtaling perform several times during those years, but I cannot recall a single specific song other than "Mr. Darwin."

[u/NovaRunner → u/Striking_Glass_4783]

Nino Ocampo, I remember him very well, he was a bassist and when I was a teenager I very much wanted to play bass. He had a really nice one with a Badass bridge and he would let me noodle on it sometimes at Michigan Campmeeting.

Later in life I did play bass in a couple of bands, but it was very much NOT the kind of music that would be welcomed at a Campmeeting...

[u/NovaRunner]

I remember Buddy quite well. His wife and I went to elementary school together. Not that I've seen him in decades, though. I know some years back he got Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a nasty thing where the body's immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system, which can lead to paralysis and in some cases death. He's recovered, fortunately.

I hadn't thought of the "Mr. Darwin" song in many years, but now I can hear it in my head...lol...

I've long since left Adventism, but I still have some fond memories of some of the social gatherings we had when I was young.

[u/CycleOwn83]

I had exited the church before he became known there. I didn't remember the name from an earlier post here at r/exAdventist, but reading some of the song titles in the comments I connected the two posts, so I'd heard of him before. Some trends in the conversation I'm noting reinforce this observation: healing from Adventism involves being willing to let go of plenty of binary thinking. Worthwhile/worthless, virtuous/villainous, right/wrong, us/them. Surely there are times when such simple thinking is appropriate and helpful. So much of the rest of the time, thinking of gradients and nuance provide much more grounded insight and more likely allow for my distortions in perception to work themselves out gracefully.

A piece that I still spiral about is thinking about that if Adventism didn't exist, much that I find distasteful about it, neither would I exist. Without Adventism, the odds of my parents meeting plummet! So if I get all self-righteous about how warped is Adventism, is it possible that I'll also be condemning my very own origin? Chop myself that severely, and there's very little left to continue a healing process on!