Sometimes referred to as the "clown prince of Christian music," singer/guitarist Steve Taylor was one of the first to bring sarcasm and satire to Christian music. Roland Stephen Taylor was born on December 9, 1957, in Brawley, CA, but was raised in Denver, CO. Taylor didn't begin singing seriously until his college career, when, in 1979, he was first of the 100 chosen from 20,000 applicants for John Davidson's summer camp; Taylor spent a month learning from the likes of Tony Orlando, Florence Henderson, and John Davidson. Despite having firm roots in Christian-based music, Taylor has always been open to other styles; he often points to the Clash's classic London Calling as one of his most important musical discoveries during this time. A demo cassette of original tunes that mixed new wave with gospel gained the attention of several record labels; but before he began work on his debut, Taylor served as an assistant director for the evangelistic singing group, the Continentals, and as a director for the Christian musical comedy troupe, Chuck Bolte's Jeremiah People.